Criticism > Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism > Special Commissioned Entry on George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, W. Scott Lucas - Critical Summary

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CRITICAL SUMMARY

Because of its subject matter and the international environment at the time of its publication, Nineteen Eighty-Four has not received conventional critical treatment. Its defenders often mention that it is flawed in “literary” terms of structure, theme, and character development, yet they eagerly dismiss these quibbles because of their anxiety to publish the political significance and wisdom of the novel. Detractors who might focus upon the weaknesses in the structure and development of the narrative challenge instead the political “meaning” of Winston's story.

The issue is not necessarily whether the literary merits of Nineteen Eighty-Four should be recovered. Andy Croft has written sharply, “Arguing endlessly about the political ‘message’ of this one novel only serves to confirm its exceptional status.”¹ Croft's wish, that the novel would simply go away, is futile. Nineteen Eighty-Four, if...

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1. Introduction
2. Evolution Of Nineteen Eighty-Four
3. On Nineteen Eighty-Four
4. Themes
5. Critical Summary
6. Nineteen Eighty-Four In History
7. Adaptations
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four As Studied
9. Further Reading
10. Copyright

1. George Orwell