AP Lang Students Dislike the Dystopian Novel “1984”

Recently, the MBHS AP Language & Composition (AP Lang) classes finished their unit on dystopias, wrapping up the dystopian classic “1984,” by George Orwell. Published in 1949, the novel follows the protagonist, Winston Smith, as he attempts to navigate a world where the government heavily monitors everyone. “1984” has common themes of censorship and government control, and is widely considered a classic dystopian novel.

Seniors were pretty consistent in their opinions on the book itself. Most disliked the book, with a few students enjoying it, and others harboring a strong hatred towards it. “I thought it was really interesting, but a good book overall,” said senior Lyla Meichtry. Senior Keo Cross added to this, “‘I really liked it, but I was really disappointed with the ending,” said Cross.

However, students who disliked the book had very strong opinions on it: “I think it has an interesting topic and some interesting themes, but I think it was very poorly executed, which made it an agonizing read,” said senior Jamie Hendel-De La O. Senior Naomi Gonzalez added to the strongly-worded criticisms of the book, “I think it was a waste of time. And I didn’t like it. He [Winston] doesn’t care about anyone but himself. And yeah, it’s a terrible book, and I would never read it again,” said Gonzalez. 

Senior Dexter Parks also found himself not quite fond of the book: “I only read through chapter seven. They were pretty boring, and it didn’t warrant further reading,” he said. For Parks, the genre and style of the book also played a role in his dislike of the piece. “I couldn’t shake the visualization of it being that old retro sci-fi, and there’s nothing wrong with that kind of style. I just really don’t like it. There was nothing appealing about the story to me,” he said. 

Students, mostly women, noted Orwell’s depiction of women throughout the novel, especially the way Winston perceived them. Gonzalez said, “He [Winston] was lowkey a misogynist, and that was his whole personality.” Hendel-De La O also had strong opinions on the depiction of women: “I think the author is a sick pervert who fantasizes about young girls, and I think he’s very sexist, and he can’t write women,” she said. Beatrice Appel also agreed with this, “The main thing that made it okay and not great was how Orwell wrote about women. It was not my favorite,” she said.

As a whole, AP Lang seniors were somewhat divided on their opinions of the novel, and many felt as if the book was poorly written, criticizing its sexist depictions of women. Some students also noted that the unit felt focused on the wrong aspects. Hendel-De La O said, “I think the best thing to learn about 1984 would have been… how it goes into censorship as a whole instead of just focusing on that one piece of media. Because it’s a terrible piece of media.”