If the famous English writer George Orwell (1903-1950) were alive, he would not be proud that Dmitry Medvedev, the Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, quoted from his dystopian novel "1984" on the X social media platform; he would be ashamed to death.
Because Orwell wrote this and other novels ("Animal Farm") precisely about the USSR, which was established and governed by Medvedev's political predecessors. And now, look at the irony, Medvedev attributes words said about themselves to others.
In fact, there has never been a person named George Orwell in real life. The real name of the author of the mentioned works is Eric Arthur Blair; "George Orwell" is his literary pseudonym. He was born in British India into a colonizer family and himself worked in the police forces in what is now Myanmar during his youth. However, this person was a stern critic of totalitarianism and Nazism. There is no country in the world today that does not read his works. Even in countries that are nests of totalitarianism and Nazism, those interested in politics read Orwell's novels.
Just as Gabriel Garcia Marquez's works, "One Hundred Years of Solitude" and "Autumn of the Patriarch," are famous, Orwell's works are equally famous and will maintain their popularity for at least 100 more years. Because the world is filled with countries like those described by Orwell.
By the way, there is a title confusion regarding Orwell's "Animal Farm." Some have translated the title as "Heyvanıstan" (Animalland), some as "Heyvan təsərrüfatı" (Animal Husbandry), some as "Heyvan ferması" (Animal Farm) — as if there is such a thing as a human farm — and others as "Heyvan guşəsi" (Animal Corner), and so on. There are also those who translate it as "Heyvan kəndi" (Animal Village). In my opinion, the title of that work in our language could be "Arxac." Arxac means a fenced sleeping place in the open air adjacent to sheepfolds and cattle sheds. (But I am not insistent on this name, I know educated people could rise up and prove me wrong).
Now, let's come to the point of why Mr. Medvedev (sometimes his surname is spelled "Medvedev" in our country, but this is wrong; the letter "e" is pronounced as "ye" in Russian, his surname is not "Медведэв" but "Медведев," just like Yeltsin and not Eltsin) quoted from the novel "1984."
The person was prompted to do this by Washington's policy concerning the Strait of Hormuz. MedvedYEV wrote that when many countries wanted to open the Strait of Hormuz, the White House decided to close the strait. "Blocking = opening? Orwell's scoundrels returned with double anger. What will come next? Of course, 'war is peace,'" MedvedYEV wrote.
With this expression, he referred to the phrases from Orwell’s novel, "War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength," in a trendy way.
Undoubtedly, at this point MedvedYEV is right; indeed, everything in the world is upside down currently. They kill 50,000 people while talking about peace, displace 1-2 million people speaking of human rights, say "the commander issued a fatwa banning the acquisition of nuclear weapons," yet do not hesitate to carry out uranium enrichment to create these weapons. What the mouth says and what the hand does are two different things.
But the last country that should quote from Orwell's works is precisely Russia and its officials.
Because they themselves, for 4 years now, have left no stone unturned, toppling and burning everything in Ukraine, have condemned at least 1 million young people (on both sides) to ruin, occupy the cities of a country registered in the UN register — Ukraine — and announce in the press "another city liberated."
Modern Russia resembles Russia in Stalin’s times. It is the same totalitarianism: "Everything for the front!"; "Death to the vile enemy!"; "Down with Nazism!" and so on. Just like in Stalin’s times, now those who speak against the government are punished and labeled "foreign agents." I swear, if today not MedvedYEV, but any locksmith quoted from Orwell’s novel, he would be taken to the police station and interrogated, being asked, "scoundrel, what do you mean?"
That is, as nonsense, shamelessness also has no boundary or limit; it is infinite like the universe.
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The world is the old world; the monkeys who give their own name to others are new.
Samir SARI