反烏托邦小說經典之作 與《我們》、《美麗新世界》並列為三大反烏托邦小說 描寫極權社會的最佳範本 影響村上春樹創作《1Q84》的靈感來源

　　如果不與極權主義做鬥爭，它將無往不勝。
　　──喬治‧歐威爾

　　反烏托邦小說

　　反烏托邦小說的共同特點，在於對傳統烏托邦文學的「幸福」與「美好」，提出了強烈的質疑，其故事背景通常是描寫井然有序的社會，但作者會以反面的態度，表達對現實社會的質疑。相對於烏托邦強調整體的安定與利益，反烏托邦則以個人特質與自由意志為重心。最重要的是，反烏托邦想要表達的最大重點，在於探討表面科技進步、秩序井然的社會，是否真的是人們追求的生活呢？

　　近年來，從《時間迴旋》、《飢餓遊戲》，到《羊毛記》，可發現這類型反烏托邦小說程度上反映了人民對現實的不滿，而想找一個逃離現實生活，想像一個嚮往世界的窗口。

　　而《我們》、《一九八四》、《美麗新世界》則可說是替反烏托邦小說定調的關鍵作品，合稱《反烏托邦三部曲》

　　戰爭即和平。自由即奴役。而老大哥正注視著你……

　　誰控制過去就控制未來，誰控制現在就控制過去。
　
　　在遮陰的栗樹下，你出賣了我，我出賣了你。

　　喬治・歐威爾的經典小說《一九八四》，是一個人的夢魘式奧德賽遠遊，他經歷的是一個由交戰國家統治的世界，以及一個不但控制資訊、也控制個人思想記憶的權力結構。一個名叫溫斯頓・史密斯的小公務員，在大洋洲共和國冰冷灰白的環境下，加入了一個秘密兄弟會，追尋一段禁忌的婚外戀情——結果卻成了被追捕的國家公敵⋯⋯也是老大哥的敵人。

　　現在，成書的六十六年後，歐威爾這個關於順從、壓制與身分認同，預言了未來的難忘故事，還是讓人讀了坐立難安。我們隨著溫斯頓・史密斯經歷他的反叛、囚禁、折磨與再教育時，我們親身經歷了塑造出自我的自由與真理遭到毀壞的過程，還有黑即是白、二加二等於五、惡即是善的世界如何創造出來的。

　　*本書中譯本>由野人出版

　　Winston Smith is a low-ranking member of the ruling Party in London, in the nation of Oceania. Everywhere Winston goes, even his own home, the Party watches him through telescreens; everywhere he looks he sees the face of the Party's seemingly omniscient leader, a figure known only as Big Brother. The Party controls everything in Oceania, even the people's history and language. Currently, the Party is forcing the implementation of an invented language called Newspeak, which attempts to prevent political rebellion by eliminating all words related to it. Even thinking rebellious thoughts is illegal. Such thoughtcrime is, in fact, the worst of all crimes.

　　As the novel opens, Winston feels frustrated by the oppression and rigid control of the Party, which prohibits free thought, sex, and any expression of individuality. Winston dislikes the party and has illegally purchased a diary in which to write his criminal thoughts. He has also become fixated on a powerful Party member named O'Brien, whom Winston believes is a secret member of the Brotherhood-the mysterious, legendary group that works to overthrow the Party.

　　Winston works in the Ministry of Truth, where he alters historical records to fit the needs of the Party. He notices a coworker, a beautiful dark-haired girl, staring at him, and worries that she is an informant who will turn him in for his thoughtcrime. He is troubled by the Party's control of history: the Party claims that Oceania has always been allied with Eastasia in a war against Eurasia, but Winston seems to recall a time when this was not true. The Party also claims that Emmanuel Goldstein, the alleged leader of the Brotherhood, is the most dangerous man alive, but this does not seem plausible to Winston. Winston spends his evenings wandering through the poorest neighborhoods in London, where the proletarians, or proles, live squalid lives, relatively free of Party monitoring.

　　One day, Winston receives a note from the dark-haired girl that reads "I love you." She tells him her name, Julia, and they begin a covert affair, always on the lookout for signs of Party monitoring. Eventually they rent a room above the secondhand store in the prole district where Winston bought the diary. This relationship lasts for some time. Winston is sure that they will be caught and punished sooner or later (the fatalistic Winston knows that he has been doomed since he wrote his first diary entry), while Julia is more pragmatic and optimistic. As Winston's affair with Julia progresses, his hatred for the Party grows more and more intense. At last, he receives the message that he has been waiting for: O'Brien wants to see him.

　　Winston and Julia travel to O'Brien's luxurious apartment. As a member of the powerful Inner Party (Winston belongs to the Outer Party), O'Brien leads a life of luxury that Winston can only imagine. O'Brien confirms to Winston and Julia that, like them, he hates the Party, and says that he works against it as a member of the Brotherhood. He indoctrinates Winston and Julia into the Brotherhood, and gives Winston a copy of Emmanuel Goldstein's book, the manifesto of the Brotherhood. Winston reads the book-an amalgam of several forms of class-based twentieth-century social theory-to Julia in the room above the store. Suddenly, soldiers barge in and seize them. Mr. Charrington, the proprietor of the store, is revealed as having been a member of the Thought Police all along.

　　Torn away from Julia and taken to a place called the Ministry of Love, Winston finds that O'Brien, too, is a Party spy who simply pretended to be a member of the Brotherhood in order to trap Winston into committing an open act of rebellion against the Party. O'Brien spends months torturing and brainwashing Winston, who struggles to resist. At last, O'Brien sends him to the dreaded Room 101, the final destination for anyone who opposes the Party. Here, O'Brien tells Winston that he will be forced to confront his worst fear. Throughout the novel, Winston has had recurring nightmares about rats; O'Brien now straps a cage full of rats onto Winston's head and prepares to allow the rats to eat his face. Winston snaps, pleading with O'Brien to do it to Julia, not to him.

　　Giving up Julia is what O'Brien wanted from Winston all along. His spirit broken, Winston is released to the outside world. He meets Julia, but no longer feels anything for her. He has accepted the Party entirely and has learned to love Big Brother.

作者簡介

喬治‧歐威爾（George Orwell, 1903-1950）

　　喬治・歐威爾是艾瑞克・亞瑟・布雷爾的 筆名，一九〇三年生於殖民時代的印度。在英格蘭就讀寄宿學校，並且在校內第一次察覺到毒害英國社會的商人階級歧視，從而發展出對權力使用與誤用的初步敏感 性。一九二一年從伊頓公學畢業後，歐威爾簽約加入緬印皇家警察，他後來對此評論道：「要痛恨帝國主義，你就得先成為其中一員。」他在緬甸度過的時光對他影 響深遠，五年後他不做任何解釋就辭了職，宣布他要成為一位作家。

　　這位發現自己幾乎身無分文、開始以洗碗工為生的年輕作家，在他出版的 第一本著作《巴黎倫敦流浪記》（1933）裡，憑第一手經驗探究貧窮的主題；很快跟著出版的是《緬甸時光》（1934），這本書回顧他在皇家警察工作的時 期。他對於個人嘗試超脫自身社會角色而陷入的困境感興趣，這種興趣雖然表現在像是《讓葉蘭飛舞》（1936）這樣的早期喜劇小說中，但一直到他在《往威根 碼頭之路》中慷慨激昂地陳述英國工人的苦況之後，他新的政治意識才徹底開花結果。大約在此時，他跟他的新婚妻子在西班牙內戰爆發時加入反法西斯的民兵團 中，他的《向加泰隆尼亞致敬》（1938）。雖然他最廣為人知的或許是他精彩的諷刺作品《動物農莊》（1945）與他的經典反烏托邦小說《一九八四》 （1949），但他先前推出的散文集，像是《鯨腹之中》（1940）則反映出他持續地關注他所處時代非常真實的政治與社會處境。

　　一九四五年喪妻後，歐威爾感染了肺結核；再婚之後不久，歐威爾於一九五〇年去世，享年四十六歲。

　 　Eric Arthur Blair (1903-1950), better known by his pen-name, George Orwell, was born in India, where his father worked for the Civil Service. An author and journalist, Orwell was one of the most prominent and influential figures in twentieth-century literature. His unique political allegory Animal Farm was published in 1945, and it was this novel, together with the dystopia of Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), which brought him world-wide fame. All his novels and non-fiction, including Burmese Days (1934), Down and Out in Paris and London (1933), The Road to Wigan Pier (1937) and Homage to Catalonia (1938) are published in Penguin Modern Classics