Although written in the past, 1984 is very much a prophecy of what is happening in the modern society. Considering that many young people do not take time to read books written in the last century, there is a very slim chance that many of them will read and understand the themes presented by George Orwell in 1984. For the themes in this book to get to the young people, there is need for the book to be adapted in a medium that they can identify with. The choice of medium I have chosen for re-adaptation of the novel is particularly interesting given that nearly every young person today is exposed to a range of children books in the school setting before the reading culture totally disappears later on in life. This means that most of the young people today will be less likely to read George Orwell’s book later on in life and there is therefore the need to introduce the book to them earlier on in life.

My intended audience for this new medium is the young generation from the ages of 5-12 years. This age bracket is often forgotten when it comes to the literature touching on political deceit since most of the materials touching on this age group are rated 13 and this effectively leaves this rather important age out of the discussion on matters that concern them. In the coming days, I want people to look back and see an individual who had enough intelligence to realize that all the important lessons in life are the ones that are taught from a young age. This means that for the idea of the evils being perpetuated by political systems in the world to sink in the society, there is need for people to be introduced to such ideals from a young age.

Adaptation

For this adaptation, I have chosen the concept of a children story book that will be available for children aged between 5-12 years. The new adaptation will be called I KNOW WHAT YOU DID IN YOUR BEDROOM!

Rhetorical Analysis

            George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty Four is a significant point of reference that addresses the issue of propaganda. The reason why this book is so central is because it catapults the concept of surveillance and propaganda to extreme limits. While trying to discuss the concept of propaganda, the author introduces rather subtly the concept of surveillance. The manner in which this theme is introduced makes it almost impossible for an individual to know that it is propaganda and not reality.

In the story, propaganda has been placed under the Ministry of Truth. This is where Winston Smith the protagonist works. He is in charge of the Records Department and his job description is to constantly destroy the records of the past to ensure that they are constantly in tandem with what is currently happening in the Ministry. He also has to justify the changing of the records to anyone who comes around questioning. The most interesting thing in the book is that Smith succeeds in censoring himself as he tries to follow “lines of policy” laid down anonymously and his estimate of what the party wanted” him to say” (Tyner 124).

A clear insight in Winston’s propaganda assignment comes out in one of his assignments where he is supposed to write a news story to replace another that is due for publication in the Times. Using his wit, Winston gathers that the order for the day is to praise the work of a certain organization known as FFCC. In his replacement story, he writes a fictitious story of Comrade Ogilvy who is the epitome of the values held by the party. In his article, he writes that Ogilvy denounced his closest uncle to the Thought Police after eavesdropping on a conversation that had a criminal intent. Without mentioning, Winston’s story exemplifies Party ideals such as loyalty to Party over family affiliations and earnestness in weeding out criminals. In order to ensure that the moral of the story is clear to everyone, Winston adds some editorial remarks that he links to Big Brother praising Ogilvy for abstinence as well as other non-existent virtues.

In I know What You Did in Your Bedroom, Winston will be presented as a flawless public servant who is dedicated to his work and to the Party. However, there will be a big difference in that Winston will be presented as a person who is torn in between following his conscience and doing what he knows is right. While the original text presents Winston as someone who is totally committed to fabricating lies to promote the Party, the new Winston will be someone who drags the publication of the article to give him time to come up with a story that does not entirely seek to promote the concept of propaganda as is evident in the original work.

In the original novel, Winston’s news story typifies a type of propaganda that is elusive in the novel, the presentation of lies as facts. Indeed, every statistic in the novel is not entirely false but it becomes false because they are found to be lies. However, the main idea is not just to promote facts but rather to promote values. The Party in the novel is not really concerned about the possibility of their facts being proved as lies but its only concern is to present itself as a Party that has a form of political concern. This can be seen from the attempt to prove that life is at the present better off to the people than before the Party ascended into power. This message that is repeated in the entire novel is superseded by the more general message that Big Brother is good and worthy of praise and love.

While George Orwell presents the Ministry of Truth as a department that is filled with people whose desire to follow the lines of policy has dulled their inner voice, the new adaptation is filled with some elements whose inner voice has not entirely been dulled by the falsified policies of the party (Tyner 129). Instead of being blind to the suffering of the people as is evident in Nineteen Eighty Four, I know What You Did in Your Bedroom will seek to give voice to the masses albeit secretly to fight the injustices facing them. While the old adaptation characterizes Winston as someone who is willing to cover the ills of his masters as far as his concerns are met, the new adaptation will present a Winston who is ready to do the right thing despite the repercussions.

Works Cited

Tyner, James. Self and space, resistance and discipline: A Foucauldian reading of George Orwell’s 1984. Social & Cultural Geography, 5(1), 2008.120-149. Print.