(Senior Eagles +65) '1984' Question

mourningdove~ · Jun 26, 2024

George Orwell's books "1984" and "Animal Farm" were required reading when I was attending high school (1970's).
'1984' was released in 1949. 'Animal Farm' in 1945.

Was anyone else required to read these books when they were in high school?
Can anyone explain to me why they would have been required reading at that time in history?

Note: I'm guessing they aren't required reading anymore (?).
And maybe it was just my school? (Mine was a large public school in a big U.S. city.)

PloverWing · Jun 26, 2024

I read them both in high school, although it was long enough ago that I can't remember whether they were required, or optional (one of many options on a reading list), or whether I just read them on my own. Maybe Animal Farm was the required one...?

In the 1970s, the Soviet Union was still a strong world power. Books that looked at totalitarian systems, and books that looked at how a well-meant revolution can go wrong, were quite timely. I think it's still useful to look at the psychology of totalitarian systems and to look at how revolutions can result in government systems that some of the revolutionaries weren't expecting, as people seize and abuse power.

Rescued One · Jun 26, 2024

I think different school districts had different reading lists. I lived in so many places that I went to at least 6 different high schools. In my sophmore year I went to 3 schools! I think we may have read A Burnt-Out Case by Graham Greene. Or was it a book by Joseph Conrad?

I was married and having children in the seventies.

Pioneer3mm · Jun 27, 2024

Wikipedia has an interesting/informative article on..
- '1984 (book)'

mourningdove~ · Jun 28, 2024

PloverWing said:
In the 1970s, the Soviet Union was still a strong world power. Books that looked at totalitarian systems, and books that looked at how a well-meant revolution can go wrong, were quite timely.

Thank you for this ^. I was hoping someone could shine some light on U.S. history at that time.

I figured there had to be some reason why those books were deemed important enough to be required reading.

I'm thinking to read them again. Now, thru adult, more informed eyes.

PloverWing said:
I think it's still useful to look at the psychology of totalitarian systems and to look at how revolutions can result in government systems that some of the revolutionaries weren't expecting, as people seize and abuse power.

I agree.

mourningdove~ · Jun 28, 2024

Rescued One said:
I think different school districts had different reading lists.

I'm thinking you're probably right about that.

If you were married and having children in the 70's, then sounds like you're a few years older than me.
By chance do you remember the "Duck and Cover" air raid drills they had in some schools in the 50's?

I started in private grade school in 1960, and we never had them, but I heard about them from a friend.
That had to be a scary time for kids.

mourningdove~ · Jun 28, 2024

Pioneer3mm said:
Wikipedia has an interesting/informative article on..
- '1984 (book)'

Thank you. (I didn't think to look there!)

Nineteen Eighty-Four - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

PloverWing · Jun 28, 2024

I'm too young to remember Duck and Cover, but in my high school health class there was a unit on how to stock a fallout shelter.

Rescued One · Jun 28, 2024

PloverWing said:
I'm too young to remember Duck and Cover, but in my high school health class there was a unit on how to stock a fallout shelter.

Weird! I never heard of doing that nor do I think anyone had a fallout shelter in Florida. Weren't they underground?

Rescued One · Jun 28, 2024

mourningdove~ said:
I'm thinking you're probably right about that.

If you were married and having children in the 70's, then sounds like you're a few years older than me.
By chance do you remember the "Duck and Cover" air raid drills they had in some schools in the 50's?

I started in private grade school in 1960, and we never had them, but I heard about them from a friend.
That had to be a scary time for kids.

View attachment 350811

I never heard of duck and cover. What was the reasoning? It wouldn't protect people in a mass shooting or bombing. In 1953/54 I was in DuVall County, Florida, first grade. They had no Kindergarten!

Rescued One · Jun 28, 2024

I thought required reading was assigned by English teachers. It wouldn't be related to government, politics or history.

mourningdove~ · Jun 29, 2024

PloverWing said:
I'm too young to remember Duck and Cover, but in my high school health class there was a unit on how to stock a fallout shelter.

Interesting.

I remember now as a kid, seeing those public "Fallout Shelter" signs.
Don't see them anymore.

I found alittle history about them, on Wikipedia.

Fallout shelter - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

mourningdove~ · Jun 29, 2024

Rescued One said:
I never heard of duck and cover. What was the reasoning? It wouldn't protect people in a mass shooting or bombing.

In the early 1950's, folks apparently didn't know much about what happened when an atomic bomb exploded. They thought that hiding under their desks would protect the children from fallout.

How 'Duck-and-Cover' Drills Channeled America's Cold War Anxiety | HISTORY

Amid an escalating arms race, civil defense drills offered comically simple strategies for surviving an atomic attack.

www.history.com

Rescued One · Jun 29, 2024

I was in Germany from 1949-1952. Maybe that was when they did 'Duck and Cover.'
Good grief!

https://www.loc.gov/item/2022604365/

mourningdove~ · Jun 30, 2024

Rescued One said:
https://www.loc.gov/item/2022604365/

WOW.

Scary film!

What a different world it was back then ...

godisagardener · Jul 3, 2024

mourningdove~ said:
George Orwell's books "1984" and "Animal Farm" were required reading when I was attending high school (1970's).
'1984' was released in 1949. 'Animal Farm' in 1945.

Was anyone else required to read these books when they were in high school?
Can anyone explain to me why they would have been required reading at that time in history?

Note: I'm guessing they aren't required reading anymore (?).
And maybe it was just my school? (Mine was a large public school in a big U.S. city.)

I recall reading "Animal Farm" in school, don't remember what grade. I didn't read "1984" until just a couple years ago. I enjoyed it but the latter portions were rather monotonous. I'd read it again, though. Kindle editions can usually be found free on Amazon and there are free audiobooks to listen to on Youtube.

I remember the duck and cover from school, recall crouching under our desks. At that time we lived at Minot AFB in North Dakota. My dad had something to do with missile maintenance, would be called out at all hours of the night. I'm sure a desk wouldn't have saved us.

I actually have one of those original fallout shelter signs! It was still attached to a basement wall where I worked years ago (and I'm talking early '80s!) and the boss said take it. It's hanging on our wall now.

mourningdove~ · Jul 7, 2024

godisagardener said:
I recall reading "Animal Farm" in school, don't remember what grade. I didn't read "1984" until just a couple years ago. I enjoyed it but the latter portions were rather monotonous. I'd read it again, though. Kindle editions can usually be found free on Amazon and there are free audiobooks to listen to on Youtube.

Awhile back, I tried to watch a recently made version of the movie "1984" on Amazon Prime, but we turned it off without finishing it. It really was just too 'dark' of a movie to watch at the time; very depressing. I would like to sometime watch the 1985 version of the movie starring John Hurt and Richard Burton. Given that movies made back then tended not to be so 'graphic', I think it might be a better version of the film (for me) to watch ... plus I like both those actors.

godisagardener said:
I remember the duck and cover from school, recall crouching under our desks. At that time we lived at Minot AFB in North Dakota. My dad had something to do with missile maintenance, would be called out at all hours of the night. I'm sure a desk wouldn't have saved us.

As a child growing up back then, do you remember that time as being a 'scary' time?
(Or maybe you felt more protected, since your Dad was in the military?)

godisagardener said:
I actually have one of those original fallout shelter signs! It was still attached to a basement wall where I worked years ago (and I'm talking early '80s!) and the boss said take it. It's hanging on our wall now.

That's a pretty cool piece of memorabilia to have!

Nowadays, I guess many of the rich are having fallout bunkers built:

Billionaires’ Survivalist Bunkers Go Absolutely Bonkers With Fiery Moats and Water Cannons

Amid 'World War III' fears, apocalypse-fearing moguls are investing millions in survival strategies including rotating fireplaces out of 'Indiana Jones' and heightened tactical systems.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

godisagardener · Jul 7, 2024

mourningdove~ said:
Awhile back, I tried to watch a recently made version of the movie "1984" on Amazon Prime, but we turned it off without finishing it. It really was just too 'dark' of a movie to watch at the time; very depressing. I would like to sometime watch the 1985 version of the movie starring John Hurt and Richard Burton. Given that movies made back then tended not to be so 'graphic', I think it might be a better version of the film (for me) to watch ... plus I like both those actors.

As a child growing up back then, do you remember that time as being a 'scary' time?
(Or maybe you felt more protected, since your Dad was in the military?)

That's a pretty cool piece of memorabilia to have!

Nowadays, I guess many of the rich are having fallout bunkers built:

Billionaires’ Survivalist Bunkers Go Absolutely Bonkers With Fiery Moats and Water Cannons

Amid 'World War III' fears, apocalypse-fearing moguls are investing millions in survival strategies including rotating fireplaces out of 'Indiana Jones' and heightened tactical systems.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

Apparently that was Richard Burton's last film. I liked him too, in some things. There's also a 1956 version of the movie with some notable faces. B&W movies are great!

I don't think I really gave the scariness of the time much thought! It was just part of life I guess.

And being a military kid it was part of growing up. My parents didn't make a big deal out of things, didn't talk a lot about such stuff, and if they did I must not have paid much attention!!

I've read some articles about rich folks' bunkers. I don't know how they think it would save them...

mourningdove~ · Jul 8, 2024

godisagardener said:
I've read some articles about rich folks' bunkers. I don't know how they think it would save them...

What I see when I read those articles are persons who appear to be very afraid to die.

Granted, the dying process itself does not sound so good to me, but seeing the Lord in heaven and spending eternity with Him and the family of God does sound very good to me!

Rescued One · Aug 5, 2024

PloverWing said:
I read them both in high school, although it was long enough ago that I can't remember whether they were required, or optional (one of many options on a reading list), or whether I just read them on my own. Maybe Animal Farm was the required one...?

In the 1970s, the Soviet Union was still a strong world power. Books that looked at totalitarian systems, and books that looked at how a well-meant revolution can go wrong, were quite timely. I think it's still useful to look at the psychology of totalitarian systems and to look at how revolutions can result in government systems that some of the revolutionaries weren't expecting, as people seize and abuse power.

I don't think the many schools I attended in the sixties were interested in totalitarian systems. In 10th grade I went to three different schools in New Jersey,

Then I went to 11th grade in N.J. and can barely remember the class. I wish I had learned about WWII because my father was part of the constabulary in post war Germany. He went to OCS while there. He wasn't accepted in the army until after WWII because he had a crippled leg from polio in high school. He also went to college while in the army in the early sixties. In college he decided he was an atheist; I wonder if a professor was influencing him.

(Senior Eagles +65) '1984' Question

Romans 10:17

Episcopalian

...yet not I, but the grace of God that is with me

Well-Known Member

Romans 10:17

Romans 10:17

Romans 10:17

Episcopalian

...yet not I, but the grace of God that is with me

...yet not I, but the grace of God that is with me

...yet not I, but the grace of God that is with me

Romans 10:17

Romans 10:17

...yet not I, but the grace of God that is with me

Romans 10:17

Romans 10:6-9, Ephesians 2:8-10

Romans 10:17

Romans 10:6-9, Ephesians 2:8-10

Romans 10:17

...yet not I, but the grace of God that is with me

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