7 Great Works of Literature with a Political Message

1. Nineteen Eighty-Four – George Orwell, 1949
By far the most influential and eminent of Orwell’s works, Nineteen Eighty-Four is both a beautifully crafted novel and a creatively executed commentary on totalitarian socialism, which had been gaining influence in Europe at the time of the book’s publication. As the Soviet Union struggled to widen its sphere of influence and push the boundaries of the Soviet bloc, so Orwell struggled to educate Great Britain of the dangers of totalitarian socialism and prevent political catastrophe as he saw it (Orwell himself was an advocate of democratic socialism, which differs greatly and fundamentally from the socialism practiced by the Soviet Union). The book was a landmark success and sent a resounding political message that continues to shape politics and inspire the minds of its readers. By no means the only book Orwell wrote on the subject, Nineteen Eighty-Four was unquestionably the most tangibly horrid, a fact that only contributes more to its success as both a work of fiction and a political exhortation.

2. The Fountainhead – Ayn Rand, 1943
Though similar in conception to George Orwell’s works, The Fountainhead has proved much more profound and psychological than its Orwellian counterparts, not to mention far more epic. At 752 pages to Nineteen Eighty-Four‘s 326, The Fountainhead did not fare nearly so well on its own release and received criticism from many of the nation’s eminent critics. Nevertheless, it showed an understanding of and revulsion towards collectivism and socialism that was unparalleled in literature. Its author, Ayn Rand, grew up in Russia during a period of intense revolution and, disgusted in what she witnessed, formed her own political and social philosophies that became the basis for her many novels. Thus, The Fountainhead, despite its poor reviews, traveled through word-of-mouth and upon its reevaluation gained almost unanimous critical acclaim. Today, in addition to its reputation as a novel of great political significance, it is considered one of the greatest literary works of the twentieth century. An advocate of individualism and what she referred to as “the virtue of selfishness,” Rand used her novel to express her belief that the human race benefits most by seeking personal gain rather than by focusing its power on altruism and collectivism. It is a subtle but immensely forceful book that is emotionally bleaker even than Nineteen Eighty-Four six years later, but is not so much a desperate warning as a desperate plea. In this way Rand projects her ideals more intellectually, but equally as effectively as, Orwell, and to a very similar if aloof markedly unique end. The book’s title comes from Rand’s assertion that “man’s ego is the fountainhead of human progress,” an notion that she justified not just in this, but in every book she wrote.

3. Brave New World – Aldous Huxley, 1932
Brave New World was the indirect inspiration for many of the most influential political books of the twentieth century, because it served as a exclaim inspiration to George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. The main difference between the two books, both of which succor to express the same political ideas, is the setting. Both consume region in the future, in a society unlike any ever seen before. In Orwell’s novel, this society is a repressive dystopia where people are denied their freedoms to ensure the welfare of the status and its mysterious government. Huxley’s recent, on the other hand, presents society more ironically. Hisis a society built on happiness because all of the desire for freedom has been eliminated, and people are conditioned from “birth” to fit perfectly into the society as a whole. It is a new kind of totalitarianism, in which even the possibility of the individual does not exist. The political implications of the original are obvious, just as in the case of Nineteen Eighty-Four, but there are also clear social implications reminiscent of the social climate of the twentieth century. In fact, many of the hallmarks of twentieth century culture held great influence in Brave New World, particularly the extent of the industrialization of the times, which Huxley portrays as an almost virulent Force that eventually takes over the very human race. Though Brave New World is today considered a classic novel, it received almost universal criticism on its release. Though reviews were often sympathetic in their criticism, the book eventually gained a following and became very popular among its readers.

4. Animal Farm – George Orwell, 1945
A true narrative, Animal Farm follows the anti-communist vein of all of Orwell’s works, but is different in several distinct ways from both Orwell’s other books and similar books of other authors. Unlike Nineteen Eighty-Four, which was published four years later, Animal Farm is not a frightening tale. Its purpose is not to inspire in its readers a fear of totalitarianism or of communism, but rather to educate them to the illogical nature of both. The story’s characters are anthropomorphized animals, simple analogies to many of the most prominent figures of socialism of that and past times. These analogies are not only obvious and effective, but also amusing, making an easy read of the very short story. Despite its humor and its fundamental absurdity, the subject matter remains serious, and the book is at times nothing short of grim, a tool Orwell used many times in his writing. Acting as a parody of the Russian and, later, Soviet revolutions, the story follows a group of animals who, tired with the repressive management of the farm on which they live, revolt and attempt to form a society in which every animal is equal. One of the most enduring parts of the story is the animal’s flag – a direct joke on the “hammer and sickle” flag of the Soviet Union – which has an image of a crossed horn and hoof superimposed on a background of green. Instantly recognizable to the readers of its time as such a parody, Animal Farm became so enjoyable a book that it communicated its political meaning as well as, if not outright better than, that of Nineteen Eighty-Four. Unfortunately, due to the same reasons it was not taken nearly as seriously by its readers, and remains a book of more literary than political significance in cultural terms.

5. Slaughterhouse-Five – Kurt Vonnegut, 1969
Slaughterhouse-Five put a completely new perspective on the politics of the twentieth century by being a combination of a science-fiction book and an anti-war new. Unlike other political novels of its time, it was not focused on socialism, but rather on the political situation of the United States itself. In the first chapter of the book, Vonnegut writes that he knows that there will always be wars, that they are “just as easy to halt as glaciers.” In this respect, Slaughterhouse-Five was not written so much as an argument against war as an pains to make the public realize that, however inevitable it was, the consequences of war ought to be taken more seriously. Even so, Vonnegut’s writing was at times vulgar and obscene, causing the novel to receive very mixed reviews. Many hailed the perspective of the author and the portrayal of his ideals; just as many criticized the use of profanity and the novel’s depiction of God, sex, and even the Holocaust. Slaughterhouse-Five has nevertheless become a classic of American literature, especially with regard to World War II novels, and the title is a reference to the slaughterhouse in which the main character lived in Dresden during the bombings of Germany. The unique accomplish of the book allowed it to be a character behold without using many descriptive devices, and as such was very effective at communicating the its foundation as a protest of war and war politics.

6. Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury, 1953
Aside from being a vastly political book, Fahrenheit 451 is probably one of the most well-known classics of the twentieth century. With a title derived from 451 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature at which paper will spontaneously ignite, the book describes a dystopian future society in which books are burned to prevent critical concept. In this lawless future society, “firemen” do not put out the fires, but start them. The novel, which has faced various interpretations over the years, was written as a commentary on the ways that, historically, thought has been repressed for political reasons. Bradbury’s examples of this include everything from Nazi book burning to the exploding of an atomic bomb, and he even cites mass-media and television as an inspiration, because these media neither require nor encourage critical thought. But ironically, Fahrenheit 451 was the subject of many censorship debates, and was even secretly censored by its publishers over time until Bradbury was informed . He saw censorship as a certain form of “book burning” because it denied readers the freedom of seeing the story as a whole. Perhaps partly because of its enigmatic meaning, Fahrenheit 451 has been a subject of great literary interest over the years, and is assigned widely in schools. Bradbury’s dramatic representation of his dystopia has served as a warning against the absence of free thought and critical thought, making it one of the most important political novels ever published.

7. Atlas Shrugged – Ayn Rand, 1957
Her self-proclaimed magnum opus, Atlas Shrugged outlined Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism, more thoroughly and completely than any of her other works. Though it shared some basic similarities with The Fountainhead, both its focus and its goal were decidedly different. Atlas Shrugged took the ideas of individualism first expressed in The Fountainhead and expressed them in a broader scope. It asserted, perhaps for the first time, that the endurance of society was possible largely because of free-thinkers and innovators, rather than only laborers and management. As with The Fountainhead, it asserted human achievement as the greatest force of nature and opposed all forms of collectivism, a theory that tied in heavily with the socialism of the Soviet Union. Also like The Fountainhead, it received very negative reviews but was a popular and enduring success among the public. In the last decade it has become one of the top-selling books in the United States, and was recently rated #33 in sales on retail site Amazon.com. Its title is a reference to the Greek Titan, Atlas, who was condemned to bear the weight of the heavens on his shoulders for eternity. In the novel, Atlas represents the forces of industry that support the world, and the title is taken as a quote from a line of dialogue in the book.