Fanspot
Ministry of Truth
“The Ministry of Truth—Minitrue, in Newspeak —was startlingly different from any other object in sight. It was an enormous pyramidal structure of glittering white concrete, soaring up, terrace after terrace, 300 metres into the air. “
The narrator
Inspired by Yevgeny Zamiatin’s Russian dystopian novel We Others and Swedish writer Karin Boye’s The Kallocaine, it takes the still unstable geopolitical situation as its starting point and builds a powerful parable of contemporary despotism. To locate the Ministry of Truth, where Winston Smith, his main character, works, George Orwell chose Senate House for two reasons.
Senate House as the Ministry of Truth
The first is that during the war, the building housed the Ministry of Information. Secondly, it is within these walls that his wife worked for a long time. George Orwell knew Senate House well and had the opportunity to enter it several times to admire the architecture, both intimidating and futuristic.
The perfect anchor for his terrifying novel, over which the shadow of Big Brother, the leader of the Party whose influence becomes more and more crushing as the pages go by. A protagonist since widely quoted in the popular culture, to whom it is difficult not to think in front of the Senate House.
1984 was the subject of six adaptations in comics.
Senate House Building
As the administrative center of the University of London, the majestic Senate House Building inspired one of the most important works of British literature.
Located in the heart of Bloomsbury, between the British Museum and the School of Oriental and African Studies, the Senate House Building was built in 1937.
Remarkable for its architecture inspired by both Art Deco and the modern movement, this ambitious 19-story building was built in 1937 and reaches a height of 64 meters.
George Orwell was strongly inspired to locate the Ministry of Truth in his novel 1984.
The Fantrippers Buying Board
Cult! novels : 100 mythical places of novels (French Edition)
Cult! Novels tells you the secrets of the places that made the history of literature.
Discover the history of Harry Potter’s house, the park that inspired the Lord of the Rings, Dracula’s castle and many other mythical places in literature in a new book.
Content quality
Interest for fans
Value for money
Discover all the places 1984 on our map
By Gilles Rolland
Passionné de cinéma, de rock and roll, de séries TV et de littérature. Rédacteur de presse et auteur des livres Le Heavy Metal au cinéma, Paroles de fans Guns N' Roses, Paroles de fans Rammstein et Welcome to my Jungle : 100 albums rock et autres anecdotes dépareillées. Adore également voyager à la recherche des lieux les plus emblématiques de la pop culture.