George Orwell must be turning in his grave! Students at a UK university are being warned about ‘explicit material’ found in his famous dystopian novel- 1984 – that describes the dangers of censorship
Published in 1949, Orwell’s story, which is set in a totalitarian state that persecutes individual thinking, gave the world phrases like ‘Big Brother’, ‘Newspeak’ and ‘thought police’.
However as madness hits new heights, the woke University of Northampton saw fit to issue a somewheat ironic warning over potentially “offensive and upsetting” material contained in the British classic.
BYPASS THE CENSORS
Sign up to get unfiltered news delivered straight to your inbox.
You can unsubscribe any time. By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use
RT reports: The novel, which describes the dangers of totalitarian rule and censorship, is now red-flagged, as it addresses “challenging issues related to violence, gender, sexuality, class, race, abuses, sexual abuse, political ideas and offensive language.”
The warning, issued to students taking a module called ‘Identity Under Construction,’ became public following a Freedom of Information request by The Mail on Sunday.
The news raised eyebrows among social media users, with one saying that Orwell is “grave turning” and another reacting with an emotional “Get me off this planet. I can’t deal.”
“There’s something very Big Brother about it,” Conservative MP Andre Bridgen commented on Twitter.
“If a trigger warning prevents even one student from reading 1984, the University of Northampton has utterly failed in its mission. This book, more than any, should be read widely at the moment,” an Australian professor Andrew Timming noted.
However, Orwell’s classic novel is not the only one students at Northampton should beware of, according to the university’s management. Samuel Beckett’s play ‘Endgame,’ the graphic novel ‘V For Vendetta’ by Alan Moore and David Lloyd and Jeanette Winterson’s ‘Sexing The Cherry’ have also been listed by the university as “offensive and upsetting.”
Apparently, there are also some problems with books taught in other modules of Northampton’s English degree course as well. Mark Haddon’s 2003 novel ‘The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time,’ for example, might be upsetting for readers, as it includes the “death of an animal, ableism and disability and offensive language”, the warning explains.
