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IN October 1947, Eric Blair—known today by his pen name George Orwell—wrote a letter to the co-owner of the Secker & Warburg publishing house. In that letter, Orwell noted that he was in the “last lap” of the rough draft of a novel, describing it as “a most dreadful mess.”

Orwell had sequestered himself on the Scottish island of Jura in order to finish the novel. He completed it the following year, having transformed his “most dreadful mess” into “1984,” one of the 20th century’s most important novels.

Published in 1949, the novel turns 70 this year. The anniversary provides an opportunity to reflect on its significance and its most valuable, but sometimes overlooked, lesson.

The main lesson of “1984” is not “persistent surveillance is bad,” or “authoritarian governments are dangerous.” These are true statements, but not the most important message.

“1984” is at its core a novel about language; how it can be used by governments to subjugate and obfuscate, and by citizens to resist oppression.

Orwell was a master of the English language and his legacy lives on through some of the words he created. Even those who haven’t read “1984” know some of its “newspeak.”