Welcome to the Triple C’s—proof that reading can turn into reading for fun (and vice versa). Whether inspired by social media hype, a Barnes & Noble display, a Goodreads email, a syllabus, or pure curiosity, this weekly review is where my honest thoughts end up. Suggestions are always welcome, and the next review is already underway.
Humanities—infamous as one of the most challenging courses at Tenafly High School—demands more than memorization or close reading. It challenges students to think past the surface and, at times, to turn inward. Among its many required texts, 1984 stands out as a defining novel not just within the course but within sophomore English curricula more broadly. Yet as a Humanities survivor, I can only speak from my own experience.
What makes 1984 by George Orwell so striking in contrast to the rest of the Humanities reading list is what it requires of the reader. While The Theban Plays, Macbeth, Beowulf, and Frankenstein repeatedly ask how we feel about guilt, fate, ambition, or monstrosity, Orwell does the opposite. In fact, much of 1984 feels deliberately stripped of emotion. This is a world where affection is dangerous, love is regulated, and even private thoughts are suspect. After all, Big Brother is watching you.
Orwell’s restraint is intentional. The emotional distance in 1984 forces readers to engage intellectually rather than sentimentally. Instead of empathizing freely with characters, we are pushed to analyze systems: language, surveillance, and power. Winston Smith is not a tragic hero in the traditional sense; he is an ordinary, frightened man navigating a society designed to erase individuality. His lack of grand emotional expression mirrors the suffocating reality of Oceania, where feeling too much is itself an act of rebellion.
This emotional emptiness is what makes 1984 so unsettling—and so effective in a Humanities classroom. The novel does not comfort the reader or offer moral catharsis. It refuses to tell us how to feel, forcing us instead to confront how easily truth can be manipulated and how fragile individual thought really is. In a course that often emphasizes reflection and interpretation, Orwell demands skepticism and awareness.
By the time students finish 1984, the discomfort resonates. That, perhaps, is why it remains central to the curriculum. The novel teaches more than literary analysis; it trains readers to question authority and their own assumptions. 1984 is not emotionally generous, but it is intellectually relentless, and that is precisely what makes it unforgettable.
