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Language is a powerful tool, and so is education. They can be used to influence people´s opinions or to keep them under control, as is the case with totalitarian regimes. In the dark world of Nineteen Eighty-Four an artificial language is created and imposed from above, with the aim of controlling people´s thoughts. In A Clockwork Orange, on the contrary, language comes spontaneously from the people and can be considered as a symbol of their rebellion to common rules. Education is the name the author of this essay gives to the set of strategies people at the power use to keep their power. It also includes the individual re-education process necessary to reinstate rebels into society. This comparison between two powerful books of the twentieth century is a good opportunity to reflect on the way we use language and on how our democratic societies are organized.

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Manuel Cadeddu studied English Literature at Cagliari University (Italy) and University College Dublin (Ireland), then Teaching Theory and Practice at Cagliari University. This essay on Orwell and Burgess awarded him top marks for his first degree. He currently teaches in high school and at university and is doing a PhD in English Literature.

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