(London) A commemorative coin depicting the image of an eye and the inscription “Big Brother is watching you” will be issued in the United Kingdom to pay tribute to the author of 1984George Orwell, and commemorate his death 75 years ago.
Posted at 8:27 a.m.
The £2 coin depicts what appears to be an eye, but is in fact a camera lens, and on the edge of the coin is another famous quote from Orwell’s dystopian novel: “There was the truth and there was lies. »
Coin artist Henry Gray claims that the theme of totalitarianism was central to his design.
“With phones and cameras everywhere in your home, and ads listening to you on your phone, you’re really aware of how you’re being monitored – and that’s exactly what 1984 “, he argued.
“That is why the eye [dans la conception] is not a realistic eye. He doesn’t have eyelashes and things like that because I wanted him to be monocular. It’s almost like a camera lens looking at you all the time, without blinking. »
The novel, set in a fictional future, depicts civil servant Winston Smith’s secret rebellion against a totalitarian government and its leader, Big Brother.
Orwell, who also wrote the political fable Animal Farmdied in a London hospital at the age of 46 on January 21, 1950, a few months after the publication of 1984.
The Royal Mint said the collector coin will go on sale on Wednesday starting at £17.50 each.
Other literary figures who have been commemorated on 2-pound plays include William Shakespeare, Jane Austen and JRR Tolkien.
