Ministry of Truth goes to work on Children's Books

What a bunch of Willy Wonkas

Winston Smith, the main character in George Orwell’s book ‘1984’, worked at the Ministry of Truth. The huge building in which he worked contained over 3,000 rooms above ground and a large part below ground where documents that didn’t fit the agenda were put down memory holes to be destroyed.

Within the Ministry of Truth were various departments including Recdep (records department), Teledep (Tele-programmes department), Pornosec (Pornography section) and Ficdep (Fiction department). In the Ministry, employees changed the words in articles and books and we have now reached the point in the real world where we have our very own Ficdep.

'Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it. Every concept that can ever be needed, will be expressed by exactly one word, with its meaning rigidly defined and all its subsidiary meanings rubbed out and forgotten. Already, in the Eleventh Edition, we're not far from that point. But the process will still be continuing long after you and I are dead. Every year fewer and fewer words, and the range of consciousness always a little smaller. Even now, of course, there's no reason or excuse for committing thoughtcrime. It's merely a question of self-discipline, reality-control. But in the end there won't be any need even for that. The Revolution will be complete when the language is perfect.’

Roald Dahl is one of the most successful children’s authors ever. I don’t know about the rest of the world but in the UK his books are a staple of childhood. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BFG, The Witches, Danny the Champion of the World, The Twits, Matilda, James and the Giant Peach and Fantastic Mr Fox are just a few titles that you will probably have heard of.

In 2021 Netflix bought the rights to Roald Dahl’s books from the Dahl Estate. However, the Ministry of Truth got hold of the books the year before when publisher Puffin and the Roald Dahl Story Company started to change words and phrases within the books. Sometimes they just removed things altogether.

Sensitivity readers (i.e. employees from the Ministry) have gone through every page of Dahl’s books and ensured that they “can continue to be enjoyed by all today”. Any language related to weight, mental health, violence, gender and race has been altered or removed.

So don’t worry if you are overweight, no longer will you have to read the word ‘fat’. Unsure about your gender? Not a problem, the ‘cloud-men’ have been changed to ‘cloud-people’ and ‘ladies and gentlemen’ to ‘folks’. Not sure how to react when you hear the word ‘white’? It’s been sorted for you and the character that ‘turned white’ has now gone ‘quite pale’.

In George’s Marvellous Medicine they’ve even added in a dedication that wasn’t previously there - “This book is for doctors everywhere”.

The culture war is in full swing. How long until 1984 is rewritten or sent to the memory hole?

The Telegraph compared the 2001 editions with the latest 2022 editions to highlight what changes have been made. Have a look at a sample of the changes below or for the full list, click here.