Plastic Surgery

“Our surgeons can alter people beyond recognition.” (Page 250)

Although, today, plastic surgery is often linked to beautification and self-improvement, it was once used solely for restoration. For centuries such procedures as skin grafts have been performed, and as a result, the process has become “one of the world's oldest healing arts.” It wasn’t until the onset of war during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that plastic surgery advanced both scientifically and medicinally. Developments in the field came with the increasing amounts of bodily wounds resulting from combat in both World War I and World War II. In addition to giving Winston comfort if ever he should be discovered, Orwell also includes this reference to hint at his own beliefs regarding the future. Although, at the time of 1984’s publication during the late 1940s, plastic surgery had improved significantly, the quality of the procedures was not nearly as advanced as it is today. This fact suggests that Orwell had considerable faith in future technologies and the innovations that would be made, something of which he was accurate about.

"The History of Plastic Surgery, ASPS and PSEF." American Society of Plastic Surgeons: The Resource for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. Web. 11 May 2010. http://www.plasticsurgery.org/About_ASPS/History_of_Plastic_Surgery.html.