What’s Up With The 'Living In 1984' Meme References? The '1984 Calendar' Political Cartoon And Its Origin Explained

The internet has been obsessed with the year 1984 for many reasons over the last several years, not because something important happened in that period, but most particularly as a reference to the memorable science-fiction novel written by George Orwell in 1948, Nineteen Eighty-Four, otherwise called 1984.

The book's detailed description of a speculative dystopian government serves as a perfect metaphor for today's political divide in the world, which plays on themes of censorship and societal control — whether earnest or ironic.

Aside from metaphors and quotes from the book, Orwell's story also inspired netizens to create memes alluding to being censored by the dystopian government, including the "Living in 1984" meme or 1984 calendar illustration.

Here's the story behind the meme and how it grew as a massive exploitable online over the last few years.

Where Is The Living in 1984 Meme From?

The "Living in 1984" meme is a political comic originally created by cartoonist Gary Varvel in January 2021. The artist shared the illustration on a conservative news website as a response to U.S. President Donald Trump's suspension from X / Twitter, following the storming of the U.S. Capitol.

The comic depicts a man alarmed by Trump's suspension and the removal of the conservative social media Parler from app stores, only to discover that the calendar reads 1984, referencing Orwell's classic work that explores themes of totalitarianism and surveillance.

How Did The 'Living in 1984' Meme Go Viral?

The 1984 calendar meme began gaining traction shortly after its publication, primarily as users mocked Varvel's take on Orwell's classic work, creating parodies and edits in which users replaced the comic's text or adapted the visuals to reflect different themes or contexts.

One of the first viral examples of the meme was posted a few days after the original publication, in which Redditor ItalianBall posted a Cyberpunk 2077 edit of the comic to the subreddit /r/GamingCircleJerk.

Varvel acknowledged the meme's spread shortly after several edits appeared on X / Twitter, Facebook and Reddit, but indicated displeasure by stating he would report unauthorized edits to his syndicate.

How Is The Living in 1984 Meme Used Online?

To Varvel's distaste, his Living in 1984 meme is still commonly used in jokes in 2025 by many netizens, be it to make a sarcastic point about liking something rather unconventional, criticize a government's decision or any other topic the user wants to critique and add a commentary on perceived censorship.

For example, in January 2021, X user @WaltsLab posted an ironic version of the political comic about a gamer getting banned from a platform after typing many racial slurs.

Template

As mentioned earlier, the template of the comic has become an exploitable meme almost as long as it's been around, with individuals replacing the text to reflect various social commentaries or absurd situations.

Feel free to create your own version of the Living in 1984 meme using the blank template below.

---

For the full history of the Living in 1984 meme, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's entry for even more information.