Nineteen Eighty Four

Summary

A dystopian novel, set in a totalitarian society where "the Party" completely controls everything its citizens do. The idea of "big brother" constantly watching you originates from this book. In the world of 1984 every thought of disobedience is a punishable offence. It's a world, where everybody believes only what they are supposed to, a world, where the idea of truth is lost for good, controlled by the Party in order to make the citizens do whatever is necessary.

Key Ideas: Thoughtcrime, independent thought is punishable by death or "reeducation". Newspeak, a restricted language is used to limit freedom of thought. Doublethink, the ability to hold two contradictory beliefs at the same time is used to help make the brain accept anything as true and bend what words mean into their exact opposite. Examples from the book include:

War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength.

The idea of constant surveillance is also key to the book. Everybody has a "TV" in their houses that stares back at them, continually watching and recording everything everybody does.

The book follows Winston Smith, a low-ranking member of the Party, who works at the Ministry of Truth. There he alters historical records to fit the Party's propaganda.

Winston starts to wake up to what the party is doing because of his work, where he is confronted with reality, but constantly working to distort it. He starts keeping a diary, dreaming of rebellion and even starts a relationship with another member of the party, Julia, something that in the world of 1984 has to be kept secret.

He also makes friends with one of his supervisors O'Brien, and tells him about his thoughts. O'Brien seems to be part of a rebellion called the Brotherhood, which knows the truth. O'Brien gives Winston a book that reveals that the constant war with the other countries of the world, serves to maintain the Party's power by consuming resources and keeping the population in a constant state of fear and obedience.

Eventually, Julia and Winston are ratted out by O'Brien, that Winston trusted and told about his plans.They both end up in the Ministry of Love, where they are tortured into accepting anything that the party says as true. If the party says 2 + 2 = 5 => then this is reality. That is the truth.

The book ends with Winston being confronted with his biggest fear: rats. Instead of enduring the torture himself he is offered an "easy" way out: betray Julia, his love, and let her suffer the torture instead of him. Once Winston accepted this level of control of the party, his re-education is complete. 1984 ends with Winston being a "happy" member of the Party again, spouting all the lies that he has been told and accepting them as truth himself.

Overall, 1984 warns of the dangers of totalitarianism. It is an exploration of how surveillance, propaganda, and psychological manipulation can be used to crush individuality, freedom, and truth. Orwell's vision of a world where reality is defined by the state remains a powerful and relevant cautionary tale about the fragility of democracy and the importance of protecting free thought and individual rights. The book is right out there with other dystopian classics such as Brave New World