The Book 1984 is set, as
the title suggests, in the year 1984, However, it was written in 1949. It’s
basically just prediction of what is going to happen if any Totalitarian government continues to rule. Author George Orwell’s knowledge of
Totalitarian Government was, most probably, based on the Soviet Union and Nazi’s
Germany. Those governments had come into being not that long before this book
was written. Also, this regime was not very well understood yet. Orwell,
through this book, has tried to give readers a clear picture of what life could
be like if any country gets ruled by a totalitarian government.
A Totalitarian Government is one that tries to control every
aspect of the life of common citizens. How people spend every minute of their time,
even in private, who can they associate, what are they allowed to say. A Totalitarian Government even tries to control
what people think and what they believe.
1984 takes place in London. London in the book is a
depressing place. There is never enough to eat, the food is disgusting. There
is some sort of war going on that no one really understands what it is about.
The worst part is the Government is always watching what people do. The poster of
the ruling Party leader BIG BROTHER is all over the city which reads “BIG BROTHER
IS WATCHING YOU”. The Government could watch people at their homes through the TV
screens, they call it Telescreen and It’s not supposed to be turned off ever.
There are lot of things that you are not allowed to do in this society… you are
not allowed to have close friends, you are not allowed to be in love, you
aren’t allowed to date, someone. You are basically supposed to save all your
emotional energy for the party. i.e. The Government. BIG BROTHER. Then there
are things that you must do… You must watch government programs on TV, you must
attend all party-called meetings including 2-minute hate meets. Where everyone must
show and shout out loud the hatred against those imaginary people who do not
align with the Government’s beliefs. It’s hard to even have time to think your own
thoughts because they are constantly feeling your head with propaganda.
The main character, in 1984, Winston Smith is a clerk in this
dystopian province of Oceania. He works in the ministry of Truth where his job is
to ensure that any unsavory information about the past is wiped out and
rewritten in all publications. The old information is then destroyed as though
it never existed. Though Winston works for Government but deep in his heart, his
thoughts don’t align with that of government. At the beginning of the book, he
starts writing a diary to talk about how much he hates his life and his society,
even though writing a diary is one of those things that he can be killed if found
out. The Diary is his place for thinking about his society. It’s a place where he
tries to imagine if life could possibly be different from the way it is. Also,
there is no way to know if things were any different before. The Government has
changed all the records of the past and rewritten all the history books.
In Winston’s story, there is this young attractive woman,
Julia, who works in the same building as that of him. Winston basically hates
her because she is pretty, and he can’t have her. So, he is afraid of her but
also sort of fascinated. The other person Winston is interested in is another
guy whose name is O Brian who is a member of inner-party, which means he is much
higher up in the rank. Brian always seemed intelligent to Winston. And
since he was intelligent, He will understand how Winston feels about life.
The book takes a turn on the day when Julia slips Winston a note
that read “I love you”. This note completely rocks Winston’s world. Of course,
He is interested, and He can’t wait to get in touch with her. But It’s very
hard for them to say two words to each other in private with all these spies
and cameras everywhere. After some time though, they do manage to get out of
the country, and they start this mad love affair. This is dangerous for both
Winston and Julia because they can be killed if they got caught but that makes
it more exciting. None the less, this love affair brings happiness in Winston’s
life and he feels more confident about his feelings towards the government and
finally, he has someone who understands him and hates the party as much as he
does. Though he is rebelling against the party by having this secret affair but
now he wants to go to next level and be an active rebel against the government.
And he gets his chance one day… To find out whether Winston makes any
significant progress in his new conceived goal or does he meet the same fate as
that of lead characters in other books of George Orwell, I strongly recommend
this book.
Reading “1984” makes you think about how information is
altered before it hits mainstream media, what’s true, what’s not true and
what’s skewed. It makes you believe something that’s not completely true. We
don’t know how much of that goes on in our present society, but It happens so
much in 1984. Not sure, If we are already there, but obviously we are going
down that path and it’s very scary to think that someday we all could just be
robots, brainwashed by the Government and just believing what’s being told, not
thinking ourselves, just accepting everything.
All in all, 1984 is an incredible story. It’s hard to notice
any segment of the book where the story gets dry or being dragged. Unlike most of
the classics, It’s such an easy read. You will be able to fly through and enjoy
every page of it.
