1984, by George Orwell
Created | Updated Jul 9, 2003
Background
1984 is one of the best books ever written about the totalitarian governmental system. It was written in 1948 (notice that the year 84 is simply a flipped 48, hence the name) by George Orwell. Orwell was born Eric Blair as an Englishman in Bengal, India. He was an opponent of both capitalism and communism, and instead favored liberal socialism as an economic and political system. The book was written directly after the destruction of both Nazism and Fascism in World War II. England had just come out of the war tough and steadfast.Plot
The book begins with a brief introduction of the main character, Winston Smith, as he returns home from work one day. In his personal quarters is a telescreen that emits messages, images, and monitors Winston's life all at once. Early on the reader learns that Winston is a member of the Outer Party and works at the Ministry of Truth. His job actually has nothing to do with truth, but with altering it. Every day he is required to falsify history by changing records to fit what the Party wants history to be. Winston, needless to say, realizes that what he is doing is wrong, but the one thing he admits that he can stand is his job. The rest of the plot involves Winston's attempt to undermine the Party's actions and to escape the society that he lives in, and the futility of his conspiracy is what Orwell uses to show how well the Party is doing the job that it wants to accomplish, the job of staying in power always.
Conclusion
1984 is a sweet book. Really sweet. Orwell gave us all a good idea of what would happen if censorship took its ultimate form and security monitoring happened. The world would stink. The world would be...1984.
