"War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength."
1984, or "Nineteen Eighty-Four," is a 1949 dystopian novel by George Orwell. It tells the story of a man who lives in a totalitarian world with a harsh government and how he plans to rebel against his corrupt government and society. 1984 has also invented several famous Orwellian words such as Newspeak, Big Brother and thoughtpolice.
1984 is Orwell's well-known work, a popular school read, and ranked among the greatest novels of all time.
Plot Summary[]
The Map of Eastasia, Eurasia and Oceania in the year 1984
Winston Smith is a middle-aged man living in London, Airstrip One (formerly called Great Britain). The year is 1984, and his world is divided into three separate states: Oceania (where his home country, Airstrip One, is), Eurasia and Eastasia, which have been caught up in an ongoing war. The Party rules Oceania, a socialist government whose leader is the mysterious Big Brother. Winston is a low-ranking member of the Party, and they make up all the rules of Oceania and control everything in the nation, most notably constantly monitoring their citizens through TV surveillance-like cameras called telescreens. The telescreens always watch Winston everywhere, even in his own home. In addition, Party members are forbidden to fall in love, have sex, or have their own thoughts and desires outside of official Party business. The nation is also patrolled by intimidating officers called "Thoughtpolice," who seek out and punish anyone who commits thoughtcrime when someone is thinking of negative thoughts about the Party.
The novel begins with Winston frustrated at the Party's rigid regime. He despises the Party so much that one day, he illegally buys a diary from a secondhand shop and writes all his thoughts into it. He also becomes interested in a man named O'Brien, who is a member of the Party. Winston thinks he is secretly part of the Brotherhood, an organization that plans to overthrow the Party, led by Emmanuel Goldstein.
Winston works at the Ministry of Truth, where he rewrites historical records to fit the Party's needs. At work, he spots a pretty, dark-haired woman he suspects could be a spy for the Thoughtpolice. One day, he receives a note from the woman that says, "I love you." The woman's name is Julia, and she and Winston have a love affair. They keep their romance a secret from the Party and rent a room upstairs in the secondhand store where Winston bought the diary. Winston continues to hate the party the more he loves Julia, and before long, O'Brien summons the couple to his home. He claims he is a member of the Brotherhood and wants to stop the Party, too. He would have the couple join the Brotherhood with him, and he gives them a copy of a book written by Emmanuel Goldstein about the basics of his founded clan and how they would join.
However, O'Brien is actually a loyal member of the Party, and he tricks Winston and Julia into believing him. The couple were arrested and imprisoned in separate rooms at Oceania's interior ministry, the Ministry of Love. Winston is tortured and brainwashed by O'Brien for months until he is taken to Room 101, where any opposer to the Party would encounter their worst fear. Winston is afraid of rats, and he and Julia betray each other when placed in the room and soon released.
Winston has since lost his spirit and is now a faithful member of the Party. He is no longer in love with Julia, who has also changed from her imprisonment. Winston looks at Big Brother's portrait and finally begins to love and adore him.
Characters[]
Winston Smith- The main protagonist. He is a frail, thin middle-aged man who was once a member of the Party. He works for the Ministry of Truth, where he rewrites history in the Party's version but secretly dreams of revolution and starts to hate the Party. He rebels by journal-keeping and having a romantic relationship with one of the Party members but is mentally tortured and made into a true believer.
Julia- Winston's lover. A beautiful, dark-haired woman, she is a Party member and mechanist of the Ministry of Truth. She also hates the Party and decides to participate in the revolution when she meets and falls in love with Winston. She has very active and strong sexual desires, which are illegal against the Party. Despite her strong relationship with Winston, she is mentally tortured and forced to betray her lover.
O'Brien- A member of the Inner Party who Winston suspects is part of the anti-Party rebel group, the Brotherhood. He looked up to him and strongly believed in his actions and thoughts. But O'Brien has Winston and Julia betray each other by psychological torture and becoming faithful followers.
Big Brother- Despite never making a physical appearance in the novel (and may not even exist), Big Brother serves as the leader of Oceania and an important key factor. His face is always seen on posters and telescreens, with his famous motto, "Big Brother is Watching You," planted nationwide.
Mr. Charrington- An elderly man who owns an antique shop in the Prole district, where Winston first purchases his diary and rents the upstairs room for him. He seems kind and optimistic about Winston's fascination with the past and supports his relationship with Julia. But he was secretly a member of the Thought Police and had the couple arrested and imprisoned.
Emmanuel Goldstein- An exiled former Party Leader who is the leader of the Brotherhood. The Party views him as an enemy and is the subject of the Two Minute Hate, and he is also seen as a complete foil of Big Brother. However, he may not have existed as he does not make a physical appearance in the novel despite being mentioned various times.
Syme- A man who is a co-worker of Winston at the Ministry of Truth. He is an expert in the Newspeak language and works on a Newspeak dictionary. He is intelligent, and Winston predicts he will be vaporized because of his intelligence; sure enough, his prediction comes true when Syme suddenly disappears.
Parsons- Winston's neighbour who works for the Ministry of Love. He secretly criticizes the Party, and his own children even begin to turn against him.
Writing History/Reception[]
1984 was heavily influenced by WWII[1], particularly the Soviet Union and some major characters and moments in the novel were loosely based on reality. Big Brother is based on Joseph Stalin, the ruler of the Soviet Union, and The Two-Minute Hate was inspired by most of the propaganda films that were played worldwide at the time. 1984 was mainly published as a warning about the possible near future of being a dystopian society.
Orwell wrote the first manuscript around 1946 at Jura in the Scottish Isles while suffering from tuberculosis. He had temporarily resided in a cottage there with his sister Avril, a housekeeper and his young adopted son Richard. While he stayed there, he spent most of his time working on it from 1947-48.
1984 was published by Secker and Warburg in London on June 8th, 1949, after Orwell had sent the manuscript a year earlier while recovering from his frail health in Scotland, with the US edition published five days later. It became an instant success and is a fine example of dystopian totalitarianism. It also invented the term Orwellian, which describes the characteristics associated with Orwell's writings. Orwell originally wanted to have the novel titled "The Last Man in Europe," but his publisher wanted him to have a title that was more symbolic of the future. So he used the last two digits of the year 1948 reversed, which became known as "1984".
1984 would be Orwell's final novel before his death a year later in 1950 and is officially hailed as one of the most influential novels in literature.
Themes[]
Totalitarianism[]
Orwell's main goal was to publish 1984 as a warning of the possible dangers of totalitarianism in the future. It was significantly targeted toward Western nations that weren't aware of the terrors of WWII communism in Europe, such as the regimes in Spain and Russia. In his novel, Orwell excellently created and described the dystopian world of Airstrip One, Oceania. One example includes the government constantly monitoring the prospects of everyday life and creating harsh rules to follow. As the story progressed, Winston Smith attempted to rebel against the Party's regime and its leader, Big Brother. Still, Orwell had made it clear that rebellion would never succeed and would end up torturing and manipulating any opposers to be more faithful.
Propaganda[]
One of the main factors of 1984's totalitarianism is its propaganda. The Ministry of Truth is the one that spreads out all the Party's information and announcements. They also send out intimidating propagandist messages to the public, such as "Big Brother is Watching You," as the Party's leader, Big Brother constantly monitors them no matter where they are or what they do. The Party's propaganda is also responsible for using them to turn against Emmanuel Goldstein and manipulate the public into thinking that Goldstein is their enemy. Examples of propaganda include telescreen advertising and the Two-Minute Hate, in which everyone is instructed to send out their expressions of hate towards the enemies of the state, such as Goldstein.
Loyalty[]
Loyalty is one of the main aspects the Party uses to ensure everyone in Oceania is loyal and obedient to their government and leader. Even those who refuse loyalty would be easily tortured into being faithful followers. With their citizens' support, the Party could aim to build a thriving empire in Oceania, and when someone seeks loyalty, they must be faithful to their promise. Winston attempted opposing loyalty when he attempted to join the Brotherhood and maintain his romance with Julia, even if it meant placing himself in danger or death. At the novel's end, after finally betraying Julia after being tortured by O'Brien and being taught about the Party's intelligence, he gains true obedience and fulfills the Party's primary goal.
Love/Sexuality[]
One of the primary laws established by the Party is the ban on falling in love and having sex. However, they realize that when there is mass hysteria from sex frustration, they can convert them into loyal, faithful followers of Big Brother and erase all love from the lives of their loved ones. This explains why Winston's marriage to his wife Katharine was loveless and ended in separating them. The Party is also sneaky enough to catch anyone hiding their secret affairs from them and can quickly force them to stop loving each other, and the only person who will truly love is their leader. Despite trying to disobey the Party with their love affair secretly, Winston and Julia may have been monitored closely throughout the whole, both by O'Brien and the Thoughtpolice. Julia's intense love for sex and her sash as part of the Junior Anti-Sex League represent her hatred and rebellion towards the Party. She usually enjoyed it, including when she claims she had slept with over 16 Party men. By the novel's end, however, after Winston is mentally brainwashed and defeated by O'Brien, there is now only one person he loves deeply, and it is his leader, Big Brother.
Social Class System[]
Oceania's society is divided into three social class structures: the Inner Party, the Outer Party, and the lower class of impoverished proles. Only 2% of the population are part of the Inner Party, who are the rules of Oceania alongside Big Brother. They are the upper class, usually known as "The Party." The Outer Party is the middle class and is primarily educated members of the Party. The Proles are the lower class, who live as the poorest people in the nation and comprise nearly 85% of Oceania's population. The social classes barely interact, except when gathering for events like the Two-Minute Hate. Winston has hoped that the Proles have dreams and intentions of revolution and symbolizing the future of bringing down the Party, mainly when he writes, "If there is any hope, it lies with the Proles." Even if the Proles had plans of rebellion and the Thoughtpolice detected their intelligence, they would end up being arrested or vaporized.
Symbols[]
The telescreens[]
A telescreen in Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)
The telescreens symbolize the constant surveillance of their citizens and represent the powerful regime of the Party's control, even symbolizing the government's abuse of technology.
Big Brother[]
As the leader of Oceania, Big Brother, like the telescreens, symbolizes Oceania's totalitarian government and surveillance. He also symbolizes that he is meant to be worshipped as a leader and as a God of Oceania. Whether Big Brother is real or just a figurehead for the Party is still being determined.
The Glass Paperweight[]
The glass paperweight in Nineteen Eighty Four (1984)
An antique object that Winston purchases at Mr. Charrington's secondhand shop. The Glass Paperweight symbolizes the past and beauty for its own sake, offering a serene sanctuary for Winston and Julia and allowing him to reconnect his memories to the past.
The Red-Armed Prole Woman[]
The red-armed Prole woman Winston spots singing outside his rented room symbolizes a hopeful future for him and the lower social class.
Foreshadowing[]
- Winston and Julia see a rat in their rented room. Foreshadows Winston betraying her after nearly being eaten alive by rats in Room 101.
- Winston writes "Down with Big Brother" in his diary, and Mrs. Parsons' children tell him he's a traitor and thought criminal. Foreshadows his treachery to the party and subsequent vaporization.
- Winston suspects that Syme would be vaporized because he is too smart. Foreshadows Syme's sudden disappearance but likely vaporized later on.
Adaptations[]
A TV film was released in 1954 on BBC. Directed by Rudolph Cartier, it features Peter Cushing as Winston Smith, Yvonne Mitchell as Julia and André Morell as O'Brien.
A film adaptation was released in 1956, the first theatrical film adapted from the book. Directed by Michael Anderson, it features Edmond O'Brien as Winston Smith, Jan Sterling as Julia, and Michael Redgrave as O'Brien, but is referred to as General O'Connor in this version.
A film adaptation was released in 1984. Directed by Michael Radford, it features John Hurt as Winston Smith, Suzanna Hamilton as Julia and Richard Burton as O'Brien. The film was Burton's final film before his death, and the film was also nominated for a BAFTA award nomination for Best Art Direction.
References[]
- ↑ World War Two was a global conflict that lasted from 1939 to 1945.