Nineteen Eighty-Four

George Orwell's masterpiece 1984 is a novel about love, rebellion, and privacy. The protagonist, Winston Smith, is a basic gelatinous man whose work is all about altering the past. The novel is set in, you guessed it, 1984 in the country Oceania. The novel is separated into three different books, and the first book is mainly description about Winston and the world in which he lives. Winston's life is dominated by a telescreen that constantly monitors his every movement. His world is ruled by "Big Brother" who is "always watching you." There is also a constant war going on that seems to have been going on for as long as Winston can remember. This new world even has a new language called Newspeak. Newspeak's main purpose is trying to reduce the vocabulary so that the people in Oceania will have no free thought. Some examples of Newspeak: doublethink, thoughtcrime, plusgood, and ungood. Doublethink is having two notions coexisting such as how The Ministry of Love (a government building in 1984) concerns itself with torture, and The Ministry of Truth concerns itself with lies. Thoughtcrime is being guilty of thinking about committing a crime against Big Brother. Plusgood means very good, and ungood means bad.

The second book within the novel describes Winston's love affair with a woman named Julia whom he thought at first to be a member of the Thought Police. They begin this passionate affair, and both know that death is inevitable. During their affair they think that they are joining a secret group, The Brotherhood, but it is all a trick designed by members of the Inner Party. While Winston is reading a book that has been assigned to him by "The Brotherhood" he and Julia are captured by the Thought Police.

The third book describes the hideous torture that happens to Winston within The Ministry of Love and the reeducation that he is receiving from O'Brien (a member of the Inner Party.) O'Brien starves, beats, and electrocutes Winston, but Winton stays strong in his beliefs against Big Brother. Although, once O'Brien threatens to have rats (Winston's biggest fear) eat Winston alive Winston starts to cooperate. The book ends with the Inner Party shooting Winston because of his crimes, but Winston is happy about it because "He loved Big Brother."

Many details of the book have been left out, and it is impossible to try and get every single piece of information written down in this little blog post.

Critical reception of this book has been mixed from the first year it was published. Some view the book as a scare tactic intended to send its readers into "seseless paranoia." Others see the book as a masterpiece.

1984 absolutely deserves its spot on the "100 Greatest Novels of the 20th Century." The themes within the book are still pertinent. The plot, character development, and language in the novel is flawless. If one takes the time to read and digest the novel it is evident that this novel was way ahead of its time and that it is genuinely a masterpiece.