Nineteen Eighty-Four

Nineteen Eighty-Four is a novel written by George Orwell in 1948.

The book is what Orwell thought the world might look like in the future. It describes a terrifying world where governments control and watch everyone's lives.

The main character is Winston Smith. He lives in a country that is ruled by a powerful "Party" and its leader Big Brother. He dreams of changing this. He falls in love with Julia, who agrees with him, and he leads her into rebellion against the government.

The book is famous. Many of its words and phrases are also famous. Among these are Big Brother, Newspeak, Room 101 and unperson. In 2005, Time (a magazine) called it one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005.

In the European Union, and the United Kingdom, the copyright of the book ran out on 1 January 2021.[1] That means anyone can reprint the book, or use it as a basis for the story on another medium.

Plot

The year 1984 is viewed from 1948. The world of the future is divided into three massive countries that are in endless war with each other: Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia. Each country has a totalitarian government, meaning that the government tries to control everything that its people do. Great Britain is now named "Airstrip One" and is part of Oceania. Oceania is ruled by "the Party". They use the "thought police" and "telescreens" (two-way televisions) to spy on people. People also have to show love for the Party and its leader, Big Brother. While pictures of Big Brother are everywhere, he is never seen for real, and he may not even exist.

Winston Smith is an ordinary member of the Party. He works for the "Ministry of Truth". His job is to re-write history when the Party wants him to. The Party kills anyone whom it thinks threatens its grip on power, sometimes for reasons that make no sense. When these people are killed, the Party also hides any sign that they existed. Winston works hard and pretends to love the Party. His secret is that he hates the Party and dreams of fighting them. Winston buys a diary from a shopkeeper called Mr Charrington.

Smith hides the diary in his room, where he writes about his secrets. He falls in love with a woman called Julia. The Party will not allow this, so they go out into the countryside to meet in secret. Later, they start meeting in a room at Mr Charrington's shop. O'Brien, an important member of the Party, tells Winston that he also hates the Party. Winston and Julia meet O'Brien at his home, where he gives them a book. The book is about how the Party stays in power. It says that the Party can be stopped if ordinary people rise up against it.

Winston and Julia are betrayed. Winston is taken to the "Ministry of Love". This is the prison of Oceania. O'Brien tells Winston that he was only pretending to be his friend. Winston is hurt badly and told he must stop hating the Party and do everything they want him to do, even if he has to say that "2 + 2 = 5". O'Brien says that once this is finished, Winston will leave the Ministry of Love and will return to a normal life for some months or years. After this, they will shoot him. But first, they want to make him turn against Julia.

In the end, Winston is taken to "Room 101", where he must face his worst fear: rats. As a cage of hungry rats is pushed against his face, Winston tells them to "Do it to Julia!" After Winston leaves the Ministry of Love, he meets Julia. He says he turned against her in Room 101, and she says she did the same. Winston then sits alone in a café. The last words of the story are: "He loved Big Brother".

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