1984

(pub. 1949)

Webmaster's Note, 5/10/2007 - We have been informed by the rights holder that this work is still copyrighted in our territory. So we have removed it. You may still read our original summary though to the left.

Also commonly titled as Nineteen Eighty-Four

1984 is possibly the definitive dystopian novel, set in a world beyond our imagining. A world where totalitarianism really is total, all power split into three roughly equal groups--Eastasia, Eurasia, and Oceania. 1984 is set in Oceania, which includes the United Kingdom, where the story is set, known as Airstrip One.

Winston Smith is a middle-aged, unhealthy character, based loosely on Orwell's own frail body, an underling of the ruling oligarchy, The Party. The Party has taken early 20th century totalitarianism to new depths, with each person subjected to 24 hour surveillance, where people's very thoughts are controlled to ensure purity of the oligarchical system in place. Figurehead of the system is the omnipresent and omnipotent Big Brother.

But Winston believes there is another way.

1984 joins Winston as he sets about another day, where his job is to change history by changing old newspaper records to match with the new truth as decided by the Party.

"He who controls the past, controls the future" is a Party slogan to live by and it gives Winston his job, but Winston cannot see it like that. Barely old enough to recall a time when things were different, he sets out to expose the Party for the cynically fraudulent organisation that it is. He is joined by Julia, a beautiful young woman much in contrast with Winston physically, but equally sickened by the excesses of her rulers.

You will meet many recognisable characters, themes, and words which have become part of our everyday life as you read 1984. Where did Big Brother first appear? Certainly not on Australian TV! Written in Orwell's inimitable journalistic style, 1984 is a tribute to a man who saw the true dangers of historian Lord Acton's (1834-1902) statement: "Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely." -- Submitted by The Atheist.

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As Winston said, even if you are a minority of one it does not make you wrong.--Submitted by Anonymous.

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Winston Smith lives in a world very unlike the world of his forefathers. There have been atomic wars just thirty years in the past and some of his memories seem clouded as Winston is filled with doubt, almost as if the events did not happen at all. Winston feels he must put these thoughts down on paper or they will be forgotten forever. However,such a task is forbidden by the state controlled government. Winston decides to write his journal anyway. What transpires next in the novel is at the heart of what makes men able to exist with some degree of hope for the future. Winston's world is a very hopeless, unfriendly place.--Submitted by Tom Hickman.

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Orwell provides compelling reasons for the people of the 21st century to, much as we did in the 60's, question authority. Winston holds these thoughts dear but because of how society has been allowed to evolve he must be careful with even his own thoughts. You'll go with him as he meets Julia and as, against all odds, develops a relationship. Surprises abound in this unique and, at the time it was written, futuristic look at a world that has allowed itself to be taken over by an entity that we know even today as Big Brother. You'll find yourself asking how this man who wrote the novel in 1948 could possibly have such foresight into what would evolve into the world as we know it today. Similarities between life as we know it and life as Orwell foresaw abound. The book will cause you to look around yourself and question the policies of our government and the policies of global governments and how they impact our daily life. Definitely a compelling read !--Submitted by Anonymous.

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1984 based short film

Im a student and after being inspired by the book, we based a very short film off some ideas and themes from the book! if you have time please check it out and let me know what you think! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDYAxoi8I80 Thanks everyone! :wave:

Posted By mortonfilms at Sun 29 Apr 2012, 1:00 PM in 1984 || 0 Replies

1984: Based On A True Story

It's been said before, and I'm going to say it again, and I'm going to say something you won't like. There are three nations in 1984: Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia. In the real world, it has recently been offered by the nation of Russia to combine all the previous parts of the Soviet Union to create a new "Eurasian Union." It hasn't happened yet, but it will. Europe will collapse and be conquered by them, but the U.S. and NATO will be able to defend the British Isles. They will have influence over all the nations in North & South America and Australia, and they'll do whatever they are told pretty much anyway. China will expand a little nearby as well. Oceania is a metaphor for the U.S. Eurasia is a metaphor for the Eurasian Union. Eastasia is a metaphor for the People's Republic of China. All people believe that the others' ideology is evil, but are never told how similar their own is. It is said in the book, something along those lines. "So, there you go," some people say, "1984 is simply the state of the world." And they are conspiracy theorists and they are happy. That's not what it is. It was said many times, it is perhaps the most significant part of the book, but it is rarely discussed. "Metaphysics is not your strong suit, Winston," O'Brien constantly says. Winston continually fights it, but O'Brien constantly tells him, "There is no reality outside of human consciousness. The Earth is as old as the Party. How could it not be...?" Et cetera. People will read this part, with a degree ridicule in their voice, but they avoid it. Everyone does. No one likes the fact that 1984 is a story. It's not a society, the book. It's a story about people in the society. Winston is the last human alive, and this is an extremely important part in 1984's world. The Party tried to destroy all humans, but suddenly, out of sheer chance, O'Brien seems to find the very last human. This is important. Winston is always looking for some meaning, something more. A significant point in the plot is that Julia does not share this meaning. Winston speaks with her about the piece of paper he had, but she seems uninterested. Does no one see this? It's important. At the end Winston had failed to convince Julia of its significance, but he was still convinced, and he was alone in that aspect. Another thing that you have to think of was when they met with O'Brien first, trying to join the resistance. Winston spoke for Julia. She didn't say anything. O'Brien asked whether the two of them were willing to committ this or that brutal inhumanity, and Winston invariably said yes, he would do it, and it would seem he would do it gladly. He answered the questions so quickly. No, he had no honor, he only wanted to win. Winston always wanted something more. He had such drive. He wanted no less than to topple the government. It wasn't practical, but he knew that it was the only goal to possibly get. He knew it wasn't likely, but he kept thinking there had to be a way, and it was in the proles, he kept saying. Allegedly the book that O'Brien undoubtedly gave Winston himself had a strategy involving the proles of how to win. O'Brien later says that it's absolutely ridiculous, hopeless. But it's not. It's advice. O'Brien contradicted himself. It's all that he needed to leave in Winston's head. When Winston met him to join the resistance, he could tell immediately that this man was different. He said he would give him the book in a little time. Why? Well, he's not omnipotent...he needs some time to write it. He's just a member of the Inner Party who works for the Ministry of Peace. When he said to Winston, "You are the last man alive," he said it with some admiration. It was not an insult, it was a statement. He was outside of history, he said. And they let him live. Why didn't they kill him? They always, always, always kill them. O'Brien seems to run the entire operation. He explains the entire system to him, says things that are beyond the average man's understanding. And yet always next to the guards, but they say nothing. They don't accuse him of crimethink. It's our advice again. He said that they want power for power's sake, even after Winston knew he wouldn't. Why though? Winston never did understand. Why do they want power? Big Brother is stupid. They want power, and they fully believe in the reality that they have imposed upon the people. That is why there is no monitoring what happens to Winston. Already captured, right? They are not human and they have gaps in their reasoning. When he is freed, he has a regretful conversation with Julia. He says at the end that he had simply lost sight of her, that perhaps she was not immediately recognizable from behind anymore, with the implication that he didn't care, he didn't love her anymore. This was just pretension, though. Big Brother is stupid. The elite believe in their own reality, they believe that Winston really doesn't love Julia anymore, or vice versa. But there's an intimacy to their conversation. They sold each other, and they talked, agreed that they could get to them. A friendly conversation, but you could tell, there was pretension in the air. The first thing he said was "I sold you," as though in greeting. It's not a greeting. They are ideological, to believe it's a sufficient greeting after what has happened, but it's simply not. It was over, after this conversation, in their ideology of greetings, it was no longer necessary to ever communicate again. But they obviously would. And when that happens, they will talk again, but there's nothing else to say. The pretension will fall, and they'll remember that they loved one another, and then betrayed one another. They will remember the perfect drama of it all, then they will smile and know it was pretension. They will see one another's pretension, and the intimacy will be so powerful. They will know each other through and through, know their pretensions, know their pretensions of pretensions, so much that it will be euphoric. They will laugh at the Big Brotherhood and their pretensions, that they thought they were cool in front of their friends for being so unabashedly evil just for power. They will laugh, "Power is useless" and then make sweet love all night. They were trying to be cool for their subjects, but they'll help the proles to see it just by their presence and then the whole world will be laughing at the idiotic fakeness of Big Brother. "But, we rule the world," they'll say, but the world won't care, they'll be too busy having fun. The Big Brotherhood will still have power over them, but they'll say, "Ha! We don't care." And Big Brother will frown and see that his ploy to be cool was not working. He'll see that he does not need all this power. The whole will laugh at him and write an appendix about the laughable Newspeak. In a laughable tone. Then they do not even bother to topple him or anything, and he will be sublimely displeased when he walks through the streets, everyone sees him and don't even hate him or care that he could kill them at any time. He won't kill all of them. Then Winston's parents come back to life and people write him a check for one million dollars. The End.

Posted By Prawn at Sat 14 Apr 2012, 6:42 PM in 1984 || 0 Replies

WHY doe the Inner-Party want POWER?

Towards the beginning of the novel, Winston says 'I understand how; but I do not understand why' This question plagued me during the entire book. Why does the Inner-Party or the higher-up oligarchy want to run the Big Brother system? What is in it for them? Towards the end O'Brian claims that the inner-party oligarchy wants power for the sake of power. That power is an END and not a means. Why do they want complete and utter power over people? Why put them through Room 101, why have helpless obsequious party-members running around. Why not just kill everyone off and live with with all the wealth? O'Brian says that 'they' are not doing it for opulence. But then again, 'they' get no glory for their power. Is it really that fulfilling to watch people be idiotic (proles), or watch people be fearful and dutiful (outer-party)? I still no not understand WHY.

Posted By Zuma at Thu 15 Mar 2012, 2:24 AM in 1984 || 1 Reply

Winston and Julia-opinions?

Posted By forchina at Sat 10 Mar 2012, 4:19 PM in 1984 || 1 Reply

PLEASE HELP-‘Julia gains more than Winston from their relationship.

Winston from 1984 ?

Posted By forchina at Sat 10 Mar 2012, 6:18 AM in 1984 || 2 Replies

PLEASE help me with my social homework on orwell and huxley.I dont get a single thing

Who says you can’t correctly predict the future? Aldous Huxley and George Orwell did. Hear Neil Postman: What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumble-puppy. As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny “failed to take into account man’s almost infinite appetite for distractions.” In 1984, Huxley added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us. I need, two views of human nature presented by Huxley and two views of human nature presented by Orwell. Thanks, I need this asap! Social Homework! I wish I was good at social..there so little resources out there on the internet.. Thanks for helping me.

Posted By fatty005005 at Wed 8 Feb 2012, 11:09 PM in 1984 || 2 Replies

What's the main idea in 1984? and provide examples to explain.?

what's the main idea in 1984? and provide examples to explain. here's my thesis statement: Orwell’s overall message in 1984 is a warning to the reader that man may lose all sense of humanity as a result of the totalitarian government. any help will be appreciated! Thank you!

Posted By ybh1231 at Mon 6 Feb 2012, 4:03 PM in 1984 || 2 Replies

1984

In my opinion, 1984 is a book more for adults and young adults in college. 1984 is a very slow read, and tough to understand at times. The book dragged on i felt, and i would not recomend it for high school kids with short attention spans. The book was very predictable once you got through a good part of it, and it was almost pointless to continue reading.

Posted By peguin229 at Wed 7 Dec 2011, 10:16 AM in 1984 || 0 Replies

1984

I think that 1984 is a great book and it should be read both in high school and in college. It is a great book and George Orwell warns you about many things. Although his writing is a little difficult I believe that high school student can handle it. :thumbsup:

Posted By OrwellianTiger at Wed 7 Dec 2011, 7:12 AM in 1984 || 1 Reply

1984 after thoughts

I believe this book is a good read in high school. It shows us how if were not careful society could end up like that. Even though the book is sometimes hard to understand and the messages not easily gotten, I believe this book should still be read in high school.

Posted By The Philosopher at Wed 7 Dec 2011, 6:53 AM in 1984 || 0 Replies

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1984

(pub. 1949)

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