| 1984 is an English novel written in 1949 - envisaging | | | | other. Smith accepts the Party and accepts his own |
| life in 1984 under a totalitarian regime. It tells the | | | | love for the omnipotent Big Brother. |
| story of Winston Smith, a middle-aged, unhealthy | | | | 1984 is a political satire and many similarities can be |
| person who is a protagonist, working at the Ministry | | | | observed here with George Orwell's other famous |
| of Truth. His job is to edit historical accounts to tailor | | | | novel Animal Farm. In both the novels, one can see a |
| to the policies laid out by the government. | | | | betrayed revolution, and in both case the leaders are |
| Power is split into three major groups of | | | | involved in betrayal. Orwell, in his essay Why I Write, |
| stake-holders: namely, Eastasia, Eurasia, and Oceania. | | | | explains that everything serious he had written |
| 1984 is written from the angle of base in Oceania, | | | | post-1936 (Spanish Civil War) was against |
| which includes the United Kingdom. Oceania's people | | | | totalitarianism and for democratic socialism - directly |
| are of three political classes: the Inner Party, the | | | | or indirectly. And while reading 1984, one can clearly |
| Outer Party and the Proles. The Party (Government) | | | | see he meant that. |
| controls the people through Ministry of Truth, where | | | | Some of the famous quotes are: |
| Winston Smith works. | | | | - WAR IS PEACE FREEDOM IS SLAVERY |
| The main characters in the novel are Winston Smith, | | | | IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH |
| Julia (his flawed lover), Big Brother (the director of | | | | - He who controls the past controls the future. He |
| Oceania - popularly believed to be Orwell's portrayal | | | | who controls the present controls the past. |
| of Stalin), his opposing member Emmanuel Goldstein | | | | - BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU |
| (a former top member - popularly believed to be | | | | - DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER |
| Orwell's portrayal of Trotsky), and O'Brien (a | | | | - He wondered, as he had many times wondered |
| government agent who deceives Winston Smith and | | | | before, whether he himself was a lunatic. Perhaps a |
| Julia posing as a member of resistance). There are | | | | lunatic was simply a minority of one. |
| also other side characters such as Aaronson, Parsons, | | | | - The rocket bombs which fell daily on London were |
| Katharine and a few others. | | | | probably fired by the Government of Oceania itself, |
| The novel has three main phases. In the first phase | | | | 'just to keep people frightened.' |
| comes a description of the world in Winston Smith's | | | | - The birds sang, the proles sang. The Party did not |
| (Orwell's) vision in 1984. The the second phase he | | | | sing. |
| and Julia get involved in an illicit romantic relationship, | | | | - We are the Dead. |
| and Smith is caught by the Thought Police (who had | | | | There are some more, and the reader might want to |
| been spying on him and Julia). He is tortured, and | | | | find his/her own quotes from the book. 1984 is a |
| re-educated. He is scared of rats, so he is exposed | | | | book where one can claim to find literally more than |
| to a cage-full of starving rats, and he shouts in fear, | | | | a hundred quotes worth mentioning for all practical |
| "do it to Julia". His re-education gets over. In the third | | | | purposes. |
| phase, Smith is released, and he and Julia meet in a | | | | One can read the book 1984 in the George Orwell |
| park and acknowledge that they had betrayed each | | | | section of the library hosted at WebLiterature. |