Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
"Nineteen Eighty-Four," written by George Orwell, is a dystopian novel set in a totalitarian regime where the Party, led by the omnipresent figure of Big Brother, exercises extreme control over every aspect of life. The protagonist, Winston Smith, works at the Ministry of Truth, where he alters historical records to align with the Party's narrative. Despite his outward conformity, Winston secretly despises the Party and seeks individuality and truth in a society that suppresses both. He begins a forbidden love affair with Julia, a fellow Party member, which offers him a brief escape from the oppressive reality.
Their relationship, however, is ultimately discovered, leading to their capture and brutal interrogation by the Thought Police. The novel explores themes of surveillance, truth, and the psychological manipulation employed by totalitarian regimes. As Winston undergoes intense torture, he is forced to renounce his beliefs and ultimately comes to accept the Party’s ideology, culminating in a chilling acceptance of Big Brother's dominance. "Nineteen Eighty-Four" serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked government power and the loss of personal freedoms, resonating across various cultural and political contexts.
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Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
First published: 1949
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Science fiction
Time of plot: 1984
Locale: London
Principal Characters
Winston Smith , a Party functionaryJulia , a rebellious girlO’Brien , a member of the Inner PartyMr. Charrington , one of the thought police
The Story
Externally, Winston Smith appears well adjusted to his world. He drinks the bitter victory gin and smokes the vile victory cigarettes. In the morning, he does his exercises in front of the telescreen, and when the instructor speaks to him over the two-way television, he bends with renewed vigor to touch the floor. His apartment is dingy and rickety, but at thirty-nine years old, he is scarcely old enough to remember a time when housing had been better. He has a decent job at the Ministry of Truth because he has a good mind and the ability to write newspeak, the official language. He is a member of the outer ring of the Party.
One afternoon, after giving up his lunch at the ministry, Winston has a little free time to himself. He goes to an alcove out of reach of the telescreen and furtively takes out his journal. It is a noble book with paper of fine quality, unobtainable at present. It is an antique, bought on an illicit trip to a secondhand store run by old Mr. Charrington. Although it is not illegal to keep a diary—there are no laws in Oceania—it makes him suspect. He writes ploddingly about a film he had seen about the valiant Oceania forces strafing shipwrecked refugees in the Mediterranean.
Musing over his writing, Winston finds to his horror that he had written a slogan against Big Brother several times. He knows this act is a crime, even if the writing is due to his drinking gin. Even to think of such a slogan is a crime. Everywhere he looks, on stair landings and on storefronts, are posters showing Big Brother’s all-seeing face. Citizens are reminded a hundred times a day that Big Brother is watching their every move.
At the Ministry of Truth, Winston plunges into his routine. He has the job of rewriting records. If the Party makes an inaccurate prediction about the progress of the war, or if some aspect of production does not accord with the published goals of the ninth three-year plan, Winston corrects the record. All published material is constantly changed so that all history accords with the wishes and aims of the Party.
There is a break in the day’s routine for a two-minute hate period. The face of Goldstein, the enemy of the Party, appears on the big telescreen, and a government speaker works up the feelings of the viewers; Goldstein is accused of heading a great conspiracy against Oceania. Winston loudly and dutifully drums his heels as he takes part in the group orgasm of hate.
A bold, dark-haired woman, wearing a red chastity belt, often seems to be near Winston in the workrooms and in the commissary. Winston is afraid she might be a member of the thought police. Seeing her outside the ministry, he decides she is following him. For a time, he plays with the idea of killing her. One day, she slips a little note to him, confessing that she loves him.
Winston is troubled. He is married, but his wife belongs to the Anti-Sex League. For her, procreation is a Party duty. Because the couple produced no children, they split up; Winston’s wife left him. Now this woman at work—her name is Julia—speaks of love. Winston has a few private words with her in the lunchroom, being careful to make their conversation look like a chance meeting. Julia quickly names a place in the country for a rendezvous. Winston meets her in the woods and, far from a telescreen, they make love. Julia boasts that she had been the mistress of several Party members and that she has no patience with the Anti-Sex League, although she works diligently for the group. She also buys sweets on the black market.
Winston again visits Mr. Charrington’s antique shop, and the proprietor shows Winston an upstairs bedroom preserved as it had been before the Revolution. Although it is madness to do so, Winston rents the room and, thereafter, he and Julia have a comfortable bed for their brief meetings. Winston feels happy in the old room, which has no telescreen to spy on them.
At work, Winston sometimes sees O’Brien, a kindly looking member of the Inner Party. Winston deduces from a chance remark that O’Brien is not in sympathy with all the aims of the Party. When they can, Winston and Julia go to O’Brien’s apartment. He assures them that Goldstein is really the head of a conspiracy that eventually will overthrow the Party. Julia tells of her sins against Party discipline, and Winston recounts his evidence that the Party distorts facts in public trials and purges. O’Brien then enrolls them in the conspiracy and gives them Goldstein’s book to read.
After an exhausting hate week directed against another enemy, Eurasia, Winston reads aloud to the dozing Julia, both comfortably lying in bed, from Goldstein’s treatise. Suddenly, a voice rings out and orders them to stand in the middle of the room. Winston grows sick when he realizes that a hidden telescreen has recorded the actions at O’Brien’s apartment. Soon the room is filled with truncheon-wielding police officers. Mr. Charrington comes in, no longer a kindly member of the simple proletariat, but a keen, determined man and a member of the thought police. One of the guards hits Julia in the stomach, and the others hurry Winston off to jail.
Winston is tortured for days—beaten, kicked, and clubbed until he confesses his crimes. He willingly admits to years of conspiracy with the rulers of Eurasia and tells everything he knows of Julia. In the later phases of his torture, O’Brien is at his side constantly. O’Brien keeps him on a rack with a doctor in attendance to keep him alive. He tells Winston that Goldstein’s book is a Party production, written in part by O’Brien himself.
Through it all, the tortured Winston has one small triumph: he still loves Julia. O’Brien knows about Winston’s fear of rats and brings in a large cage filled with rodents; he fastens it around Winston’s head. In his unreasoning terror, Winston begs him to let the rats eat Julia instead. Winston still hates Big Brother, then says so. O’Brien patiently explains that the Party wants no martyrs—they strengthen opposition—nor do the leaders want only groveling subjection. Winston must think right. The proletariat, happy in its ignorance, must never have a rousing leader. All Party members must think and feel as Big Brother directs.
Winston is finally released, now bald and without teeth. Because he had been purged and because his crime had not been serious, he is given a small job on a subcommittee. Most of the time, he sits solitary in taverns and drinks victory gin. He even sees Julia once. Her figure has coarsened and her face is scarred. The two have little to say to one another.
One day, a big celebration takes place in the tavern. Oceania has achieved an important victory in Africa. Suddenly, the doddering Winston feels himself purged—he now believes. Now he can be shot with a pure soul, for at last he loves Big Brother.
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