Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four[1] is a novel by George Orwell in what is now called the dystopian genre. It is generally viewed as a critique of the Soviet regime, but may also be viewed as a criticism of any state where the government has too much control over its citizens.
It was originally to be titled The Last Man in Europe, but the title was changed at the publisher's suggestion. It is often suggested that "eighty-four" is a reversal of "forty-eight", the year in which the book was written, but this has never been confirmed.
Orwell was influenced by Jack London's novel The Iron Heel, and Yevgeny Zamyatin's We.
Plot Summary
Nineteen Eighty-Four describes an alternate history in which Oceania (roughly, the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia, and South Africa) is perpetually at war with Eurasia or Eastasia and allied with the other. The book describes a dystopia where the government monitors and controls nearly all aspects of every individual's life.
The protagonist, Winston Smith, works in the Ministry of Truth, altering records to fit the Party's current view of history. However, Smith gradually grows to disagree with the Party and what it stands for. Eventually, he and his lover Julia are captured by the thought police and tortured to the point where they once again love the party.
Much of the novel is taken up with discussions of the nature of power and societal control, and words and mottos from the novel – "doublethink", "We have always been at war with Eastasia", "the memory hole" and many more – have become standard shorthand in political discussions, while terms such as "thought police", "Room 101" and "Big Brother" have entered the language.
Background of Novel
The environmental background to the action of the story is a satirical portrayal of late-1940s London, a city where war damage was still very evident, and rationing and shortages a way of life. The Ministry of Truth, as described by Orwell in the novel, is based upon the Senate House building of London University, at the time one of the tallest buildings in the capital, and home during the Second World War to the Ministry of Information.