BeautifulDay and I am one of your people, but the cars don't stop.
1984 is a novel about a dystopian society bent on controlling its population by preventing “thoughtcrime.” To achieve this end, people are constantly monitored by either telescreens (a kind of television capable of transmitting both ways) or by other individuals including friends, co-workers, even members of the family. The individual is left completely alone and incapable of forming resistance. By this method the goal of keeping power indefinitely is achieved.
The novel follows a middle aged man by the name of Winston Smith who has done the unthinkable, committed thoughtcrime. In a society where not even your own children can be trusted, Winston is forced to hide his inner feelings for even a facial twitch could be detected by the Thought Police. Winston works for the Ministry of Truth, a committee whose sole purpose is to create propaganda for the masses. Any historical fact which negates the omniscience of the party is erased and in this way, history itself is erased. The party is always right, even when it’s wrong. No one is capable of proving the lies that the party produces as all proof has been erased.
The totalitarian society which Orwell created could be paralleled to the USSR under Stalin. “Big Brother”, a figure which the individual is meant to not only obey, but love (a fact which Winston learns too late), bears resemblance to Stalin. His scapegoat, Goldstein, a leader of the former opposition, resembles Trotsky. However, the novel is meant to encompass the effects of any totalitarian regime.
This book changes the way you view the government, the media, censorship and society in general. It’s definitely one of my favourites.
