1984 a story of dictators who are in complete control of a large part of the world after the allies lost in World War II. The government in this novel gives no freedoms to its citizens. They live in fear because they are afraid of having corrupt thoughts about the governments of Oceania, a crime punishable by death. Winston, the main character, is a man of 39 who is not high in either intelligence or character, but is disgusted with the world in which he lives in. Winston represents Orwell’s view on totalitarianism.
He works in the Ministry of Truth, which is a place where history and facts- significant or not are rewritten to reflect the party’s idealistic beliefs. They destroy the records of the past; and print up new revised editions, which is being constantly redone. Winston is aware of the untruths, because he makes them true. This makes him very upset with the government of Oceania, where Big Brother, a larger than life figure, controls the people. Big brother is the figurehead of a government that has total control. The Big brother political system uses propaganda and puts fear in its citizens to keep the general population in line.
His dissatisfaction increases to a point where he rebels against the government in small ways. Winston’s first act of rebellion is buying and writting in a diary in which he buys from a antique shop run by a prole. This act is known as a though crime and is punishable by death. A though crime is any bad thought against the government, Winston commits many thought crimes and becomes paranoid about being caught, which he knows is inevitable. He becomes paranoid because he is followed by a young woman who is activly involved in many community groups. Winston is obsessed with the past, a time before Oceania was under strict dictatorship.
He goes into the same antique shop and forms a relationship with the shop keeper in which he shows Winston a room upstairs which he can rent. While there he sees the same woman following him, as this happens many thoughts race through his mind about killing her. He decideds against it since she would probly fight back. The girl who was following him slipped him a note while in work saying “I love you. ” They make plans to meet each other and carry on an illegal love affair that lasts for a long period of time and is commited in many secret places. Winston rents the room where him and the girl, Julia, can be secluded from the outside world.
Julia is considered a sexual deviant in the oppressed world of 1984. In the normal world sex is free, in 1984 it’s a forbidden act only allowed for reproduction prposes to keep the partys numbers constant. Julia has been sexually active since her teenage years. “She has had her first love affair when she was sixteen, with a party member of sixty. ” Love and sex is not allowed in this totalitarian state so Julia has to look as pure as possible so that she does not show any guilt. Winston had been fascinated about a man named O’Brien who he see’s and he contacts Winston who indicates that he is a member of a secret brotherhood.
They go to his house and he gives them a book to read said to be written by Emannuel Goldstein. Soon after that, Winston and Julia are caught at there rented room which was actually all fake and the though police knew everything that was happening from the begging. O’Brien, becomes his rehabilitator and torturer for the next 9 months. O’Brien tortures Winston in stages. The first two stages are to force the party’s beliefes on him then learn and understand what is exspected of him. In the third stage, Winston is made to face what he secretly fears the most, rats eating his face.
O’Brien knows this because earlier in the novel while they were in the rented room a rat comes out of a hole and Winston is petrified of it and shows his fear of rats. then Winston yells: “Do it to Julia, dont do it to me, do it to her! ” This was the ultamite betrayal of her and himself and he is immeditately released from his imprisonment. After being rehabilitated by O’Brien, Winston now loves the establishment and the government. He is set free and lives a rather dull life playing chess, drinking, and sitting in a cafe. Later, back in the Chestnut Tree cafe, he realises that he loves Big Brother.
