FREE ESSAY ON 1984

1984

1984, by George Orwell (Pen Name), is a dystopian (opposite of utopia, imperfect) novel
that presents the reader with a sense of despair for the characters. George Orwell, whose
actual name is Eric Arthur Blair, was born in Motihari, India, June 25, 1903and died in
London, England, January 21,1950. He was a prominent author in the 1940s of two satires
that attacked the idea of totalitarianism. The novels and essays and such written in the
1930s established him as an influential voice of the century. Orwells' parents were
members of the Indian Civil Service; he went to college in London and after wards joined
the imperial police. During his service, he wrote his first novel, Down and out in Paris
and London (1933), was the start of many he wrote within the next seven years. His two
most famous novels are Animal Farm (1945) and 1984 (1949), which are both attacking types
of government, these two novels brought him his first fame as a writer.
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 whom 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 writing in a
diary in which he buys from an antique shop run by a prole (lower class of society,
Poor). 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 a
young woman who is actively involved in many community groups follows him. 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 shopkeeper in which he shows
Winston a room upstairs which he can rent. While there, he sees the same woman following
him, as many thoughts race through his mind about killing her. He decides against it
since she would probably 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 and is committed 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 is a forbidden act only allowed for reproduction purposes
to keep the party's 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 sees 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 supposedly
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 rehabilitate and torturer for the next 9
months. O'Brien tortures Winston in stages. The first two stages are to force the party's
beliefs on him then learn and understand what is expected 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, don't do it to me, do it to her!" This was the ultimate betrayal
of her and himself and he is immediately 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 realizes that he loves Big Brother.
The authors' purpose of writing this book is to warn of danger certain types of
government can have. He is saying those Dictatorships are very controlling and that they
can do as they please just to control the people within their country. The book says that
the Inner Party, which is like a Dictatorship, did what ever it took the control of the
people. The major theme of the book is that totalitarianism is a very sinister and
corrupt form of government and that it should be banned in some way or another. I believe
that it is bad because the government has the complete power to do what they want and
they could possibly change history. An additional theme in the book is to keep track of
your history because at any given time it could change right in front of you. 
1984 is a classic novel on the antics of government. The book seemed to lack something in
the beginning that I could not quite figure out. Since the ending of the book was
exemplary, it made up for the beginning. Some of the things in the book seemed obscure
since the novel is based in the year 1984, which was the future when it was written. I
personally enjoyed this book and would recommend it to be read, Along with his second
novel Animal Farm.