1984 by George Orwell
The book follows Winston Smith, a civil servant of the Ministry of Truth in the city of Airstrip One.
The setting is a future maybe not so far away, a totalitarian society with Big Brother watching your every step. Airstrip One lies in the province of Oceania, formerly known as England.
Winston’s job is to rewrite documents, newspapers, historical facts etc. in any way the government sees fit. The news of today, might be changed tomorrow, or just erased completely. People and entire events are falsified.
The government controls everything and they can see you everywhere. Cameras, microphones and police are on every corner. Privacy is non-existing and the worst part? No one sees the truth, they are brainwashed, just plain ignorant.
Since his job is editing out parts of history that the government don’t like. He realizes that no one else notices. He is the only one who knows the real facts, or at least he knew what the facts were before he changed it. He feels alone in this grey and controlled world. Is there something wrong with him? The doubt he feels about his life, is it right? Or is he the only one who sees the truth about what kind of state he lives in, and what should or can he do about it? I know that if the Thought Police finds out that he doubts the state, he will be erased. He has seen it happen.
One day his friend didn’t show up at work. Winston looked our the list of employees and his friends name was not there. He asks other co-workers and they act like they never knew about that person. Winston’s friend was erased from history and no one noticed. So either the world is wrong or he is.
The story explores Winston’s thoughts about the society he lives in and the fears he have. Winston has a small alcove beside his TV where he cannot be seen, there he writes down is thoughts in a book. In this entire Big Brother, and ”Eyes are everywhere” world, there is one place that he can defy the government and bit by bit revolt against it. If the book is discovered he surely will be executed. Winston changes during the book; he starts to defy the government and gets involved in the underground movement. He tastes his own fear and explores what he can do, tempting the government.
The story of Winston Smith is a very moving one; you will cheer for him and scream at him. You can see the danger lurking near him; the Thought Police is a constant eagle looking down at him. I can’t really say more about this book, spoiling this can be so easy. But its still great literature and truly will make you think one more time on subjects like privacy, security and freedom of speech. This future is maybe so not far away.
