copied from theguardian, study.com, and britannica as an introduction to 1984 by George Orwell
George Orwell ?
George Orwell (born June 25, 1903, Motihari, Bengal, India—died January 21, 1950, London, England) was an English novelist, essayist, and critic famous for his novels Animal Farm (1945) and Nineteen Eighty-four (1949). The latter of these is a profound anti-utopian novel that examines the dangers of totalitarian rule.
What is 1984 novel about?
1984 is a dystopian novella by George Orwell published in 1949, which follows the life of Winston Smith, a low ranking member of ‘the Party’, who is frustrated by the omnipresent eyes of the party, and its ominous ruler Big Brother.
‘Big Brother’ controls every aspect of people’s lives. It has invented the language ‘Newspeak’ in an attempt to completely eliminate political rebellion; created ‘Throughtcrimes’ to stop people even thinking of things considered rebellious. The party controls what people read, speak, say and do with the threat that if they disobey, they will be sent to the dreaded Room 101 as a looming punishment.
What is the main lesson of 1984?
George Orwell wrote 1984 to teach people a lesson about the negative things that could happen if they allowed their government to exercise total control. The totalitarian regime of Oceania is able to manipulate their citizens into believing anything, which allows them as much power as they could possibly want.
What is the main plot of 1984?
Winston Smith is an employee at the Ministry of Truth. He is responsible for rewriting past records to align with the Party's current opinions. He greatly opposes the Party and wants to overthrow them. He meets a woman named Julia and starts an illegal affair with her, hiding in a secret apartment and discussing their feelings about the government. They soon find out that they were being watched the whole time, and they are tortured into saying that they no longer oppose the Party and Big Brother anymore.