The book 1984 was written by George Orwell. There are some different explanations for the significance of this title. He was originally going to name the book the “The Last Man in Europe.” After speaking with his editor, they came up with 1984.
It’s also significant because he wrote the book 1984 in a time where communism was a bad ongoing thing and he thought that the year 1984 was a far enough date in the future to make it seem that it was still going on and got significantly worse. The setting of 1984 is Oceania, a large country comprised of the Americas. The story takes place in London in the year 1984. Throughout the book, war is constant. It is important to remember that Orwell based 1984 on the facts he knew of hunger, shortages, and repression that was a result of the extreme governmental policies of the countries. Orwell’s theory of the future is a creative extension of how the majority were treated under Franco, Hitler, and Stalin. By setting 1984 in London, Orwell is able to make the most of a memory that an every reader, would likely have.
This makes London in 1984 become more than just a fictional place where bad things happen to unknown people, but a real geographical spot that still hold connections for the readers, which is why this story wouldn’t be as effective if it took place in a made up place. Also, by basing some of his ideas off from memories, it helps set up the story that creates an atmosphere where are about to relate and make more connections throughout the book. Orwell not only creates a terrifying place, but he also eliminates the possibility of escape for Winston by creating an entire world at war. Winston Smith is the main character in the story 1984 he is a 39 year old man living in Oceana in the year 1984. Winston is a very small man of small stature. He drinks a lot of gin and doesn’t exercise all that often other than morning jerks which is a thing where everyone of a certain age has to wake up and follow along to someone doing exercises.
There are many other characters in the book that mean a lot to the story. Like one being Julia whos a 26 year old party member like Winston who works in the fiction department. Julia also secretly despises the party but accepts there rules so she will not commit a thoughtcrime. Julia declares her love for Winston and they start their affair but keep it a secret so the thought police do not catch them.
O’Brien an inner party member and Winston feels a strong bond with him. Winston feels that even if O’Brien is an enemy, it wouldn’t matter because he knows O’Brien will understand him without explanation. Another is Big Brother Which is the symbol of Oceania and the party.
Big Brother is the leader of the part and is present through telescreens. Those are some characters that are important to the story 1984 The main conflict in 1984 is that of Winston vs. the Party (Man vs. Society).
Winston has started to question the system, he started to write a diary where he expresses his ideas about the Party, about Big Brother, and he has accepted the fact that he had committed thought crime and that death had now became something he can’t avoid. His character slowly starts the journey to fight the system. A Man vs. Society conflict is that if Winston against the general society itself. He does not trust anyone, and anyone could be a spy or part of the thought police. It has become a culture where one lives for oneself or the government, but not for others.
A Man vs. Technology conflict is portrayed with the presence of the big monitor observing and listening to every single thing Winston does. This lack of privacy contributes to Winston’s eventual fight against the Party.
That monitor can mean the difference between life and death for Winston, so he tries to avoid it as much as possible. There is also a conflict of Man vs. Self, which is occurring in Winston’s mind. He recognizes that he is helping the Party modify the past, an action that he starts to condemn.
Even when he decides to write a diary, there is a struggle in his mind about doing it or not, because it might mean death. Another main point in this type of conflict is Winston’s dream about his mother’s death, he remembers that she and his sister had to die in order to keep him alive, but he cannot recall the reason. This leads to make him think about a different past he cannot prove and this also influences his development. The major turning point is when O’Brien threatens to release the cage of rats on Winston’s face. Orwell constantly argues that physical pain and the sense of physical danger can override human reason. Winston, facing a swarm of rats prepared to devour his face, cannot act rationally.
That his betrayal of Julia occurs so soon after he restates his love for her is precisely the point, as physical pain eliminates the possibility of defending emotional conviction. As Winston notes earlier in the novel, he is a prisoner of his own nervous system. Turning against Julia is an instinctive lunge for self-preservation. Rather than the rats themselves, it is the awareness, foisted upon him by the Party, that he is a prisoner of his own body that ultimately breaks Winston. Once he believes that he is limited by his body, he has no reason to think, act, or rebel.
In the end, Giving up Julia is what O’Brien wanted from Winston all along. His spirit broken, Winston is released to the outside world, and lacking emotions. Winston and Julia ran into each other once, but they were both so changed by their torture that they do not have feelings for each other anymore.
Winston sips Jen, listens to the Telescreen, and thinks to himself “But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished…
” He has accepted the Party entirely and has learned to love Big Brother. The story was told from the point of view of the main character of the book, Winston Smith.The main theme of the book 1984 is Totalitarianism. Totalitarianism is a system of government that is centralized and dictatorial and requires complete subservience to the state.Orwell’s main goal was to warn of the serious danger totalitarianism poses to society.He goes to great lengths to demonstrate the terrifying degree of power and control a totalitarian regime can acquire and maintain. Orwell was a socialist and believed strongly in the potential to advance society.
During a time when much of the Western world was lauding communism as a step towards human progress in the development of equality in government, Orwell clearly and definitively spoke out against the practice. In writing the book 1984, Orwell gave the world a glimpse of what the embrace of communism might lead to if allowed to proceed unchecked.
