1984By: Aaron Miller

Publication Date: Signet Classic Printing, July 1950

AUTHOR: GEORGE ORWELL

Plot Synopsis of 1984

1984 is a story about the lives of particular individuals who are forced to cooperate in a corrupt and relentlessly harsh governmental tyranny, unforgiving and unpredictable. In this case, a man named Winston Smith is forced to cope day to day with very little freedoms that we are given today, in the year of 1984. Winston is told what to do, what to wear, where to work, how he is to conduct himself, and in one extreme case: what to believe and think!! He has to watch his every move and thought or face serious or sometimes fatal consequences. Cameras, video monitors, governmental spies, and even “friends” are watching his every move!!

1st Event

Winston hears a knock at the door. It’s his neighbor Mrs. Parsons who asks him to unclog her drain since her husband is at work. Winston experiences mocking and hatred when the Parsons children call him a traitor to “BIG BROTHER” a.k.a. “ The Government” (Chapter 2 of Part 1) pp.20-24.

2nd Event

Winston has a bad dream recalling his belief that he was responsible for his mother and sisters deaths. He has but only a vague memory of his mother and sisters. He knew that he had something to do with what had happened a long time ago. (Chapter 3 of Part 1) pp.29-31.

3rd EventWinston is taken to Room 101, the most ‘’horrific’’ room in the whole prison! There he is brainwashed into thinking the way that “Big Brother” wants him to think. He is tortured by O’Brien! O’Brien throughout the novel had pretended to be Winston’s friend and ally through the Brotherhood, an anti- government party, but he was really an agent of “Big Brother”. O’Brien used Winston’s worst fear upon him: RATS!! YUCK!! (Chapters 2 and 3 of Part 3) pp.239-274.

Winston: The Human Being

“ He was a lonely ghost uttering a truth that nobody would ever hear. But so long as he uttered it in some obscured way the continuity was not broken.It was not by making yourself heard but by staying sane that you carried on the human heritage.” p.27.

Winston: The Betrayer

“Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don’t care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Julia! Not me!” p.286.

Winston: A Changed Man

“Two gin scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was alright, everything was alright, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. HE LOVED “BIG BROTHER” p.297.

Theme

It is impossible to remain free-thinking under a totalitarianism government!! By writing 1984, Orwell wanted to show that complete government control absolutely destroys the human spirit and eliminates freethinking!!

Works Cited

Orwell, George. 1984. New York: Signet Classic Printing, July 1950. A startlingly original and haunting novel that creates an imaginary world that is completely convinces the reader that “Big Brother” is always watching.