1984 by George Orwell

First of all, let me start saying that 1984 is a very interesting book to read because of its unique plot devised by George Orwell. Secondly, this book has many complex ideas of psychology and government which can relate to today’s society or to other forms of government throughout history.

The story is about a man named Winston Smith, who lives in a world without freedom in which we would fear to live in. The regions of Winston’s world are divided among Oceana, East Asia, and Eurasia. Winston resides in London which is part of the Oceana region of the government. The totalitarian government bears the name “Big Brother”, and controls the Oceana and East Asia regions of the planet. Winston experiences the horrors of this meticulous form of government in the story. Secretly placed microphones and cameras surround London, so any rebellious or threatening activities seen or heard by the Thought Police will end in punishment and torture. Winston, thin and frail, endures thinking about rebellious activities to avoid torture. Winston lives in a Prole populated area and works as a historian for the Party. His job is to erase and create documents to change the course of history in which the government wants it to. That means history is controlled by the Party and Winston and the people do not even realize what is real and what is not. Newspeak is a program created by the Party to decrease knowledge to the masses such as Winston, by limiting their vocabulary and misinforming them with lies to easily brainwash their undeveloped brains. Winston already commits his first “Thought Crime’ in the book by writing a diary. Owning a diary is a crime to the government and it is punishable. Because of that, Winston dreams to take the government down and meets people along the way that are either rebels who had enough with the Party, or members of the Thought Police ready to arrest and torture Winston.