1984 is a famous novel of social criticism written by the English author George Orwell and published in 1949. The novel portrays a terrifying totalitarian society of the future that punishes love, banishes privacy, and distorts the truth.
Orwell set 1984 in an imaginary world dominated by three police states continually at war with each other. The hero of the novel is Winston Smith, a minor official in one of the state’s bureaucracies. Smith’s search for truth and decency leads him to rebel against the totalitarian government. Joining him in his rebellion is a young woman who becomes his lover. Smith is arrested, tortured, and reeducated to destroy his independence and spiritual dignity.
The title of the book has become a synonym for governments that abuse the truth and the individual through coercion and propaganda. The state in 1984 is symbolized by “Big Brother,” an unseen dictator who keeps his people under constant surveillance and subjection. The repeated phrase “Big Brother is watching you” has entered the English language to describe government censorship and surveillance.
In 1984, Orwell coined the word Newspeak to describe a language employed by Big Brother’s followers. In Newspeak, words are often twisted to mean the opposite of their real meanings so they conform to an ideology. Language is also simplified to make original thinking difficult and to make unpatriotic thoughts impossible to express.
