Plot Overview of 1984 Essay

1984 and George Orwell

1984 is about life in a world without freedom. Winston, the main character, is a 39 year old man who is neither extraordinarily intelligent nor extraordinarily handsome. Winston works in the Ministry of Truth, a place where history is rewritten in order to make the people look up to their tyrant, Big Brother. Winston knows of these lies because he is the one who makes them true. Big Brother, a larger than life figure, controls the people and is the ruler of Oceania. Winston is so upset with his government that he rebels against the government. Winston's first act of rebellion is owning a diary. Owning a diary is a thought crime and is punishable by death. A thought crime is any bad thought against government. Winston commits thought crimes and is paranoid that he is going to be caught, which he knows will eventually happen. Winston often thinks of the time before Oceania was under strict dictatorship. He goes into an antique shop and buys a shell covered in glass, which is a thought crime. Throughout the beginning of the book a girl follows Winston. The girl who follows him slips him a note while at work. The note said, "I love you. After realizing this, they make plans to meet each other and carry out an illegal love affair and it goes on for some time. Winston rents a room where he and Julia, the stalker lady, can be secluded from the outside world. They both meet a man named O'Brien who indicates that he is another revolutionary. Winston and Julia then go to his house to meet with him. O'Brien gives them a book to read. Soon after, they get caught by the Thought Police and never see each other again. O'Brien then ends up becoming Winston's rehabilitator and torturer for the next 9 months. O'Brien doesnt just torture Winston, he tortures Winston in stages.

The first two stages are to make Winston believe again. Believe in the almighty Big Brother. In the third stage, Winston has to face his worst fear, rats eating his face. After being completely rehabilitated by O'Brien, Winston ends up loving the government. He is then set free. Big Brother is the figurehead of a government that has total control. The Big Brother regime uses propaganda and puts fear in its citizens to keep the general population in line. Big Brother uses many ways to catch people guilty of thought crimes. Winston Smith represents Orwell's view on totalitarianism. Winston rebels against the government of Oceania by starting a diary and constantly having bad thoughts against the government. Winston starts writing in a diary for two reasons. The first is that he wants to be able to remember the little things that happen in the world. In 1984, there are no individuals. The other reason for the diary is so that people in the future will be able to read what went on during Winston's time and to tell them about his feelings about the party. These are the same reasons why Orwell wrote 1984.

O'Brien is an informant to Big Brother. He is not who he seems to be. He appears to Winston as a fellow conspirator, but actually becomes Winston's torturer and rehabilitator. O'Brien and the party can't tolerate Winston's betrayal. O'Brien tells Winston what he should feel about Big Brother when Winston is at his lowest point.

In a normal world sex is free, in 1984 it's a forbidden act only allowed for reproduction. Love and sex is not allowed in this totalitarian state so Julia has to look as pure as possible so that she does not show any guilt. The owner of the antique shop is another example of someone appearing to be what he is not. Someone who appears to be your friend will actually turn you in and have you killed. The shop owner appears to be an old widower who enjoys having conversations with Winston Smith. Throughout 1984, looks can be deceiving. He is actually a member of the Thought Police and gets a good laugh when Winston and Julia get caught. Now all he can do is wait for the next offenders to enter his store.

Winston and Julia are workers at the Ministry of Truth. The Ministry of Truth is a complete contradiction of itself. A Ministry of Truth should not change past occurrences or say people never existed. It should express the truth and not erase records of the past. The Ministry of Love is where all criminals are tortured and rehabilitated. As soon as Winston is captured he knows he is going to the Ministry of Love. Winston had never been inside the Ministry of Love. It was a place impossible to enter except on official business, and then only by walking through a maze of barbed-wire entanglements, steel doors, and hidden machine-gun nests. Even the streets leading up to its outer walls were protected by guards in black uniforms.