1984 - The Plot
The Story starts, as the title tells us, in the year of 1984, and it takes place in England or how it is
called at that time, Airstrip One. Airstrip One itself is the mainland of a huge country, called
Oceania, which consists of North America, South Africa, and Australia. The country is ruled by the
Party, which is led by a figure called Big Brother. The population of Oceania is divided into three
parts:
1.The Inner Party (app. 1% of the population) whose members hold high posts in the administration
of the country.
2.The Outer Party (app. 18% of the population) whose life of the Outer Party is dictated by the
Party. The people of the Outer Party live in dull grey and old flats.
3.The Proles whose members are labourers, mainly employed in the industry and in the farms
The protagonist is Winston Smith, a member of the Outer Party, working in the Records
Department of the Ministry of Truth, rewriting and altering records, such as newspaper-articles, of
the past. The action starts when Winston develops critic thoughts against the ruling dictatorship of
the party, for the first time. Doing so he buys himself a book, a rare thing these days, to use it as a
diary. As individual expression was forbidden by the Party, having a diary was a crime, which
could even be punished with death. There were so-called telescreens in each room, showing
propaganda, which had a built in camera and microphone, in order to spy on the people. After the
World War the party has taken control of the country, and from then on it was difficult to remember
anything, because the party changed the history permanently to their own benefit. Winston wonders
whether he's the only person with memory, that isn't inflicted by Doublethink. In the dining room he
catches the eye of a dark-haired girl and they fall in love. Julia makes him feel more alive, she
makes him feel healthier, and he even puts on weight. Some days later Winston and Julia meet each
other to go to the flat of O'Brien, a member of the Inner party, which lies in the district of the Inner
Party. They are admitted to a richly furnitured room by a servant. To their astonishment O'Brien
switches off the Telescreen in the room.(Normally it is impossible to turn it off) Winston blurts out
why they have come: they want to work against the Party, they believe in the existence of the
Brotherhood, and that O'Brien is involved with it. Now it is Hate Week and suddenly the war with
Eurasia stops, and a war with Eastasia starts. This of course meant a lot of work for Winston. He
had to change dozens of articles about the war with Eurasia Winston is filled with the conviction
that the future lies with the proles, that they will overthrow the greyness of the Party. But suddenly
reality crashes in. He is brought to "Room 101" after screaming and struggling, and even offering
his children's sacrifices in his stead. O'Brien enters. Winston thinks that they must have got him too,
but O'Brien says that they got him long time ago, and he is Winston’s torturer. Winston protests, bat
then he says anything under torture, betraying Julia, but inside he has remained true to her. Winston
is much better now. O'Brien says that the room 101 is the worst thing in the world. For each person
it is his own personal hell. For Winston it is a cage containing two rats, with a fixture like a fencing
mask attached, into which the face of the victim is strapped. Then there is a lever, that opens the
cage ,so that the rats can get to the face. He screams. The only way to get out of this is to put
someone else between him and the horror. "Do it to Julia", he screams in a final betrayal of himself.
Winston is released, and he is often sitting in the Chestnut Tree Café, drinking Victory Gin and
playing chess. He now has a job in a sub-committee , that is made up for others like himself. On a
cold winter day he meets Julia, they speak briefly, but have little to say to each other, except that
they have betrayed each other. A memory of a day in his childhood comes to Winston’s mind; It is
false, he is often troubled by false memories. He looks forward to the bullet, they will kill him some
day. Now he realises how pointless it was to resist. He loves Big Brother!
Features and themes  pag 363 del libro: dall’inizio del paragrafo a ‘Big Brother is watching you’
e poi gli ultimi 4 righi.
Argomenti che possono essere chiesti:
Big Brother
Big Brother is not a real person. All-present as he is, all-powerful and forever watching, he is only
seen on TV. Although his picture glares out from huge posters that shout, BIG BROTHER IS
WATCHING YOU, nobody sees Big Brother in person. Orwell had several things in mind when he
created Big Brother. He was certainly thinking of Russian leader Joseph Stalin; the pictures of Big
Brother even look like him. He was also thinking of Nazi leader Adolph Hitler and Spanish dictator
Francisco Franco. Big Brother stands for dictators everywhere.
Doublethink
Doublethink is a kind of manipulation of the mind. Generally, one could say that Doublethink
makes people accept contradictions, and it makes them also believe that the party is the only
institution that distinguishes between right and wrong. This manipulation is mainly done by the
Minitrue (Ministry of Truth), where Winston Smith works. So complete control of the country and
its citizens is provided.
Newspeak
Newspeak is the official language of Oceania and has been devised to meet ideological needs of
Ingsoc, or English Socialism. In the year 1984, nobody really uses Newspeak in speech nor in
writing. Only the leading articles are written in this "language". The purpose of Newspeak is not
only to provide a medium of expression for the world-view and mental habits proper to devotees of
Ingsoc, but to make all other methods of thought impossible. Another reason for developing
Newspeak is to make old books unreadable. With Newspeak, Doublethink will be even easier.