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1984 by George Orwell
1984 written by George Orwell in 1949. The story takes place in London in the year 1984, but it could be anywhere. Orwell describes a dystopian nightmare future for humanity. A world of crushing authoritarianism and harsh punishments. The tellescreen watches everyone always and there is no freedom of speech, no freedom to love or to have real friendships. Total societal control and the control of language are the goals of a tiny handful of unseen ruling elites, who hide behind the persona- Big Brother: "If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever" - George Orwell
The main character, Whinston, lives under constant observation by a tellescreen in his tiny apartment unit provided by the state. Whinston follows every command from the tellescreen, to refuse would mean deprogramming and death. He works in the 'Ministry of Truth' where his job is to edit news and information meant for public consumption. Whinston dutifully removes all information that doesn’t fit Big Brother’s narrative of reality. In the social order Whinston is at the bottom of the power structure, but still a part of it. There are others in society at much lower socioeconomic tiers like the Proles. Sometimes Whinston wishes he was a Prole because in their abject poverty they enjoy interpersonal relationships, something forbidden to him.
Whinston questions Big Brother and the cold empty reality created for humanity to live in. He wants to experience more, which is very dangerous for him, but his thirst for life outweighs his fear of punishment and death. And so his terrible adventure begins, and in the end he learns the truth.
In many ways Orwell’s book is prophetic. One can draw numerous parallels between the 1984 world Orwell describes and the world of today. We are moving rapidly towards a nightmare world of total technological government control far beyond anything Orwell envisioned. Orwell saw a cruel totalitarian hell in our future. It is unfolding now.
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