In George Orwell’s 1984, Winston Smith wrestles with oppression in Oceania, a place where the Party scrutinizes human actions with ever-watchful Big Brother. Defying a ban on individuality, Winston dares to express his thoughts in a diary and pursues a relationship with Julia.
A major purpose of 1984 being written was to warn people of the dangers of totalitarian revolutions. Orwell witnessed the overthrow of several major empires to socialism and communism and felt frightened that it could happen to him and anyone else—especially with the rise of violent technologies and weapons.
Today, Nineteen Eighty-Four comes across not as a warning that the actual world of Winston and Julia and O’Brien is in danger of becoming reality. Rather, its true value is that it teaches us that power and tyranny are made possible through the use of words and how they are mediated.
The last line of 1984 is, simply, “He loved Big Brother.” Big Brother becomes everything to Winston. In the final moment of the novel, Winston encounters an image of Big Brother and experiences a sense of victory because he now loves Big Brother. Winston’s total acceptance of Party rule marks the completion of the trajectory he has been on since the opening of the novel.
1984 explains the divide between the privileged class and the poor. The main character is described as part of the privileged class; he works for the government. His job is to erase and change history constantly so that no one know what truly happened, which is supposed to prevent an uprising from the people.
John 8:32