The book 1984 by George Orwell is merely a warning of what could happen to a society in the future after many years of decline. In the nineteen fifties it was thought of as a prophecy. Many people actually thought that George Orwell was a madman for predicting all of these events in this book to happen in the year 1984.

The story takes place in Oceania that is as a big country where there are smaller parts to it, like London where the main character Winston Smith lives. London is the former capital of the former country England. Obviously the story takes place in the year 1984. There are three classes living in Oceania: the Inner Party, the Outer Party, and the Proles. The Inner Party makes up about only two percent of the population. The Inner Party is the ruling party. The Outer Party makes up of about fifteen percent of the population. All of the daily administration is handled by the Outer Party. The Outer Party is described as small, powerless, and indispensable. It is the equivalent of a middle class. The Inner party selects a small number of the Outer party to join the Inner Party. Then there are the Proles who make up the rest of the population.

The Government in Oceania is divided into four gigantic Ministries: The Ministry of Truth, The Ministry of Peace, The Ministry of Love, and The Ministry of Plenty. The Ministry of Truth controls the news, entertainment, education, and the fine arts. The Ministry of Peace controls all of the concerns of war. The Ministry of Love maintains law and order. Then the Ministry of Plenty is responsible for economical affairs. The government had three slogans, War is Peace , Freedom is Slavery , and Ignorance is Strength.

Poverty is at a maximum, and the standard of living is decaying. Parents are afraid of their own kids because they could be spies for the government. Everyone lives in fear, they are being watched and their thoughts are being monitored by the police. The slogan Big Brother is Watching is everywhere. In Oceania there is only one crime, and it is a Thoughtcrime. A Thoughtcrime is anything that involves forbidden thoughts. There is simply no justice system at all. People could be held against their will for months to years with no explanation at all. The punishment was mostly torture and death.

The main character is Winston Smith. He is everyman as symbolized by the name Smith. He is thirty-nine years old and is suffering from a varicose ulcer on his ankle. He is a member of the Outer Party, and works for The Ministry. He is kind of a rebel in his own sort of way. Winston keeps and writes in a journal that the government has outlawed. He stays away from his television that the government watches him through.

I can t really get into a good book, but this book was an interesting one. It was almost at first to far out there for me to enjoy. Then things started to slow down and became more interesting for me. I would recommend this book to anyone. George Orwell is a great writer and I would consider reading another book by him. I thought at first that George Orwell was a loon for writing a book like that named after the year 1984, but the year 1984 has no real significance at all. These events could happen any time at all. On a scale of one to ten: I give it a nine.