1984 by George Orwell (Book Summary and Review) - Minute Book Report

This is a quick book summary and analysis of 1984 by George Orwell. This channel discusses and reviews books, novels, and short stories through drawing...poorly.

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This is a story about Winston Smith, a middle-aged man who lives in Oceania, a collection of countries that form one of the three superpowers in the world.

He is stationed in dreary London, working as a clerk for the Ministry of Truth under Big Brother, the overruling party of Oceania. His job is to update all text, like books, newspapers, speeches, etc., to match whatever the party deems as correct.

Winston, however, is unhappy. He keeps a secret diary and writes in it frequently, expressing his frustrations with how life is. He takes caution from the Thought Police, a police-like group who use telescreens to view any suspicious activity from potential troublemakers.

One day at work, Winston notices a dark haired woman named Julia. She's young and beautiful with a hint of mystery. She slips him a secret note, saying that she loves him. The two meet up and engage in a physical and romantic relationship, of course forbidden by Big Brother and the party since intimacy is only for procreation, if that.

With the permission of an antique shop owner, the couple use the shop for their secret meetups. The couple even meet with another one of Winston's coworkers and talk about The Brotherhood, a secret resistance organization trying to dismantle Big Brother.

However, it's a setup and Winston and Julia are taken in for questioning. During the interrogation, Winston faces his greatest fear: rats. They put a cage of rats on his head and he begins to panic. In terror, he declares that he wishes the punishment be given to Julia instead of him. He is broken.

In the end, Winston is a shell of a man, broken and sheepish, believing what Big Brother tells him, that two plus two equals five.

First and foremost, 1984 portrays a dystopian society, a society overly controlled by an oligarchical government, where a few powerful people make the rules for all. In essence, it's about power and control.

To do this, Big Brother controls information, more specifically, information about the past. It misinforms its citizens about current events, which is the constant war being fought overseas.

Oceania is seemingly at war with one of the superpowers and allied with another. However, at a whim, Oceania then aligns itself with its former foe and declares war on its former ally, yet the records are made to show no change.

And to aid in this flip flopping, Big Brother controls time. Why is it 1984? It technically isn't. In the story, we learn that the year 1984 is seemingly infinite. It's more of a symbolic date rather than a measurement of a specific time.

But why would a government do that? Wouldn't it cause more confusion? Again, it's all about control. By controlling time, there is no past or memories, but also no future or ambitions. It's a world of the constant present.

We are also introduced to four ministries within Oceania that, while different from the branches of government in the Western World, parallel contemporary powers that influence our lives today. The Ministry of Truth can represent the media, which provides news, information, and entertainment. The Ministry of Peace can represent the military. The Ministry of Plenty can represent businesses and corporations. And the Ministry of Love can represent culture conformity or societal pressure to accept certain paradigms.

It's makes you wonder, "Is Big Brother watching us right now?"

Through Minute Book Reports, hopefully you can get the plot and a few relevant discussion points in just a couple of minutes.

Music by WingoWinston from newgrounds.com.