Boekverslag George Orwell

Geschreven door:	myrthe
Datum ingestuurd:	3 juni 2003
Taal:
Woorden:	654
Opvragingen:	2385 (39 deze maand)
Waardering:	Currently 4.14/5 1 2 3 4 5 4.1/5 (7 stemmen)

Titel:	Nineteen eighty-four
	1984
Auteur:	Orwell, George
Jaar van uitgave:	1949
Aantal pagina's:	324
Moeilijkheidsgraad:	bovenbouw havo/vwo
Verfilmd als:	Nineteen eighty-four (1984)

Auteur:	Orwell, George
Pseudoniem voor:	Blair, Eric Arthur
Geslacht:	man
Nationaliteit:	Engels
Geboren:	25 juni 1903
Overleden:	21 januari 1950
Informatie:	http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Orwell
Populaire titels:	1945Animal farm (54) 1949Nineteen eighty-four / 1984 (34) 1934Burmese days (1) 1933Down and Out in Paris and London (0) 1950Shooting an elephant (0) 1931A hanging (0)

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My summary.
It is the year 1984 and England is ruled by the Party of Big Brother. Wherever you are, Big Brother is watching you. The world is divided in three parts: Oceania, Eastasia and Eurasia. Britain lays in Oceania, but is called Airstrip One. Winston Smith is a citizen of London, and he works at the Ministry of Truth (Minitrue). Winstons work there is to change the past by changing the newspapers, into whatever the Party says (so they can prove they are always right). In this way the Party controls the past, the present and the future. Winston is one of the few people left, that is not happy under the reign of The Party. One day he buys a diary, an absolute crime, and he fears that the Thought Police will get him. At work there is a girl which he fears and suspects to be an agent of the Thought Police. When he walks on the streets, in the neighbourhood of the proles, he sees her again and fears that he will get caught. But the next day at work she slips a piece of paper into his hands, with the words 'I love you". Winston is confused and doesn't know what to do. They meet some time later and make love. From that moment on they have an affair. They rent a room at the store of Mr. Charrington, in the Proletarian sector of the city, where are (so they think) no telescreens. Where they engage with al anti-Party acts. After some time, Winston runs into O'Brien, who asks him to come by his house to pick up a book. He goes there together with Julia, and they find out that O'Brien is part of the Brotherhood, who rebels against the Party. They join the Brotherhood, which is leaded by Emmanuel Goldstein. They read the book, written by Goldstein, in their rented room. Julia falls asleep and Winston to. When they wake up the next morning, a picture falls from the wall and Winston sees the telescreen behind it. Then Thought agents rush into the room and beat them up. Julia was taken away and Winston finds out that Mr. Charrington is an Thought agent too.
Winston was arrested and taken to the Ministry of Love (Miniluv), where he is put in a cell with four telescreens watching him. Then O'Brien enters, and Winston finds out that he is an Thought agent as well. O'Brien tortures Winston until he agrees to O'Brien in everything and gives the right answers. Then Winston isn't tortured for a while. Then O'Brien walks back in and Winston tells him he hates Big Brother (The Party). Then O'Brien takes Winston into room 101, for the final step before reintegration. O'Brien shows Winston a cage of hungry rats (Winston is scared to death of rats) and the cages is fitted around Winston's head. Then Winston yells that they should do it to Julia and not to him. Considering that that was the highest form of betrayal (betraying your beloved ones) Winston is released. When he returns to the world he is a physical and psychological wreck. When he meets Julia, they both confess they've betrayed each other in room 101. Later, Winston realizes he loves Big Brother

My comments
I really enjoyed reading this book, but is was quite a task! I picked a real hard book, but it was worth reading it. I can’t imagine living in a sociaty were is no freedom at all, you’re watched every step you take. The people in this book live in fear and are having no fun in their lives. This seemes awfull to me. The last 2 sentences really impressed me: “He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother”. After months of torture and humiliation he was brainwashed and no longer in good condition to stand for his principles. It is a sad ending of the story.