Title: Nineteen Eighty-Four
Author: George Orwell (pseudonym of Eric Arthur Blair)
Initial publication: 1949
Number of pages: 325

Summary
Nineteen Eighty-Four describes a possible future where the world is divided in three totalitarian superstates: Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia. The story takes place in Great Britain, except Britain is now an area of Oceania called Airstrip One. Oceania is ruled by the Party, which is led by the dictator Big Brother. Citizens are constantly watched with electronic surveillance. The official language is Newspeak, a deconstruction of English with the purpose of making politically sensitive speech impossible. Even a negative thought about the Party or Big Brother is a capital crime.

Winston Smith works at the Records Department of the Ministry of Truth. His job is to “rewrite history” by modifying old articles, books and other records to conform with the latest statements of the Party. Deep down, Winston feels the society he lives in is not right. The thought that the Party controls the flow of all information and everyone is expected to go along with it, while ignoring their own perceptions, terrifies him. Of course, he doesn’t express his feelings, as emotions of individuals are irrelevant. Despite this, he can’t resist to get a hold of an diary, which in itself is already a crime. Before he knows it, he has written the phrase “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” all over the pages. Winston realizes he is a dead man—he has committed thoughtcrime, so it is now just a matter of time before the Thought Police will find him.

At work, two people catch Winston’s attention. He suspects that an important party member named O’Brien might be a rebel, but he doesn’t act on this feeling. He also notices a dark-haired girl looking at him a few times; when she even shows up at a desolate place, he is convinced she is spying on him, and wonders if she is a member of the Thought Police. It turns out nothing could be further from the truth: one day, she secretly slips Winston a message reading “I love you”. They start an illegal relationship, secretly meeting each other in various secret places the girl—Julia—knows. Eventually Winston manages to hire a room which they use as a hideout. It’s the happiest time of their life, but they know it won’t last forever—someone will eventually find out. They accept their unavoidable fate, but vow to never betray each other.

Using a nonsensical work-related excuse, O’Brien invites Winston to visit him at home. This strengthens Winston’s belief that O’Brien is a member of the underground resistance. Winston and Julia decide to visit him and it turns out they were right. They are accepted into the Brotherhood, a secret association without a clear structure or known size; members only have contact with about four other members, so it’s impossible to give much away in case someone is captured—and eventually, everyone is captured.

Some time later, they are arrested in their hideout. The shopkeeper they were hiring the place from turned out to be a member of the Thought Police. Winston and Julia are separated and taken to the Ministry of Love. Winston is interrogated and tortured by O’Brien, who turns out to be a faithful Party member after all. O’Brien reveals they intend to kill Winston, but only after they convert him to the Party doctrine and thus make him “sane” again. after endless torture sessions Winston says and does everything O’Brien wants, but he isn’t broken yet—he hasn’t betrayed Julia.

The last step in his “curing” process is “room 101”. This place is only described as “the worst thing in the world”. For Winston, this is rats; they place him in a cage and threaten to let hungry rats on the other side eat him alive. Winston completely panics and says the only thing of which he knows it will save him—he begs to let the rats loose on Julia instead of him, thus betraying her. Winston has been converted and broken, and as such is deemed ready for re-integration. After some time he meets up with Julia again; it turns out she has betrayed him as well. They don’t love each other any longer. Winston starts to live a typical Party member life. In the end, he realizes he loves Big Brother.