1984 by George Orwell

Book Summary

The book 1984 is a socio-political novel by George Orwell that describes the life of a part of the people in dictatorial societies. The main character of the story is named Winston Smith, who is considered a low-ranking employee of the society, however, he has anti-party thoughts in his country, the environment in which he lives is strictly controlled by the existing government, and people have been brainwashed.

They have obeyed the orders of the rulers completely and the thought of the smallest rebellion did not come to their mind. In such a situation, where rebellious thinking is considered one of the worst crimes, Winston, who is still not in a good mental condition after a long time after the nuclear war, does not accept the claims of the ruling party regarding the unification of East Asia with Oceania. Keeping a diary will crush your anti-party thoughts into it. At the same time as the recent events, he meets a girl who is suspicious of him, and upon receiving a letter from her, a romantic relationship is formed between them, a relationship that, as it continues, informs both of the existence of many political commonalities between them.

After Julia and Winston rent a room on the top floor of a store and start living together, they also strengthen their political activities, unaware that people assigned to the government are watching them. It doesn't take long for Winston to receive a message from O'Brien, who is a high-ranking member of the ruling party, asking him to visit him. In this meeting, O'Brien falsely tells them that he is very opposed to the government's political activity and gives them a book as a gift, and according to his previous plan, the agents attack Winston's house and his girlfriend and arrest them.

Very severe and terrible tortures are carried out on Winston after his arrest, so that in addition to the severe physical injuries he suffers, he also gives up his independence and self-esteem. Forgetting Julia is another goal that O'Brien has in mind, and he hopes that Winston will not succumb to the torture and will not remember anything about his feelings for her. Anyway, the destruction of people who have even the smallest differences with the political government of that day has been depicted by the author as beautifully as possible in this written work.

About the Author

Eric Arthur Blair, who is known by his nick name, George Orwell, is one of the famous English writers who, although he was born in India, emigrated to England with his mother and sister before he was one year old. He is considered a critical writer who criticizes the political atmosphere ruling the society of that day with his symbols in two works, 1984 and Animal farm. Orwell died of tuberculosis at the age of 46, just seven months after the publication of his book 1984.

Who Should Read the Book?

Those who are interested in the book 1984 can be divided into several different groups. The first group is those people who like reading political stories with beautiful and metaphorical symbols. The second group is those people like romance and political simultaneously and the third group can be related to people who are very interested in stories with themes related to freedom, honor and perfection.

1984, which is among the list of 100 books of the century of Le Monde and also the best English novels of the Guardian, has been narrated and presented to its readers by its author in three parts and in the subset of each part, in several chapters which he has called clauses. There is an introduction at the beginning of the book and an appendix at the end.

Book Quotes

Reality is in the human mind and nowhere else.

Nothing belonged to you except a few cubic centimeters inside your skull.

In Winston's house, like the rest of the citizens, there was a talking screen that spewed out political propaganda 24/7, and in the same way, the thought police monitored the actions of the citizens. Winston stood with his back to the speaker screen, which was playing a program about pig iron, and stared out the window at his workplace, the Ministry of Truth. As a political propaganda agent in the Ministry of Truth, he was required to change past events according to the party's official narratives by manipulating historical documents.

He had committed the most unforgivable sin, the crime of thought, and he knew very well that sooner or later the police of thought would find out about his crime.

No one takes power in order to destroy it.

The person who controls the past controls the future, The person who controls the present controls the past.

The best books are the ones that tell you what you already knew.

If you want to keep a secret, you have to hide it from yourself.

Winston went into a room hidden from view of the talking screen and took out a diary from a small drawer. He had bought the office from a second-hand shop in a working-class area where the poor lived, away from the party's scrutiny. This class, which was called the so-called working class, was weak and insignificant in the eyes of the party and was not considered a threat. Even though Winston knew that writing in his diary was considered a militant act in the eyes of the party, he started writing his diary immediately.

In the house of Mrs. Parsons, Winston suffered greatly because of Mrs. Parsons' boisterous children were considered budding spies and playfully accused him of thought crime. The Society of Young Spies was an organization in which children were trained to monitor the actions of adults and expose their betrayal.