“Big Brother is watching you” (Orwell 3). He sees all. He knows that Winston has been making love to a woman, which was forbidden to Party members. The man falls in love with Julia, a mysterious dark-haired girl, who is also an anti-Big Brother person. Together, they meet secretly and devise plans on how to ruin the Party’s rule. In the end, however, they fail, and the Party wins.
Rules in Nineteen Eighty-Four are very harsh. Every law is created by the Party. You are obliged to follow these rules at any time. Should you try to break one, there will always be a Party member who will know that you made a grave mistake. He will then report you to the Thought Police. Once they have you, you are cursed to face your greatest fears in a small, dark room, Room 101.
O’Brien, a member of the Inner Party, is the man who betrays Winston and Julia. He is a double-crosser, first pretending to be on Winston’s side, but then working against him. It is ironic that Winston views O’Brien as a symbol of support and understanding; he even has a dream that he would meet O’Brien in “the place where there is no darkness” (Orwell 27). Deceived by O’Brien’s appearance, too naïve and gullible, Winston falls into conspiracy’s trap.
The novel is far from a happy-ending piece. Every page is pessimistic; every incident leads to a mistake. When you read the book, you really feel like there is no way out of Big Brother’s world. The senses of helplessness, solitude and hostility are always in the air. The world of Nineteen Eighty-Four is worse than a nightmare. It might be hard to find anything positive in the novel. From the very beginning you get the impression that life in Airstrip 1 (London) is terrible. The city is dark and gloomy, the streets are dirty, the buildings are old and collapsing, and everywhere there are posters of Big Brother. The predominant color is gray. Just like the city, the people are somber, too. They have no will for life, other than the will to serve Big Brother. They have no liberty or freedom of choice. Their every move is determined by the Party. When people get home, they cannot relax and do what they want, for there is the ever-watchful telescreen, shouting out orders and monitoring the homes. Perhaps the worst part of this world is that humans are actually made to believe that they are happy. Using a sly technique called “doublethink”, the Party can alter the mind and make it think two controversial thoughts at the same time. That is how these people who are not satisfied with their lives can feel a bizarre satisfaction after receiving a greater ration of chocolate one day than they had received the previous day. What is even stranger is the fact that what people view as “true” is a lie. It is not “true” that the ration of chocolate increased; it actually decreased, but people seemed to not remember that. Like everything else, thoughts are also controlled by the Party.
How can you know what is “truth” in this world? You can never be certain that what you are being told is really so. All information is twisted in a way that would suit Big Brother. The world is changed according to his ideas. History is no longer “past” because all past can be altered, no longer being the past it was. In the event of a war, allies and enemies are constantly changing sides, reaching a point when no one is sure who the actual enemy is. People’s minds are used like blackboards. Someone writes something with a chalk, then decides to erase it. Only a small trace of chalk is left on the board, while the rest is clean again, ready to accept more writing. Time after time, the Party writes, then erases, then writes and erases again, until the brain becomes too tired to notice the presence of two controversial thoughts at the same time. The mind is even ready to agree with statements such as “War is Peace”, “Freedom is Slavery”, and “Ignorance is Strength” (Orwell 6). In this world of paradox, people are like brainwashed cattle; they would not react to Big Brother’s tyranny, but simply do everything they are told, no matter how absurd it may be.
Every novel should have at least a glimpse of optimism. In Nineteen Eighty-Four, there is no such thing. There are a few instances when one might say “Hooray!”, but that happiness will soon be overthrown by a “No!”. For every action, there is a reaction. Here, only the reaction is present.
Read with caution. This book is meant to shatter our perception of reality and make us fear the future. George Orwell has created a horrible masterpiece.
