1984

WAR IS PEACE

 

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY

 

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

I am currently reading the book 1984 by George Orwell. When I first found this book on my Amazon recommended list, I thought to myself, why would I want to read a book about the past? But in reality, the book is intended to be about the future. You see, this book was written somewhere in the 1950s or 1960s. It's about the year 1984 (if you couldn't guess that from the title), which, back then, was the future. At first, I thought, well, most of this will be about something that has already happened. But so far, I'm dead wrong.

I'm only twenty pages into this book, and what I've read has shocked me. Most of the things that are written in this book are actually occurring today. This seems like an older version of a dystopian novel. It takes place in London where there is a very controlling (and somewhat confusing) government system. There's the Thought Police, who can read your thoughts 24/7 (which is totally not creepy) and arrest you if you think about anything rebellious, Big Brother, who is the head honcho of the whole thing, the screens that watch what everyone is doing every second of every day, and four different Ministries, each one controlling a certain aspect of people's lives. "They were the homes of the four Ministries between which the entire apparatus of government was divided: the Ministry of Truth, which concerned itself with news, entertainment, education, and the fine arts; the Ministry of Peace, which concerned itself with war; the Ministry of Love, which maintained law and order; and the Ministry of Plenty, which was responsible for economic affairs" (Orwell 8).

Oh, whoops, I forgot the main character! Psh, well done Rachel... Anyways, the main character is Winston Smith, and he works for the Ministry of Truth. While you would expect him to be on the side of the government, I'm actually surprised to know that he hates the way the government controls everything. On just the eighteenth page (so don't worry, I'm not really spoiling anything if it happens right in the beginning of the book), he is subconsciously writing, DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER, DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER, DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER, over and over and over again. I finished reading where someone knocks on his door, and he's afraid that it might be the Thought Police. I'm so excited to find out what happens next! Anyways, I hope you all stay tuned for the next turn of events that might occur in the rebellious government employee's life in the next 225 pages.