George Orwell lived in England during World War Two, when England
had been at war with the totalitarian state, Nazi Germany. He was there when
London was blanket bombed and left in rubble by the Germans. Like many
writers he decided to make a statement with his work, and did. George Orwell's
novel 1984 was written as a political statement of against totalitarianism.
Totalitarianism is a form of government that tries to assert total control
over its citizens (Comptons). Being nothing like democracy, totalitarianism is like
communism, as it also has one party rule, no free and open elections, and due
process is not guaranteed, however totalitarianism is much more controlling.
Orwell presents the evils of such a system is 1984.
1984 is about life in a world where no personal freedon exists. The book's
main character is a man named Winston Smith. He is not a heroic type of person
nor is he extraordinarily intelligent. However, Winston hassomething that the
majority of the people at his time and in the situation that they're in don't, a good
pair of eyes. I don't mean good eyes as far as good vision goes but rather good
eyes in the context of seeing things for the way they are and seeing that what the
government isn't as right as the people think it is.
Winston works in a department of the government of Oceania (the nation
he lives) called the Ministry of Truth, a place where history is rewritten to fit
controlling party's views. Winston is aware of the untruths because he makes
them true. This makes him angry. He decides to rebel against the government of
Oceania by buying and writing his thoughts down in a diary. This is an illegal
action known as thought crime and is punishable by death. Winston chose a diary
as his means of rebellion because the government controlled peoples memories and
he wanted to remember what really ...