Kāpiti College Library

Notes

"Thoughtcrime was not a thing that could be concealed for ever. You might dodge successfully for a while, even for years, but sooner or later they were bound to get you."
Winston Smith works in the Ministry of Truth or Minitrue as it is called in Newspeak altering newspapers and reports to follow the arbitrary dictates of Big Brothers propaganda. Beneath his outward conformity, Winston dreams of sharing his treasonable thoughts, breaking the locked loneliness in which one had to live. And so he takes his first dangerous steps writing a diary of his doubts and then falling in love with a woman of the Party, the beautiful and brave Julia. They know their love is doomed, but Julia swears They can make you say anything anything but they cant make you believe it. They cant get inside you. In Oceania, however, there is no possibility of solidarity, rebellion or love, and the Party can get anywhere.
George Orwells Nineteen Eighty-Four was first published in 1949. This terrifying dystopia, which he created in a time of great social and political unrest, remains acutely relevant and influential to this day.