Summary - 1984

      The story begins with Winston, the main character, coming back to his apartment from his job at the Ministry of Truth. Winston¹s job was to change recorded events, predictions made by the Party, and documents to make then ³correct². In actuality his job was to falsify history to whatever was in the Party¹s current best interest. Whatever the Party said must always be correct and undisputable, there fore history was constantly being rewritten by people like Winston. One of the Party¹s slogans was ³He who controls the past, controls the future. He who controls the present, controls the past.²

      Every word anyone said was heard by the inner Party, also, every motion anyone made could be seen by the telescreens that were like two-way TVs. Anyone who showed any discontent or disapproval towards the Party was seen or heard, and taken to Ministry of Love, which concerned itself with law and order. No one knew what happened in the Ministry of Love, but people who were taken there most often disappeared. Their very existence falsified by the Ministry of Truth.

      Winston hid his hate of the Party very well from the telescreens. He hated the party but he knew there was nothing he could do. He had heard of an anti-Party  organization called the Brotherhood, but there was no way of knowing if it really existed. He didn¹t know if anyone felt the same way he did, but he was sure there must be.

      The Party was reconstructing society as a whole, and no one seemed to notice. it was done so systematically and effectively, it was hard to believe the world had ever been otherwise. Children were raised to love Big Brother (the human face the Party took on). They were taught to turn anyone in who showed signs of deviation from the Party, even their own parents. they were born not knowing anything of the past, and without anyway of finding out. Anything that was taught to them as true, was taken as the truth. Even a whole new language had been in development, called Newspeak. Newspeak effectively limited the amount of words to a bare minimum. The goal was to completely get rid of any words that allowed for individual or original thought. Words such as Love, science, God, and freedom (in the sense of political or intellectual freedom) were all nonexistent. People had no way of expressing anything, because there were no words to do so with. That way,any possible threat to the Party could be wiped out of existence.

      The world had been divided into three large countries: Eurasia, Eastasia, and Oceania. Oceania was the country in which Winston lived, and the Party controlled. The three countries were constantly at war with one another. Oceania may be allies with Eastasia and at war with Eurasia one month, and the exact opposite the next. But whoever Oceania was at war with at the moment, they insisted they had always been at war with. There were no documents to prove otherwise, and people were constantly brainwashed by the ever present telescreens. The Party was never wrong.

      One day Winston notices a woman at work that he notices something strange about. At first he thinks she is probably a member of the Thought Police, out to catch him. One day as she is walking towards him down a hall, she falls purposely. As Winston helps her up, she slips him a piece of paper that says ³I love you². He had been wrong, she felt the same way about the Party as he did. They arranged for a place to meet in he woods, far from telescreens or microphones. Her name was Julia. Eventually they get a room above a small store where hey can go.

      Winston also notices signs of unorthodoxy in his boss. Mr. O¹Brian, at the Ministry of Truth. Winston takes a huge risk and asks O¹Brian about it. Although O¹Brian is a member of the Inner Party, he admits to being involved in the mysterious Brotherhood organization. O¹Brian gives Winston a copy of ³The Book², which contains the teachings of the Brotherhood and the truth about the Party. As Winston and Julia are reading The Book in their secret room, they hear a voice. A telescreen had been hidden in the room the whole time. The Thought Police had finally caught him, O¹Brian had betrayed him.

      Winston and Julia are separated and taken to the Ministry of Love. The Party does not just kill people against the Party. First, they make the people fully accept the Party, then they kill them. Winston was tortured for what could have been weeks or months, he had no way of knowing . Winston is conformed to the beliefs of the Party after severe brainwashing and torture. They release him to live out the rest of his life, but it didn¹t matter. Winston is a broken man, he now loves Big Brother. The Party had won.