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1984 Summary
About 1984 Book
A PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick
With extraordinary relevance and renewed popularity, George Orwell’s 1984 takes on new life in this edition.
“Orwell saw, to his credit, that the act of falsifying reality is only secondarily a way of changing perceptions. It is, above all, a way of asserting power.”—The New Yorker
In 1984, London is a grim city in the totalitarian state of Oceania where Big Brother is always watching you and the Thought Police can practically read your mind. Winston Smith is a man in grave danger for the simple reason that his memory still functions. Drawn into a forbidden love affair, Winston finds the courage to join a secret revolutionary organization called The Brotherhood, dedicated to the destruction of the Party. Together with his beloved Julia, he hazards his life in a deadly match against the powers that be.
Lionel Trilling said of Orwell’s masterpiece, “1984 is a profound, terrifying, and wholly fascinating book. It is a fantasy of the political future, and like any such fantasy, serves its author as a magnifying device for an examination of the present.” Though the year 1984 now exists in the past, Orwell’s novel remains an urgent call for the individual willing to speak truth to power.
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Story
The story follows Winston, a 39-year old who lives in Oceania, a totalitarian state that wants to control every aspect of its people’s lives and tries to avoid the mistakes similar regimes have done in the past.
They claim that power should not be a means to an end. If the Party seeks power for its own sake, then there is no way they will lose it.
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Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimetres inside your skull.
GEORGE ORWELL
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Power
The Party employs various methods to maintain its power and control over the population. One of these methods is "Newspeak," a language designed to limit the range of thought and eliminate unorthodox or rebellious ideas. Another key aspect is the constant surveillance through telescreens, which monitor citizens for any signs of misbehavior.
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"War is Peace,
Freedom is Slavery,
Ignorance is Strength"
GEORGE ORWELL
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"Until they become conscious they wil never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious"
GEORGE ORWELL
25
Sanity is not statistical
In our world today we can easily label someone as insane because he/she has a different opinion from the rest of us.
We don't give a damn on critisizing our truth, because it is easier to think that this is the norm.
But when we start to examine the facts we start to see that the truth that we hold on to is flawed.
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The best books... are those that tell you what you know already
The best books... are those that tell you what you know already
1984 - GEORGE ORWELL
4
"War is Peace
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength"
GEORGE ORWELL
1
Chill
“Keep in mind how fast things pass by and are gone - those that are now, and those to come.
Existence flows past us like a river: the 'what' is in constant flux, the 'why' has a thousand variations.
Nothing is stable, not even what's right here.
The infinity of past and future gapes before us - a chasm whose depths we cannot see.
So it would take an idiot to feel self - importance or distress.
Or any indignation, either.
As if the things that irritate us lasted"
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Segunda leitura
Ao chegar no fim do livro pela segunda vez, simplesmente não consegui digerir toda aquela confusão de palavras no discurso de O'Brien, parece que a dor física que Winston sentia se transferia para mim em cansaço mental. Pensar que essa era a intenção do autor faz dele um gênio da psique humana, além de literário.
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