👁️ 1984 by George Orwell

Few Learnings

• Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.

• If there is hope, it lies in the proles.

• There will be no one to rebel if everyone is equally oppressed.

• The one who controls the present controls the past

Read it on amazon.

Ever imagined a world where you are under continuous surveillance? George Orwell in Animal Farm described how a dictatorship is formed out of a revolution but in 1984 he described how the dictatorship operates and this one is the worst to live in.

The book is divided into three parts and each part helps us understand the world while focusing on the main character "Winston Smith". The story is settled in Oceania "one of three super states which rule the world", and the party rules Oceania under the leadership of mysterious leader "Big Brother" with the ideology of "Ingsoc" (a Newspeak shortening of "English Socialism").

Winston who was a kid before the revolution does not remember anything of how the party came in power and how the revolution changed the world entirely. One of the main reasons for this is that the party controls the past and every copy of books, newspapers, movies, documentaries are altered to make them in line with the present. All he knew was that he will vanish from this world one day as he was committing a thought crime by writing a diary, yes, it is a crime to think in this world.

It was the hope which helped him to commit this crime and it was O'Brien (member of inner-party) who gave him this hope, and he believed that only proles can one day change the world. The reason behind this is the fact that human civilisation is divided into three categories since the start, first is of the rulers who remain in power, second is of the people who are in the middle and try to get in power, and last is the people who try to make things better for them and will never think of power. But, in a world where the first and second category becomes one, it is the proles where lies the hope.

Julia his love interest also hated the party and thus helped him commit the crime of love, yes, it is a crime to love as well.

It gave us hope for the world to change but also opened our mind to the thought of the party, and it is the power which keeps them motivated, and it is the power which will never allow you to rebel and hence at the end you will love Big Brother.

The book is considered one of the best political parodies and it is not possible to include everything without releveling the actual story and one should give it a read as there is a lot to understand which should not be explained here as it might hamper the power of words the author provided. [Bonus tip: Read it after reading Animal Farm.]