1984 - George Orwell

1. The title of the book is “Nineteen Eighty-Four

It has 226 pages and three chapters.

2. 1984 is the year in which the story starts. The book was actually going to be called 1980, but because it took Orwell such a long time to write it, he pushed the date to 1984.

3. George Orwell (1903-1950) was a well noted essayist and novelist, who is best known for his novels “1984”and “Animal farm”, which are both very critical of totalitarianism.

The well-known phrase “Big Brother is watching you” as well as the BBC series “Room 101” derive from “1984”.

4. This book was written for adults, in my opinion. The images portrayed in the book are very bleak, and it’s all annihilating pessimism leaves me quite at a loss for words. Nonetheless it is a beautiful book, and even though it’ll take a while, I will surely read it again.

5. Despair, maybe. Or futility. Maybe through that, to fright you into fighting to secure a different future.

6. It’s a dystopian, political novel.

7. Winston Smith: The main character. He’s very aware of himself, his surroundings and the consequences of his actions. A thoughtcriminal, which ultimately means he will be vaporized, he wants to undermine the authorities as much as possible without being caught.

Julia: Winston’s lover. She’s a bit naïve but rebellious. She’s very active in pro-party activities, therefore is a position where she can steal things like Inner-party food.

O’Brien: He works in the same division as Winston does, who immediately feels a strong connection with him, even though he’s not sure he’s trustworthy.

8. In the year 1984, A passage on page nine of the book reads: ‘To mark the paper was the decisive act. In small clumsy letters he wrote: April 4th, 1984 ’. I think that when the story ends, about two years have passed.

9. There are a couple of flashbacks, for instance when he reminisces about meeting O’Brien, or about his first act of thoughtcrime.

10. In Airstrip One, Oceania. Airstrip One is what was once London,...