1984: Orwell's Dsytpian Classic

1984 is a dystopian, political, science-fiction novel depicting a totalitarian government. ‘Inspired’ by the political situation in Russia and Germany, 1984 talks about a repressive regime that places all of its citizens under surveillance. It depicts how politics can manipulate facts to serve its own purposes.

It is the year 1984 and the world is at war. Great Britain, now called Airstrip One, has turned totalitarian and oppressive, using the Thought Police to curb individuals from having thoughts against what the regime dictates. Winston Smith is a dutiful citizen and worker for the Party. But it’s all a façade, for all he dreams of is overthrowing the regime. These thoughts are fuelled when a forbidden relationship causes him to recollect memories of life before the Party. But a totalitarian regime implementing mass surveillance isn’t to be taken lightly. Heavy retribution is in store if the Thought Police were to catch wind of his traitorous thoughts.

Published in 1949, this spine-chilling classic was George Orwell’s last before his death in 1950. Orwell's descriptions of government’s functioning within a framework of organized totalitarianism quickly shot 1984 into the top-tier of the dystopian fiction genre. Time and again, the real world becomes a mirror of what the book describes instead of what it is intended to be: a model of how governments are not supposed to function.