1984 Study Guide (George Orwell)

The setting is Oceania, a super power in Europe post-WWII. The city is totalitarian with the leader of the Party known as Big Brother. Those who oppose the Party are called The Brotherhood which is led by Emmanuel Goldstein.

Winston Smith is a low-level member of the Party, though he does not respect their rule and writes about his rebellious thoughts in his illegal journal, which he knows will get him executed if it is discovered. Winston works at the Ministry of Truth modifying records for the Party and one day at work he finds himself drawn to a beautiful girl named Julia.

Winston feels Julia may be a member of the Thought Police, but that worry is set to rest the day she passes him a note that reads “I love you”. Winston and Julia begin a love affair in places they believe to be free of surveillance cameras, like the shop in the Prole district, where the poor people who are not seen as threatening live. Winston comes into contact with O’Brien; a member of the Party that Winston thinks is secretly a member of The Brotherhood, though he is truly a member of the Though Police.

O’Brien brings Winston the book written by Goldstein which serves as the manifesto for the resistance movement but he is quickly taken in by O’Brien and brought to the Ministry of Love where he is tortured by his biggest fear – rats. As Winston is lying in Room 101 waiting for the rats to eat his face, he yells for O’Brien to torture Julia instead, which is exactly what O’Brien wanted to hear and so Winston is set free.

Out in the world, Winston and Julia run into one another again, but Winston feels no attraction to her whatsoever, as he is now a loyal member of the Party, and has respect and love for Big Brother. Totalitarianism wins.