George Orwell, the twentieth-century author of the novel 1984, was a well-renowned novelist, journalist, and social critic from the UK. Although his life was short, he wrote about pressing issues of his time with acute insight and engaging prose. He often cautioned readers about the dangers of unchecked society through dystopian themes. 1984 reveals a society where dictators have a similar final goal: to obtain the highest power. To get this power, they remove any pleasure or learning about the humanities from the citizens’ lives and restrict all freedoms. To prevent any rebellion, the government monitors, and controls not only public speech but also any thoughts and ideas the citizens have.  

1984 presents a world divided into three parts: Eurasia, Eastasia, and Oceania. The Party controls everything in Oceania, even the people’s exposure to history and the use of language. Regarding rebellion as an illegal act, they monitor the citizens through telescreens called “Big Brother” and force its people to speak an invented language called “Newspeak.” Winston Smith, the protagonist, works in the Ministry of Truth, where he alters historical records to fit the needs of The Party. One day, Winston receives a note from the dark-haired girl, telling him her name is Julia, and they begin a covert affair on the lookout for signs of The Party’s monitors. Eventually, Winston is torn away from Julia and is taken to a place called the Ministry of Love. Here, Winston finds that O’Brien was also a Party spy. O’Brien spends months brainwashing Winston, who struggles to resist but is eventually sent to the dreaded Room 101, the final destination for anyone who opposes the Party. In the room, Winston was forced to confront his worst fear, rats.  Giving up Julia was what O’Brien wanted from Winston.  Winston was brainwashed and no longer felt anything when seeing Julia. Ultimately, he is forced to accept The Party entirely and is brainwashed to love Big Brother.

I found the Utopia interesting in this book.  A Utopia typically describes an imaginary community or society with highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island society in the New World. Hypothetical utopias focus on equality in such categories as economics, government, and justice, with the method and structure of proposed implementation varying based on ideology. The opposite of Utopia is Dystopia, which is completely opposed to Utopia. The relationship between utopia and dystopia is not only a simple opposition since many utopian elements and components are also found in dystopias.

It is impossible to build a Utopian world in the real world? Also, everything has challenges, even the best things. Therefore, the utopian world can only exist in people’s imaginations or be written and described as a book and cannot be presented as realistic. “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” This quote represents George Orwell’s idea of dystopia.

Also, this book talked about an imagined world, which was also in the genre of science-fiction books. Hence, I would like to read more books not only about Utopia’s but also science-fictional.

 Science-fiction books are exciting and attractive because they sometimes include things from the real world but have imagined objects and events and belong to novels.