1984 by George Orwell

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Description

George Orwell's prophetic, nightmarish vision of "Negative Utopia" is timelier than ever-and its warnings more powerful.

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis

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Summary

Ministry of Truth bureaucrat Winston Smith is the protagonist. The story consists of three parts. The first describes the world of 1984 as he perceives it; the second is his illicit romance with Julia and his intellectual rebellion against the Party; the third is his capture and imprisonment,... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Cast of Characters

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Memorable Quotes

“The thought police would get him just the same. He had committed--would have committed, even if he had never set pen to paper--the essential crime that contained all others in itself. Thoughtcrime, they called it. Thoughtcrime was not a thing that could be concealed forever. You might dodge successfully for a while, even for years, but sooner or later they were bound to get you.”
“Day by day and almost minute by minute the past was brought up to date. In this way every prediction made by the Party could be shown by documentary evidence to have been correct; nor was any item of news, or any expression of opinion, which conflicted with the needs of the moment, ever allowed to remain on record. All history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and reinscribed exactly as often as was necessary.”

First Sentence

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.

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Glossary

"The book": Titled "Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism" and supposedly written by Goldstein, it contains the story of humankind and the Revolution, arguing that there is hope for a stronger future without the dishonesty and manipulation of the Party.
Doublethink: Newspeak word with two mutually contradictory meanings. The first is used to refer to an opponent, and can be defined as habitually contradicting plain facts. The second is used to refer to a Party member, and can be defined as a loyal willingness to believe contradictory statements when the Party demands it, which allows for continual alteration of the past.
Ministry of Love (Miniluv): Maintains law and order. Protected with great force. Only those arrested for Thought Crime or who are on official Party business can enter. Referred to within the novel as "the place with no darkness" because the lights are always on. Dissidents are taken here to be tortured, reformed, or killed.
Ministry of Peace (Minipax): Responsible for the Party's management of issues surrounding war.
Ministry of Plenty (Miniplenty): Responsible for the Party's economic affairs.
Ministry of Truth (Minitrue): Responsible for all Party news, entertainment, education and fine arts. The Party's propaganda machine.
Newspeak: The official language of Oceania and the new language of the Party, devised to meet the ideological needs of Ingsoc (English Socialism). The goal of Newspeak is to reduce the English language to the fewest words possible and supercede Oldspeak by 2050. Removing words removes ways to define anti-Party feelings and the ability to disagree. For example, the word "speedful" can be used in place of the word "rapid."