Title: Nineteen Eighty-four | Summary, Characters, Analysis, & Facts | Britannica
Headings: Nineteen Eighty-four
Nineteen Eighty-four
novel by Orwell
Summary
Analysis
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From Moby-Dick to Space Odysseys
Who wrote a novel about a world of Eastasia, Eurasia, and Oceania? From Moby-Dick to 2001: A Space Odyssey, journey into this quiz and test the highs and lows of your literary knowledge. Summary
The book is set in 1984 in Oceania, one of three perpetually warring totalitarian states (the other two are Eurasia and Eastasia). Oceania is governed by the all-controlling Party, which has brainwashed the population into unthinking obedience to its leader, Big Brother. The Party has created a propagandistic language known as Newspeak, which is designed to limit free thought and promote the Party’s doctrines. Its words include doublethink (belief in contradictory ideas simultaneously), which is reflected in the Party’s slogans: “ War is peace,” “Freedom is slavery,” and “Ignorance is strength.” The Party maintains control through the Thought Police and continual surveillance. The book’s hero, Winston Smith, is a minor party functionary living in a London that is still shattered by a nuclear war that took place not long after World War II.