Title: 1984: Setting | SparkNotes
Headings: 1984
1984
Content: 1984: Setting | SparkNotes
1984
All of the events of the novel take place in a fictionalized version of London at some unspecified time in the future. Within the novel, London is the capitol of a province called Airstrip One, which is itself part of the nation of Oceania. Oceania is one of three world powers, and is composed of the Americas, the Atlantic islands including the British Isles, Australasia, and the southern portion of Africa. The other two world powers are Eastasia, composed of China, Japan, and parts of Manchuria, Mongolia, and Tibet; and Eurasia, composed of the northern part of the European and Asiatic land-mass, from Portugal to the Bering Strait. We might assume from the title that the novel is set in the year 1984, but we never actually know for sure. Because of the way that the Ingsoc Party controls and rewrites history, Winston does not know what the year is, but only suspects that it is 1984. The city of London is divided between three distinct social groups. The Inner Party lives in relative comfort with servants and access to luxury goods.