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About
Nineteen Eighty-Four, sometimes called 1984, is a science-fiction novel written by George Orwell in 1949. As a detailed description of a speculative dystopian government, it has become one of the most influental books in the last few decades, spawning several memes in- and outside the internet.
Premise
Nineteen Eighty-Four takes place in the totalitarian superstate of Oceania, ruled by political party called Ingsoc, which is divided into three three social classes: Proles, the manual labor, Outer Party, which handles the menial political work, and Inner Party, the ruling class. The leader of Inner Party is Big Brother, who enjoys an intense cult of personality. Both Outer Party and Proles live in perpetual poverty and misery, but Outer party is far more closely supervised via telescreens and thought police, while being constantly bombed with state propaganda. The Party members’ capasity for independent thinking is limited even more by doublethink, which forces them to genuinely believe the Party’s propaganda, and newspeak, a simplified version of English language which limits their intellectual capacity.
The main character of the novel is Winston Smith, an Outer Party member who works in the Ministry of Truth, which constantly forges history to fit Party’s current interests. Winston Eventually get’s in Party-forbidden relationship with another Outer Party member named Julia, and comes into contact with O’Brien, an Inner Party member who’s secretly against Big Brother’s dictatorship.
Related Memes
Big Brother Is Watching You
Big Brother is watching you is one of the most iconic quotes from the book. It comes from a widepread poster reminding Outer Party members that they’re under constant survelliance by thought police. It’s often used to mock real life governments keeping close survelliance on their subjects.
War Is Peace, Freedom Is Slavery, Ingorance Is Strength
War Is Peace… is another famous quote, which in the books appears on the outer wall of Ministry of Truth. Likewise it’s used to mock governments, politicans or other parties percieved as totalitarian in methods.