Book report
"1984" by George Orwell
Description of the main character:
The main character in the story is Winston Smith. Winston is about 40 years old and works at the "Truth Ministry" in the documents department. His job is to correct old documents in a way which they will fit to present occurrences. The prime of Winston's joy is his work. Though most of it is a boring routine, it included hard and complicated tasks, delicate forgery work, which Winston liked very much.
During the story, the reader is introduced to Winston's past through dreams and flashbacks. Winston was born a few years before the uprising of the "England Socialism" (SOCENG) party, who made many reforms all over Britain. Winston's father disappeared when he was about ten years old, Winston could remember that his mother was not surprised or very sad because of that but that she changed at once after that. It seemed as if his mother was expecting some inevitable occurrence. Winston had a sick baby sister and his mother, due to the shortage of food, always divided all the food supply to two and gave it only to the two of them. Winston have been agonizing him self for the selfishness he showed when always asked for more food and sometimes even stole his sister's. When Winston was about 12 years old his mother and sister had disappeared, an event which became a routine those days, and he was taken to a homeless children colony.
Winston grew up to be a bitter, unhappy person who despises the dominating party, its ways and its followers. But it is only after he meets more people who feel alike, that he decides to do something about it.
A summary of the story:
The futuristic novel was written in 1949 and takes place in the years 1984. It describes us the life of a simple man called Winston Smith. According to the story, in 1984 there are 3 main empires who rule most of the land. The lands which aren’t ruled by the empires are constantly fought for by them. The empires are totalitarian and support 3 ideas which the writer mentions over and over: "peace is war", "freedom is liberty", "ignorance is power". One of the assumptions is that the writer is trying to show his readers the upcoming results of the actions taken up to the 1950's, such as two world wars, dictatorship and totalitarian government and cetera. That, he does by a description of a far worse world in which all citizens are slaves who believe they are free, in which the idea that the less one knows the better person one is, rules and in which war doesn't takes place in order to conquer lands but in order to keep the inter peace of the empire.
Winston Smith is revealed to be a bitter man who wishes to fight the totalitarian authorities by secretly disobeying their corrupt laws. He does that with the help and encouragement of his young lover, Julia. Julia reveals to Winston an alternative world in which there isn’t much problem to disobey the laws. Together they smuggle real coffee and sugar, which aren't given the simple workers, they mingle with the "proels", the majority of Britain's citizens, which aren’t a part of the party's followers and are considered to be inferior. Together they have sex, an act which considered indecent by the party and is not legal.
One day the couple is arrested and is being taken separately to investigation. The story only follows after Winston's investigation. During his investigation, Winston finally realizes that in order to live peacefully in a certain society, one must learn and implement its rules. By the investigation, takes place horrifying ways of torture in order to reveal secret hiding place Winston had used and people he had been in contact with. The torture only stops after Winston, in a moment of great fear for his life, shouts out loud that he wishes all this torture would happen to Julia and not to him. After that Winston is starting to receive a better treatment, he is no longer tortured or investigated and gets better meals and clothing. Winston dies just the way he expected to, he is being shot from the back while walking on a corridor in the jail house
