1984

The first paragraph of the story already foreshadows of what is to come with a description of Victory Mansions, the home of Winston Smith, the protagonist of this story. It tells of the “swirl of gritty dust… The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats.” Even the names of places are depressing. He lives in the province of Airstrip One, the city of London, and in the country of Oceania. The other two countries are Eastasia and Eurasia. Big Brother, a fictional or real person—no one really knows—is the leader of this miserable system of Ingsoc—English Socialism, that is. No one is allowed to hold ideas different from those of the official propaganda outlet: Minitruth. To enforce these laws, Big Brother uses many means, the first and foremost of these being the Thought Police, a corps of law offic...