Imagine waking up in twenty years time to find that the history of the world has been changed. Truths you knew to be true, erased and replaced with a new, more convenient 'truth' - a false truth.
Imagine not being able to imagine. To imagine is illegal. To discuss thoughts is to identify yourself to the ThoughtPolice as a commiter of thoughtcrime. Those that are punished are erased from historical records. Their birth records gone, all photographs deleted, newspaper articles revised to eliminate - so they never existed... Right?
Your every movement and word is spied on by Big Brother on the telescreens. Your every minute, public or private, is accounted for. Deviation from your schedule will have consequences.
The world is divided into three: Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia. Oceania is in perpetual war with one and perpetual peace with the other. The only problem is it keeps changing. History is re-written on a regular basis. Those in the ministry are brainwashed.
Proles are the normal people on the street, who are generally left alone to continue their lives, unwatched by Big Brother.
Oceania has three ministries: The Ministry of Plenty (rations food and necessities), The Ministry of Truth (re-writes history) and the Ministry of Love (tortures those who dissent).
The story follows Winston Smith as he enrols on a journey of quiet, secret discovery of the truth. He almost escapes, but is sent to the infamous Room 101 after being caught... His history, his beliefs, his truths get re-written as he succumbs to the all seeing Big Brother.
George Orwell wrote this view of the future '1984' in 1949. He foresaw FaceTime 'telescreens' in a world when the technology of today didn't even exist. He spawned the term Big Brother and Room 101. Let's hope he was wrong about the rest...
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