George orwell biography gradesaver 1984

Published in 1949, George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four (also stylised as 1984) was Orwell’s ninth and final book completed in his lifetime. A dystopian science fiction novel and so-called ‘cautionary tale’, it explores themes of mass surveillance, totalitarianism, the repressive regimentation of people and their behaviours, torture, the manipulation of history and facts and the class system.

1984: Study Guide - SparkNotes

Orwell was himself a democratic socialist, and modelled the government within the novel on the systems of Stalinist Russia and Nazi Germany.

The story takes place in an imagined future, the year 1984, when the majority of the world has fallen victim to perpetual war, omnipresent government surveillance, propaganda and historical negationism.

Great Britain is now named Oceania, is ruled by ‘Big Brother’, i.e. the Party, and employs the Thought Police to monitor everyone’s thoughts and behaviour, and prosecute people for exhibiting even the smallest 1984 Study Guide | Literature Guide - LitCharts JYDO