Winston Smith, the main character in George Orwell’s 1984, endures many situations where he questions the world he lives in; as well as, the past where he holds so much interest. He cannot help but seek what he knows is real, for he cannot help feeling insane for such notions and dreams, that lead him to do suspicious things that are “questionable” by the law-enforcers, the Thought Police.


Throughout the thought-provoking novel, many things lead Winston to places he would not have been before then. Antique shops, a “Golden Country,” hangings…. Maybe Winston had become a mad man, or he had reasons going through all of things? Was it all a great plan to figure out the real reason the Ministries of Love, of Peace, of Truth, had come to be? Had he found a true reason to believe everything that had happened in ten to twenty years in his life had been wasted in lies? He had his grave ready for him to just lie into, and he would be as good as gone. But, Winston had better plans then death, and insists on his rule-breaking to be better than doing nothing.


“War is Peace¬—Freedom is Slavery—Ignorance is Strength,” had seemed to Winston a guideline in which he now despised. The Ministries had become horrible with unsustainable living standards; rations that made everyone die, and disgusting houses with vermin and pesticides. They lived the way they did because the Ministries made them blind….but Winston soon sees as though he never thought anything else. Rule after rule, he had broke, but he never cared. Without War, there is no Peace, and Winston was ready to start won where he stood. Without Freedom, there is no Slavery. Without Ignorance, there is no Strength. Winston could see this now after all the years he had been blind to the face of The Brotherhood.

George Orwell creates a scary, but believable, portrait of a future that ultimately could have been. I believe that this book is something everyone can enjoy, because of the suspense and the thrilling detail of a man’s life, that could be anyone in a world of totalitarianism. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves science fiction or is willing to adventure into something new.