My first post - A Book Review

Hi readers, and welcome to my first formal post on this blog. For this post, I shall share with you an interesting book that I read over the holidays and I am rather impacted by it. Let me introduce you to Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, which I am sure that many of you have heard of before.

The story is set in the year 1984 and the protagonist of the story is Winston Smith. Winston Smith lives in a society where everyone is a slave to a tyrannical totalitarian regime. The Party rules over the citizens of Oceania with total control over them. They have to abide by the party laws and have no freedom at all. In fact, they are brainwashed by the party to become citizens loyal to the regime. The citizens of Oceania are treated like slaves. They have to abide by what the party demands of them and they cannot defy orders or rebel against it. They lives are controlled by their Party.

Winston Smith works for the Ministry of Truth in London, the chief city of Airstrip One, which is actually Great Britan in real life. In his world, the surface of the Earth had been divided into three parts or three superstates, namely Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia. Oceania comprises of the British Isles, the Ameraicas and the south tip of Africa. Eurasia comprises of Europe, Russia and the top of Africa. Eastasia is made up of China, Southeast Asia and other parts of asia. The three superstates are always at war with one another. For example, if Oceania were at war with Eastasia, it would be generally be at peace with Eurasia. This constant war is fought not because of different ideas or for expansion, but rather to use up any extra surpluses from the manufacturing of goods and also as a reason not to provide the masses with comforts. Since the three powers were unconquerable, this never ending war would never be won and hence it will go on forever.

The common citizens of Oceania are constantly brainwashed by propaganda blasting from the telescreens( a type of televison with a camera, like a modern day televison with a webcam) everywhere. They are required to have complete loyalty to the Party. Any crime that they commit, be it small or big, against the party was tracked down and punished. Even Thoughtcrime (which was mainly thinking bad of the Party in your brain) was punishable by death. Hence, the citizens in Oceania are oppressed and live in constant fear.

There was obviously, no democracy in Oceania. The government was headed by a mysterious character, named Big Brother, whom no one has ever seen before in real life. He was constantly depicted in posters pasted all over London and his voice was contantly heard over the telescreen. He was actually just simply a character created by the government as people tend to have more feelings toward an individual, rather than an organisation. The people had to follow and accept what the government said without any questions.

Winston Smith is just an ordinary citizen of Oceania, and a member of the Party. He feels that life under the rule of the Party is dull and deadening. He begins to question himself wheather life was better before the rule of the Party or at present. When he finds love with Julia, he discovers that life does not have to be dull and he awakes to new possibilities. Winston and Julia soon begin to question the Party and they are drawn toward conspiracy. They wanted a world of democracy, where every individual has his own right and say. However, their acts are soon uncovered and they are caught and punished.

My feelings after reading this book was that we are lucky to be living in a free and democratic world, where every individual has his own right and say. We should preserve this democracy in the world. We should also have our own thoughts and opinions about things and not follow what another says nor let others influence our views. We should do what we believe in and not subject to being ruled over by others.

Welcome!

Hello visitor, and welcome to my all new blog!

I will be posting soon so be sure to watch out for my posts!