1984
...a post World War II future in which conflict has led to mass warfare and the formation of super-states. The governments of these super states control every aspect of life. The story opens with the central character, Winston Smith, returning to his apartment in Victory Mansions. He is on lunch break from his job at the Records Department in the Ministry of Truth. To reach his post, Winston has to climb seven flights of stairs; on each landing he reads a huge poster of Big Brother with the caption:
"BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU"
Inside his apartment, Winston dims his telescreen and peers out his window at the streets of London. The landscape is grimy and bleak, full of rubble and nineteenth-century houses that are falling apart. Twenty to thirty rocket-bombs are launched at the city each week. It is the chief city of Airstrip One, the third most populous province of Oceania. He can see the Ministry of Truth towering over the landscape, and the three engraved Party slogans:
"WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH."
Winston can also see the three other huge Ministries the Ministry of Peace, Ministry of Plenty and the terrifying Ministry of Love.
Winston goes to his tiny kitchen and downs some Victory Gin. He sits in the alcove, where he can avoid detection by the telescreen, and takes out a pen and book he has bought in a junk-shop. He has decided to keep a Diary. Should the authorities discover this, he would likely be killed or sent to a forced-labor camp. He writes the date, and then goes blank. He feels helpless and panicked. Winston doesn't know to whom or for what he is writing. Perhaps for the future? He starts writing about a film he saw the previous night.
Winston, realizing why he decided to begin the diary today, stops writing. That morning, just before the Two Minute Hate, two unexpected people visited the Records Department. One...
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