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1984, by George Orwell, is what you’d call a dystopian novel. Which means that the society Orwell imagines is perfect—perfectly horrible, that is. Brave enough to enter 1984's totalitarian nightmare? We dare you to press play.

Video Transcription:

1984 is not a hopeful book. It’s basically George Orwell’s view of what would happen to a world that was taken over by totalitarianism. No surprise here: It’s a nightmare.

In 1984, life bears almost no resemblance to the world we know today. Instead of countries and continents, there are three enormous regions: Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia, all of which are constantly at war.

But war is the least of main character Winston Smith’s troubles. He’s more concerned with the Thought Police, and with the fact that under The Party’s control, there’s no such thing as truth. He yearns for human connections, but can trust no one. And most of all, Winston craves a place of his own—some space far from the ever-watchful eye of the ominous Big Brother.

In other words, it isn’t just totalitarianism that Orwell criticizes in his dystopian novel. He’s also desperate to get people thinking—and thinking without fear. He explores the power of language to manipulate and control. And Orwell urges us to recognize and protect the truth—to safeguard those indisputable principles that form the basis of existence.

The problem, of course, is that Orwell, like his main character Winston, is a fatalist. Which means he can advocate all he wants … but don’t expect anything positive to come of it.