1984 was published by George Orwell in 1949, the exact year the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb. It was written to warn the world of the dangers of totalitarian regimes. In 1939, he traveled to Spain to report on the Spanish Civil War, where he witnessed firsthand the atrocities committed by fascist politics. The rise to power of dictators such as Adolf Hitler in Germany and Joseph Stalin in the Soviet inspired Orwell's mounting hatred towards totalitarian and political authority. He in turn devoted his energy to writing such novels as Animal Farm as well as 1984.
The basis of this novel is a negative utopian world, or a dystopian genre. The author has used research from his experiences and opinions of the dictatorship style of government. It goes into the future of what could happen if the world was based on this principal of governing. He used this form of writing to show the worst possible society to avoid using a harsh view of totalitarian life.
The book's subject matter starts off with meeting Winston Smith as he traveled home in Airstrip One of Oceania. We are also introduced to Big Brother the main antagonist in this book. In the first chapter it is April 4th 1984, Mr. Smith is explaining the dreariness and seemingly destitute city in which he lives in. He talks of the Ministries of Love, Truth, Peace, and Plenty, all containing different duties of control. He also talks of the Thought Police, who were to apprehend anyone with any thought or act against Big Brother, the telescreens, which monitored every move you made, and his diary he secretly wrote his dislike of Big Brother in. .
In the 2nd chapter he finds himself overwhelmed by the oppression the Party that he starts to confine his sexual fantasies in the Golden Land a dream of his where he makes love to the dark haired girl he meets at a Hate session. The Party's control of the past is also a significant component of its psychological power over the people, preventing them to keep any physical documents of the past.
