1984

By George Orwell

    In a dystopian world where a single party has taken over all of the information in the Oceanic sphere of power, Winston is a low-down Party member who works at the Ministry of Truth. There, contrary to its name, the past and present are continually altered to fit the current reality, such as what country Oceania is at war with, who is a traitor and who is not, etc. In fact, the Party even alters language in and of itself to Newspeak, where unnecessary words and meanings are purged to make the thought of freedom or anything the Party doesn't want impossible. Winston is what is called a thought criminal. He thinks unorthodox thoughts. For instance, he has grown tired of the endless telescreen broadcasts promoting war against either Eastasia or Eurasia and propaganda of Big Brother, the figurehead of the Party. He has bought a diary (a banned substance) and has begun to record his thoughts, his history. Of course, he knows that one day, the Thought Police will catch up to him, but until that point, he shall live in defiance.

    At work, he meets a kindred spirit in Julia. They both do not believe in the party's blatant lies, and get involved in an affair with each other. In the process, they both believe that by pretending to believe the Party and be a faithful member, they will somehow survive. They even meet a member of the fabled Brotherhood, an organization purportedly working against the Party and continually hated by them, who turns out to be a Party official.

    After they are caught and arrested, they learn that the world has been divided up into three countries, all basically operating on the principles of English Socialism, which really isn't socialism at all, in fact quite the opposite. As capitalism increased during the 1900s, the people at the top began to realize that by giving the lower classes more money, the wealth distinction goes away. In response, they decided to take over, and deplete all the wealth and resources through perpetual war, which the world is now engaged in. In addition, this fuels excitement in the people, letting them defuse and preventing an all-out riot.

    Just as Winston learns this, he learns to embrace it. At the Ministry of Love (basically a prison), he is tortured, then essentially brainwashed, until through doublethink, the ability to hold two contradictory thoughts at once, he masters Ingsoc, the Party doctrine, and is released into the world as a changed person. No one is safe from big brother.