1.1 Brief Introduction to Nineteen Eighty-Four

The novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, published in 1949, is an allegorical work. In this book, Orwell delineates a fictitious totalitarian society set in a country of Oceania in the year of 1984. Except for Oceania, there are other two countries – Eurasia and Eastasia – piding the world into three regimes. War is an everyday event in Oceania, either with Eurasia or Eastasia. London is a main city of Airstrip One, the third most populous province of Oceania. The entire country is tyrannized by a political system named English Socialism (“Ingsoc” in Newspeak ) which is under the control of a privileged Party (Inner Party members). Big Brother, a quasi-pine leader who may not exist, heads their tyranny. The protagonist of the novel, Winston Smith, is a member of the Outer Party who works for the Ministry of Truth (“Minitrue” in Newspeak), “which concerned itself with news, entertainment, education, and the fine arts” (Orwell, 2010: 296). His job is to revise past newspaper articles, sometimes even make up statements and figures, so that the historical records are always in line with the current policy. Although Smith works hard and skillfully, he hates the Party at heart. He secretly keeps a journal of negative thoughts and opinions about the Party and Big Brother beyond the surveillance of telecreen . Moreover, he even falls in love and has a sexual relationship with Julia, a colleague from the Ministry of Truth. However, being betrayed by O’Brien, a member of the Inner Party, Winston and Julia are all arrested by the Thought Police and imprisoned in the Ministry of Love for interrogation. After the political re-education, Winston becomes a “goodthinker ”. “He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother” (Orwell, 2010: 589). 

1.2 Literature Review

Among numerous studies and researches, Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four is universally acknowledged as an anti-utopian work with intense political significance. Most critics agreed that in the book Nineteen Eighty-Four, Orwell presents a scene of dystopia. “The Dystopia is a type of form of literary, which is opposite to Utopia” (Zhu Kunling, 2000: 93-98). “Traditional utopian novels, for example, Thomas More’s Utopia, set a harmonious society on the foundation of ideal and possibility, while the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four depicts a society based on the reality. It is an exaggeration, extension and extremity of the real world” (Zhang Zhongzai, 1996: 66-71).