The Expression Hub

Genre: Political fiction

Author: George Orwell

” The great strength of the totalitarian state is that it forces those who fear it to imitate it.”

Adolf Hitler

I am a big fan of international relations and political science as a subject. The concepts of the subject has always blown my mind away. That is because the entire subject revolves around people rising up and falling down. In short it revolves around the very concept of power.

Aristotle has rightly said, “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” The book in focus this week revolves around the concepts of power and totalitarianism. To explain totalitarianism I would like to give you a few examples. Consider the case of Germany under Adolf Hitler or Italy under Benito Mussolini or Russia under Vladamir Lenin and even Iraq under Saddam Hussain. That should give you the idea of what totalitarianism means. To put it in simpler words it means dictatorship.

So 1984 the novel by George Orwell( who is also the author of the famous Animal Farm) is set in Oceania . It revolves around the characters of Big Brother who is supposed to be a cult personality, Winston, Julia and O’ Brien.

Winston is a person who works in the Ministry of Love( not at all literally). He despises the party ideology he is made to practice . He somehow wishes to overthrow the party and relive the good old times. He wishes to be part of The Brotherhood headed by Emmanuel Goldstein. He is joined by Julia as his partner. However his actions are caught by the Thought police and he is sentenced to prison. O’ Brien whom he believed to be his comrade in support actually turns out to be the betrayer.

Winston is made to face a lot of physical abuse so that he can align his thought to the party ideology. So what happens to Winston? Does he fall in line or is he subject to death like other thought criminals , that is for you guys to find out.

The novel was an interesting read. But the ending was abrupt. I won’t give away any spoilers as it would just ruin the mood. Just wished the ending was not abrupt. However overall it is a good read. You do feel for the character of Winston. So do read it and tell me about your experiences in the comments section.

“I believe the root of all evil is abuse of power.”

Patricia Cornwell

Que: What room are the thought criminals sent to?

a. The ministry of love

b. The ministry of Truth

c. Room no. 101

d. The inner party quarters