re sometimes known to turn in their own parents to the thought police for such simple things as hoarding spices for food. One has to watch his or her facial expressions at all times, because "the smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself - anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide." (Orwell, p.65) Those who think for themselves are arrested by the Thought Police and sent to the Ministry of Love, where they are re-educated or killed. Sometimes both.This novel serves as a warning against the dangers of a technologically advanced tyrannical government. It is set in London, the chief city of Airstrip One, a province of Oceania. It is possibly the year 1984, although with the party's control of all facts, one could never be sure. ?To begin with, he did not know with any certainty that this was 1984. It must be round about that date, since he was fairly sure that his age was thirty-nine, and he believed that he had been born in 1944 or 1945; but it was never possible nowadays to pin down any date within a year or two.? (Orwell, p.9)1984 is a forecast of an anti-utopian world. Oceania, where the book is set, is led by the socialist leader, Big Brother. In this state, all thoughts and actions are monitored through telescreens -- video cameras in the form of televisions that can never be turned off. Any thought or comment which goes against the state or Big Brother is a crime and punishable by death.There is a defined class system in Oceania, which is set up in pyramidal form. At the apex is the all-powerful Big Brother. Just below him is the Inner Party. The Outer Party, which is below the Inner Party, is equivalent to middle class people of today. At the bottom, are the proles (the peasants.) The proles are not monitored by the government because they are seen as too uneducated and unimportant to bother with. "'The proles a...
