Where is 1984 set

In , the world is sliced into three political realms — the super states of Oceania, Eastasia, and Eurasia. Orwell drew these lines fairly consistent with the political distribution of the Cold War era beginning after World War II. Each of these three states is run by a totalitarian government that is constantly warring on multiple fronts.

By creating an entire world at war, Orwell not only creates a terrifying place, but he also eliminates the possibility of escape for Winston, who is forced to live within his present circumstances, horrible and unremitting as they are. Oceania's political structure is divided into three segments: the Inner Party, the ultimate ruling class, consisting of less than 2 percent of the population; the Outer Party, the educated workers, numbering around 18 to 19 percent of the population; and the Proles, or the proletariat, the working class.

Although the Party Inner and Outer does not see these divisions as true "classes," it is clear that Orwell wants the reader to see the class distinctions. For a socialist such as Orwell, class distinctions mean the existence of conflict and class struggle.

In Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Soviet Union, for example, the few people who comprised the ruling class had a much higher standard of living than the masses, but in these nations, as in , revolt was all but impossible. Eurasia covers Europe and more or less the entire Soviet Union. Eastasia covers Japan, Korea, China and northern India. All maps, we know, are distortions, shaped by ideology, belief, perspectival bias.

Such a state necessarily uses force to prevent the people from independently verifying constantly shifting, contradictory pieces of information. But the novel itself states that force is largely irrelevant. Its elementary-school rudiments metaphorically point to frighteningly vast areas of ignorance, and possibilities we can only imagine, since Winston Smith and his compatriots no longer have the ability, even if they had the means.

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To donate, click here. We thank you! The story you read is a historical novel written further into the future, as the appendix deals with the events of the novel as being events in the past. It also explains why, and more importantly here, that, the Party never did, or could, realise its goals, which would suggest that the borders of the world would be at least somewhat close to the general conception of them.

Name required. He goes to great lengths to demonstrate the terrifying degree of power and control a totalitarian regime can acquire and maintain.

Big Brother does exist as the embodiment of the Party, but he can never die. Big Brother is aptly named for his position in Oceania — a name of trust, protection, and affection — another example of doublethink. Although Big Brother has a long list of rules, there is no specific rule on alcohol.

Housemates can drink alcohol when it is provided to them although they may also have drinks confiscated. It is similar to oatmeal, but has a notably repulsive texture and taste. Despite its poor taste, slop is specially designed to contain all necessary vitamins and nutrients, so as not to leave houseguests on slop malnourished.

Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel. The telescreen displays a single channel of news, propaganda and wellness programming. It differs from our own television in two crucial respects: It is impossible to turn off and the screen also watches its viewers. The telescreen is television and surveillance camera in one.

In the novel, the character Smith is never sure if he is being actively monitored through the telescreen. In the s Germany had a working videophone system in place , and television programs were already being broadcast in parts of the United States, Great Britain and France.

In , when the novel was written, Americans watched on average four and a half hours of television a day; in , almost twice that.

In , television watching was slightly down, to eight hours, more time than we spent asleep. In the U.