1984: A Dystopian Society In George Orwell's 1984

George Orwell’s novel, entitled 1984, perfectly outlines a dystopian society. The word dystopia can be defined as an imaginary place in which everything is unpleasant or degraded. 1984, published in 1949, predicts a world where its citizens are greatly oppressed. The nation of Oceania is perpetually at war with the two surrounding powers, Eastasia and Eurasia, leaving the country a devastated war zone. Three elements created by Orwell in his book: the individual, the family unit, and the society, bring together a honestly frightening picture of a dystopian future. At the onset of the book Orwell describes Oceania, the setting of 1984. Specifically, Airship One, one of the larger provinces of the country, which includes modern-day London. In
1984’s war-driven and demolished society has no boundaries. As previously mentioned, the middle class is malnourished and constantly under surveillance. Winston and the like are scrupulously controlled by the class above them, the Inner Party, and the overwhelming presence of Big Brother, the glorified dictator of Oceania. No one has the allowance to act or speak against Big Brother’s ideals. Party members are observed nonstop by what is called a telescreen, which are placed in every room, even the bathroom. Invasion of speech and privacy has become commonplace. Beneath the Outer Party are the Proles, the bottom, working class, which make up eighty-five percent of the entire population of Oceania. The Proles’ quarters are just as blown apart as Winston’s neighborhood. Piles of rubble from bombings are scattered throughout the streets mixed in with various waste. Proles are treated as if they animal from stables, working from birth to death. Orwell fully explains their position in this society, “They were born, they grew up in the gutters, they went to work at twelve . . . they married at twenty, they were middle-aged at thirty, they died, for the most part, at sixty” (91). These people are a literal slave class, with no other purpose than to live and die laboring. Truly, these are an oppressed people. No freedoms exist for either the middle or the bottom class. People like Winston live under constant fear of the manipulative Party and Big Brother, while the Proles have absolutely no other opportunities set before