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Nineteen Eighty-Four

CRITIQUE | THE TEXT

Nineteen Eighty-Four, first editionFirst edition
Publication details ▽ Publication details △

First publication
1949

Literature form
Novel

Genre
Science fiction, dystopia

Writing language
English

Author's country
England

Length
Approx. 105,000 words

Are we still scared of 1984?

Notable lines

First line

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.

Passages

On each landing, opposite the lift-shaft, the poster with the enormous face gazed from the wall. It was one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU' the caption beneath it ran.

From where Winston stood it was just possible to read, picked out on its white face in elegant lettering, the three slogans of the Party: WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.

Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.

If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever.

The Revolution will be complete when the language is perfect.

"Has it ever occurred to you, Winston, that by the year 2050, at the very latest, not a single human being will be alive who could understand such a conversation as we are having now?"

Last lines

But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.

 

CRITIQUE | THE TEXT

See also:

Brave New World

Darkness at Noon

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Book cover
Nineteen Eighty-Four

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