Somebody was stringing the guitar, and the beer bottles were being dug out. The mood was joyfully somber. The mountains and the river do this to you. They shuffle your soul and senses and bring out contradictory emotions. The guitarist started humming along and a soulful number permeated the ambience, with the audience swaying to the musical notes. I relaxed, enjoying the music and the breeze and the slight knot in my throat.
The book begins on the premise of constant fear and a nagging desire to rebel against a political system based largely on absolute power, control, and falsehood. The protagonist Winston Smith, is shown to live in the year 1984 where a political party, Ingsoc, lead by a figure called Big Brother, is controlling the lives, actions and even thoughts of the masses. Basic human faculties of free thought, debate, discussion, self-improvement, professional growth, and social upliftment is suppressed through mental conditioning by a political power that demands unconditional “love” and allegiance to Big Brother.
The book, which is a cult-fiction of sorts is not only prophetic but also invokes deep feelings of fear. 1984 is a novel in three parts, and my interpretation of these three parts can be summarized as follows:
Part I: Rebellion in thought against a prevailing system
Part II: Rebellion in action
Part III: Subjugation of the rebellion displaying the vulnerabilities of man in the face of a larger than life system of control and brainwash
The moment I decide to comply, the boulder of guilt lifts from my heart. I should feel happy and light because I am finally made peace and decided to comply as expected. But I am not happy; I am all the more forlorn, and there is another pressing weight on my heart. The dark clouds of fear engulf me and suffocate me.
Fear of the freedom that knowledge brings us is absolutely natural;