Video SparkNotes: Orwell's 1984 Summary

00:07:37
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9JIKngJnCU

Résumé

TLDRGeorge Orwell's 1984 presents a dystopian society under totalitarian rule, illustrating a world where a government endeavors to control every aspect of life: actions, relationships, speech, and even thoughts. Set in a desolate London, the protagonist Winston Smith navigates a life filled with propaganda and constant surveillance. Despite risks, he indulges in forbidden thoughts and an affair with Julia. Winston's eventual arrest leads to intense torture, aiming to break his spirit entirely, convincing him to love 'Big Brother'. Orwell sheds light on the extremes of totalitarian power, emphasizing the relentless control of personal realities and truths.

A retenir

  • 📚 1984 explores extreme government control.
  • 🚨 The government monitors every action and thought.
  • 📜 Winston Smith's diary represents a dangerous rebellion.
  • ❤️ A secret love affair presents rare joy and immense risk.
  • 🔍 Thought police suppress dissent and independent thinking.
  • 🤖 O'Brien deceives Winston into believing in a fake rebellion.
  • 📖 The book Winston reads is enlightening but leads to betrayal.
  • ⚔️ Torture is used to crush rebellion in the Ministry of Love.
  • 🐀 Room 101 symbolizes ultimate fear and mental breaking.
  • 🧠 The government seeks total domination over the mind.
  • 💔 Winston and Julia become broken, loveless individuals.
  • 🎭 The regime forces acceptance of distorted reality, like 2+2=5.

Chronologie

  • 00:00:00 - 00:07:37

    George Orwell's 1984 is a depiction of life under a totalitarian regime that seeks to control every aspect of individual life, including thoughts, desires, and relationships. Set in a dystopian London, it portrays a society oppressed by poverty, scarcity, and constant surveillance. Individuals like Winston Smith, the protagonist, lead a bleak and controlled existence under the Party's authoritarian rule. Despite extreme risks, Winston dreams of rebellion, valuing individual thought and liberty, engaging in a forbidden love affair with Julia. However, his hope for change is ultimately crushed by the Party, exemplified through torturous re-education, betraying his deepest convictions, leaving him broken and submissive to Party ideology, loving Big Brother. The novel highlights the fragility of human spirit under oppressive manipulation while suggesting a glimmer of resistance within the psyche.

Carte mentale

Vidéo Q&R

  • Who is the main character in 1984?

    The main character is Winston Smith.

  • What is the society like in 1984?

    The society is totalitarian, watching and controlling every aspect of life.

  • What does Winston do that is dangerous?

    He starts writing a diary, which is forbidden and risks death if caught.

  • Who does Winston have a love affair with?

    Winston has a love affair with Julia.

  • What is the significance of '2+2=5' in the book?

    It symbolizes the control of the government over truth and reality.

  • What happens to Winston at the end of the book?

    Winston is broken by torture and comes to love Big Brother.

  • What role does O'Brien play in the story?

    O'Brien deceives Winston into thinking he is part of the rebellion.

  • What is Room 101?

    Room 101 is where prisoners confront their worst fears.

  • What are thought police?

    They are operatives that monitor and control people's thoughts.

  • What does the government want from Winston?

    They want to exert total control over his mind, forcing him to believe false truths.

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  • 00:00:05
    1984 is about totality anism a
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    totalitarian government is one that
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    tries to control every aspect of life
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    how people spend every minute of their
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    time even in private who they can
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    associate with what they're allowed to
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    say a totalitarian government even tries
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    to control what people think and what
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    they believe George Orwell wrote 1984 in
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    the late 1940s what he knew about so
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    Talat arianism was based on the Soviet
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    Union and Nazi Germany those governments
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    had come into being not that long before
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    and they weren't very well understood
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    yet what Orwell was trying to do with
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    1984 was to give his readers a clear
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    picture of what life would be like if a
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    free country like England were under
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    totalitarian rule 1984 takes place in
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    London the London in the book is a
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    depressing place there's never enough to
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    eat
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    the food's disgusting there aren't
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    enough clothes or shoes or anything to
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    go around and the city is pretty
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    dilapidated except for these giant
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    pyramid shaped government buildings that
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    rise above the landscape there's some
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    sort of war going on who no one really
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    understands what it's about
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    rockets frequently explode in the
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    streets and blow people to bits the
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    worst part is that the government is
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    always watching everything people do
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    there are these posters of big brother
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    who's supposedly the leader of the
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    government that say big brother is
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    watching you there are thought police
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    who have hidden cameras and microphones
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    literally everywhere the government can
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    watch you in your home through your TV
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    screen and you're not allowed to turn
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    your TV off ever there are a lot of
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    things you're not allowed to do in this
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    society and if you do them the police
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    might take you away and throw you into a
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    forced labor camp you're not allowed to
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    have close friends you're not allowed to
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    be in love you can't date or have sex
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    with someone you like you're basically
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    supposed to save all your emotional
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    energy for the party the party being the
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    government then there are things you
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    have to do you have to watch the
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    government programming on TV most of its
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    news some of its exercises
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    you have to attend pep rallies including
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    this one called the two minutes hate so
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    it's hard to even have time to think
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    your own thoughts because they're
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    constantly filling your head with
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    propaganda the main character of 1984 is
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    Winston Smith he's 39 he has a job in
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    the government and he lives this
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    horrible dreary existence without any
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    friends or anyone in his life at the
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    beginning of the book he starts writing
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    a diary to talk about how much he hates
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    life in his society even though writing
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    a diary is one of those things she'd be
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    killed for doing if you were caught the
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    diary is his place for thinking about
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    his society it's a place where he tries
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    to imagine if life could possibly be
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    different from the way it is there's no
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    way for him to know if things were ever
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    different before because the government
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    has changed all the records of the past
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    and rewritten all the history books at
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    the beginning of the novel there are two
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    other people who matter to Winston and
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    he doesn't even know either of them one
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    of them is Julia Julia is this
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    attractive young woman who works in the
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    same building as him she's some kind of
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    mechanic
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    Winston basically hates her he hates her
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    because she's pretty and he can't have
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    her but he also thinks she's the sort of
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    person who would turn him in to the
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    thought police so he's afraid of her but
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    also sort of fascinated the other person
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    he's interested in is this portly guy
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    named O'Brien who's a member of the
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    inner party that means he's a boss much
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    higher up than Winston Winston should be
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    afraid of this guy but he gets the sense
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    that O'Brien is intelligent so he has
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    this yearning to be friends with him he
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    thinks O'Brien would understand how he
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    feels about life the book takes a turn
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    one day when Julia slips Winston a note
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    that says I love you this note
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    completely rocks Winston's world of
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    course he's interested he can't wait to
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    get in touch with her but it's very hard
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    for them to say two words to each other
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    in private with all these spies and
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    cameras everywhere finally they do
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    manage to get out to the country and
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    they start this mad love affair the love
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    affair makes them both very happy it's
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    dangerous because they could be killed
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    or sent to labor camps if they get
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    caught but that makes it more exciting
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    at last Winston has someone who
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    understand
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    and who hates the party as much as he
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    does but Winston needs to go that extra
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    step he's rebelling against the party
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    privately by having the secret affair
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    now he wants to go to the next level and
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    be an active rebel against the
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    government he gets his chance one day
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    when O'Brien invites him to his
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    apartment to look at something
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    work-related Winston takes a leap of
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    faith and guesses that O'Brien must be
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    part of the rebellion because no one
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    invites people over to their home it
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    just isn't done so he and Julia go to
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    O'Brien's house and confess that they
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    want to be rebels and O'Brien says yes
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    I'm a rebel too and we all read this
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    book that explains why things are the
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    way they are
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    Winston reads the book and he's blown
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    away by it unfortunately right after he
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    reads it the thought police bust in and
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    arrest him and Julia and carry them off
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    to the Ministry of love to torture them
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    so we've learned that O'Brien wasn't a
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    rebel after all he just wanted to catch
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    Winston in the Ministry of love they
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    torture Winston in all sorts of horrible
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    ways they break his bones in his teeth
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    they use electric shock they starve him
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    and on and on he tells them everything
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    he knows he confesses to everything they
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    ask him and he tells them everything he
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    knows about Julia after torturing him
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    over and over O'Brien finally tells
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    Winston what it is that the government
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    really wants what they want is to have
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    total power over the minds of people
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    like Winston they want people like
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    Winston to say 2+2 equals 5 and really
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    believe it not just say it to avoid a
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    beating for the government it's purely
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    an exercise in power they're not trying
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    to control his mind for some other
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    purpose they just want to exercise total
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    power over people's minds they finally
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    do break Winston completely in this
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    place called room 101
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    where they do whatever it is you're most
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    afraid of they lock his face into a cage
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    and threatened to let these rats eat
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    their way through his face he has a
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    phobia of rats so he loses it and says
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    do it to Julia not me which is a
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    complete betrayal of what's most
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    important to him
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    the government has taken his last shred
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    of integrity after he does that
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    they let him and Julia go the thought
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    police don't care about them anymore
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    the two of them meet on the outside but
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    they can't love each other anymore
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    Winston and Julia are basically broken
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    people after they get out Winston has
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    changed to the point that he doesn't
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    even want to think about anything that
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    might be rebellious he just sits in a
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    cafe listening to the news and smiling
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    the last words of the novel are he loved
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    Big Brother so one of the points the
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    book makes is that a human being can be
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    broken down completely until he'll
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    believe whatever you tell him even if
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    it's that two plus two equals five at
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    the same time the book has a positive
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    message which is that it's really hard
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    to get inside someone's head to that
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    extent the government has to go to
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    incredible lengths to brainwash the
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    Winston successfully for more
  • 00:07:24
    information about 1984 check out the
  • 00:07:26
    spark no2 at Han sparknotes calm
Tags
  • 1984
  • totalitarianism
  • George Orwell
  • surveillance
  • Winston Smith
  • Big Brother
  • rebellion
  • propaganda
  • Room 101
  • thought control