Winston Smith is a low-ranked member of a totalitarian party. His job is to change historical evidence, for instance articles, to fit the needs of the Party. He is sceptical about the authoritarian regime and due to this commits ‘Thought Crime’. You better be aware of the fact that “Big Brother is watching you” – always.
Winston and his ‘comrades’ live in an all-controlled world, where even language is controlled by introducing ‘Newspeak’ and history is changed by manipulating articles. In this way, the Party is able to eliminate people from historical evidence and from the minds of humans. They disappear and must not be thought of anymore.
It seems just natural that Winston therefore is wary about the system and tries to escape the rules of the Party, which are very strict. Furthermore, he wants to join the Brotherhood.
Goldstein, the leader of the Brotherhood, is the Number One Enemy of the state and introduced by the Party as the most despicable person on earth.
1984 is about power, oppression and the strong will to escape. It is a distopia of a world where everything that matters is to function in a most inconspicuous way. It is about fear and love. It will make you wonder.