`Nineteen Eighty-Four', by George Orwell, is a novel that is set in a bleak future dystopic society. Orwell builds up a pessimistic picture of this society through his use of narration, character, and description of setting and leaves us with a powerful vision of oppression.

Winston Smith is an ordinary citizen in Oceania. He begins to defy the ruling party, by breaking the rules of society - even the small, insignificant act of writing a diary is punishable by death. Winston gradually becomes more human as he continues to break the rules, and even meets a girl, Julia, who becomes his lover. Winston is eventually found out by the Party, captured, and tortured. Winston is brainwashed, and broken down by the party, until he loses all of his humanity. At the end of the novel, Winston, brainwashed and incapable of independent thought, `learns' to love Big Brother and...