Foreshadowing In 1984

“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows” (81). George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four is a dystopian science fiction novel and cautionary tale against the dangers of authoritarianism. The book has even inspired the term “Orwellian” to be coined (reference to the authoritative government in Nineteen Eighty-Four). Nineteen Eighty-Four shows that an extremely large amount of control and power could be used to command the people and their opinions under a complete regime. The book’s relevance over the seventy years past its publishing shows that an Orwellian society is not entirely improbable at any point in time. Orwell informs people in his controversial story about total control and the idea of how monitoring can affect one’s freedom.

Nineteen Eighty-Four begins by introducing the main protagonist, Winston Smith, and his somewhat boring life in London. He is a lower-middle class member who is frustrated

A woman named Julia falls in love with Winston. Similarly with Romeo and Juliet, the two characters can not be together due to strong opposition that could result in their deaths. In the case of Romeo and Juliet, their two families. For Winston and Julia, the government itself. George Orwell’s use of foreshadowing is subtle enough to only know on the second read, however, it is painfully obvious. To continue their affair, Winston had to find a place in which they could be together in complete privacy. He eventually locates a place in which the two of them should be safe. The room seems to be old and dirty. After Julia looks at the bed, she mentions, “‘It’s sure to be full of bugs, but who cares?’” (143). While Julia was correct in predicting the presence of bugs, they were not the type that infest beds. Winston understands that these actions and opposition to the Party will likely result in his eventual death due to thoughtcrime (term in