The first few chapters of the book are very significant. They give the reader a clear and concise image of what life was like in the totalitarian world that Orwell created. A totalitarian government is one that tries to control every aspect of life; how people spend every minute of their time, even in private, who they can associate with, what they’re allowed to say. A totalitarian government even tries to control what people think and believe. George Orwell wrote 1984 in the late 1940’s. What he knew about totalitarianism was based on the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. Those governments had come to be not that long before and had not been fully understood yet. What Orwell was trying to accomplish with 1984 was to give his readers a clear picture of what life would be like, if a free country like England were under totalitarian rule. In 1984, the government is always watching everything people do. There are these posters of ‘Big Brother’ who is supposedly the leader of the government that say, “Big Brother is watching you”. There are thought police that have hidden cameras and microphones literally everywhere. The government can watch you in your home through the telescreen conveniently located everywhere you go. You’re not allowed to have close friends, you’re not allowed to be in love, you can’t date or have sex with someone you like. You’re basically supposed to save all your energy for “The Party”. There are also things you have to do. You have to watch the government programming on the telescreens, most of its news, made up just moments before, some of its exercises. You have to attend these pep rallies called the “two-minutes hate”.The first few chapters of the book sum up the setting very nicely.
