The first Chapter reveals the situation of the protagonist, Winston Smith. Calmly it leads to the various danger he is facing by simply buying a diary.
He sneaks home during his lunch break to write his story and his thoughts. He has spent weeks preparing for this action. And he sits, where he can’t be seen by the monitor, slowly piecing bits together.
He is aware of the lies, the tricks of his society. They are not sudden revelations, they are known and accepted and dealt with in a public ‘politically correct’ way.
He knows he is constantly monitored, so keeps his face and posture in a particular way.
He is unaware if there are others who recognises his society as it is, reflecting on someone he has seen at work, a more senior person called O’Brien. Smith ponders if that man has the same views as he does, but, beyond a glance, can not go further.
Although he has much to write, it is difficult for Winston Smith to set it down.
Sounds like a book I should look at.
It should be required reading for life
It is a great book, and it is a fascinating exercise to work out the elements of it that turned out to be true – if not in 1984 itself, then maybe somewhat later!
It is my #1 of all time. It is a book which shaped my understanding.