Nineteen Eighty-Four, written by George Orwell, is one of the most effective and inspirational novels of the century. The novel is "An attack on totalitarianism, it warns that absolute power in the hands of any government can deprive a people of all basic freedoms" (Hall 339). The totalitarian society in the novel is headed by a corrupt government, and portrays the future as a "schizoid, psychotic world" (Zehr 419). Orwell counterpoints the future by showing that an awareness of the past provides for an understanding of the present. Through this understanding, the novel's protagonist, Winston Smith, is able to preserve his sanity, for the time being, and establish his individuality (Zehr 419). George Orwell once wrote about his novel, "I don't believe this type of society I describe will arrive, but I believe something resembling it could arrive." This assessment has proven to be fairly accurate. Characters in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four live in a totalitarian society, yet they can be seen as representative of groups in modern-day society.
A major theme in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four is capitulation. According to the Dictionary of Literary Biography, capitulation can be defined as "the act of surrendering or giving up"(Zehr 419). Many characters in the novel do not rebel against the party; they give in to the unfair ways of the government and become one of "them." However, the novel's main character and hero, Winston Smith, attempts to fight against the party by defying it in ways such as hiding from the hidden telescreens that spy on the people's every move and forming a secret sexual relationship with a female named Julia (Hall 340). Unlike the other characters, Smith is unique in that he defies the party even though we know that he will not escape the secret police, and after he is caught we see him undergoing "a dreadful metamorphosis which burns out his human essence, leaving him a wreck who can go on living only by becoming one of "them" (Hall 340).