"1984" by George Orwell - Half Time Report

Middle School was truly a magical time for me and many of my peers. It was when we finally began to grasp the world and what it meant to be alive. It was also when we first began to read books of a more complex level. During those four years I conquered the Harry Potter series, the Chronicles of Narnia, the Percy Jackson series, and (most importantly) the Hunger Games. Yes, Suzanne Collins' best-selling trilogy introduced me and my peers to the wonderful world of dystopia, and the genre has captivated me ever since. They are the ultimate "what if" novels that force us to reflect on the world we live in. One of my favorite books of all time is Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, who's eery predictions of the future are ever so slowly coming true. The same has been said about 1984 by George Orwell. Intrigued, I decided to pick it up and give it a whirl.

In my opinion, the most essential aspect of a dystopian story is the world it takes place in. After all, that's what puts the book in that genre. The world of 1984 is straight up NUTS (and after years of reading books about a society that forces children to kill each other in a televised arena of death, that's saying something).Sure, we've seen those stories with the "all eyes on you" concept, but Orwell takes that scenario to the extreme. First let's meet our main character, Winston Smith (no, not Churchill), who's live is a daily routine of get up, go to work, come home, sleep, rinse, and repeat. Like the typical main character of a dystopian, Winston wants to rebel. He hates the world he lives in, where your every move is monitored by the ever watchful "Big Brother". Every breath you take, every move you make, every bond you break, every step you take, he'll be watching you. Creepy, right? Oh we're just getting started. Sure, they can see what you do and hear what you say, but what is they could also know what you THINK? That's right, in this world there are such thing as the "Thought Police", an elite group of spies hidden among the people looking for any sign of rebellion. Not just actions, but any sign that may reveal a person has been thinking of it is illegal. This place is crazy and I'm only half way through with the book.