So the novel begins in the middle of a society completely different from ours. The government has complete control. There is even such a thing as thoughtcrime!! So, since this unit is kind of about utopias, where does the utopia come in in 1984? Really, you need to know how such a society got started. In the past it had always been that the middle class would find some way to boot the upper class out and take their place. The upper class would then become the middle class, and in time would find a way to take the upper hand again. This cycle would go on and on with no end, until one group figured out a way to keep the other from getting the upper hand again. So the middle class finally found a way of obtaining power and of keeping the middle class from ever seizing it back again. This would be their idea of a utopia. They would be at the top and it could never be taken from them again. Not everyone would be equal, but this was their idea of a perfect world, a world where they would hold the power forever.
How did they succeed? For the most part, they used fear. Fear that the government would kill you if you went against them. Fear of people in Eurasia or Eastasia because they are different. Fear of being turned in by a friend or acquaintance. Fear that your own children would turn you in. You couldn't trust anyone because you didn't know if they were an agent of the government who would have you arrested for having the wrong facial expression or having an unconscious nervous habit. You couldn't even trust your own children because they have grown up trained by the government and might turn you in for talking in your sleep. How can you start up any kind of resistance when you have no one you can trust? One single man acting completely alone cannot bring a government to its knees. The middle class had succeeded in gaining power and making it impossible for anyone else to take it ever again.
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