Setting

A note on genre

Because Nineteen Eighty-Four is a story in the science-fiction genre, it is important to pay close attention to the book’s setting. Science-fiction stories normally describe some kind of future world. Often a future version of our own world, but sometimes an entirely fictional location.

Important questions to ask when looking at science-fiction settings are typically related to the political, social and economic situation of future society, as well as its level of technological advancement.

Utopia vs dystopia

When analysing the setting of science-fiction stories, it is useful to know the terms utopia and dystopia.

A utopia is a perfect world. A typical utopia may be a society free of suffering, pollution and disease, wi...