The novel
officially begins on April 4th(the reverse year of whenwrote the novel which was 1948, thus he
was writing about a future dystopia). The day is described as "a bright cold day in April,
and the clocks were striking thirteen" with a "vile wind" blowing (p.3). This
time of season and weather condition adds to the bleakness of the mood being created by Orwell
as the novel opens. The clocks striking an hour which does not exist in a regular striking clock
pattern is also significant as it foreshadows a society which has made major structural changes
to basic institutions to suit its own purposes.
We know the date is April 4th
becausehas plucked up the courage to start writing a diary, which is a highly illegal act in
itself attracting harsh punishments. It is significant that Winston, even though a government
employee, cannot be sure of the exact date. He is only guessing based on his age of which he
appears to be not entirely certain. This helps the reader to form a picture of a society where
the citizenry are shielded from even knowing the most basic information related to exact time,
suggesting it must be one of many measures to keep them ill informed for the sake of maintaining
control.
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