Ministries of Nineteen Eighty-Four omniscience of the state in the society of "Nineteen Eighty-Four" that even a citizen's nightmares are known to the Party. The nightmare, and therefore the threatened punishment, of the protagonist Winston Smith is to be attacked by rats. This is manifested in Room 101 by confronting Smith with a wire cage that contains two large rats. The front of the cage is shaped so that it can fit over a person's face. A trap-door is then opened, allowing the rats to devour the victim's face. This cage is fitted over Smith's face, but he saves himself by begging the authorities
Nineteen Eighty-Four defenders previously proposed in "Homage to Catalonia" (1938) and "Animal Farm" (1945), while "Coming Up for Air" (1939) celebrates the personal and political freedoms lost in "Nineteen Eighty-Four" (1949). Biographer Michael Shelden notes Orwell's Edwardian childhood at Henley-on-Thames as the golden country; being bullied at St Cyprian's School as his empathy with victims; his life in the Indian Imperial Police in Burma and the techniques of violence and censorship in the BBC as capricious authority. Other influences include "Darkness at Noon" (1940) and "The Yogi and the Commissar" (1945) by Arthur Koestler; "The Iron Heel "(1908) by Jack London; "1920: