More context:
"There will be no love, except the love of Big Brother. There will be no laughter, except the laugh of triumph over a defeated enemy. There will be no art, no literature, no science. When we are omnipotent we shall have no more need of science. There will be no distinction between beauty and ugliness. There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always -- do not forget this, Winston -- always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face -- for ever."
   He paused as though he expected Winston to speak. Winston had tried to shrink back into the surface of the bed again. He could not say anything. His heart seemed to be frozen. O'Brien went on:
   "And remember that it is for ever. The face will always be there to be stamped upon. The heretic, the enemy of society, will always be there, so that he can be defeated and humiliated over again. Everything that you have undergone since you have been in our hands -- all that will continue, and worse."
  - George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four

Ahh....I've been around those boots before. Never seen them from the bottom though...:-P And I really do like the colors on the bottom of the boot. Great idea G, and very well brought together into an image. I'm glad I'm not the only one who submitted such an optimistic contest entry...oh wait... ~Tox

Excellent representation of the excerpt you have chosen from the book...Good Luck in the contest. : Pat.

Very powerful piece that has an artistic appeal and is very topical. 10.

that better not be my head.... =)

very nice G

Thanks everyone for the comments, I was wondering how this would go over.
Really Tox, it's like we're the only upbeat people around here! I've never been an angry cynic or anything... :-p

I am reading the book now for the first time. great representation like the war is peace. red coloring good idea. and the screaming person is a good take

Great representation. I think everyone should read 1984, it's such a powerful book. And you've made a powerful image to go with it. Well done!

Orwell was full of pessimistic vision and wise warnings. Your image just shows that writing is not the only form of expression that needs protecting. I'll stop now before I rant. Good job portraying a provocative piece.

Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four was one of the books that amazed me when I was young.
All generations have to read it.
Thanks for this beautiful composition, Mike :-)

Thank you, Ashley, Rebecca, dreamer, and Pierre! It's good to hear you're reading it, Ashley. I was surprised to find out that many of my friends had not. I agree with you, Rebecca and Pierre. Even though the year has come and gone, it's still frightening to think what could happen to an unknowing population.

When the idea for this contest was proposed, I went through lists of quotes I had saved. I decided I had to do this because the image could be made so powerful.

Powerfully done Mike. Excellent choice and good luck!! :))

Beautiful job and good luck;Mike.

George was such an optomistic fellow, wasn't he? ;-) Still, I guess we need people like him to remind us that the cost of freedom is eternal vigilance etc etc. Excellent image, I like the fact that the victim at least seems to be struggling against his oppressor in some small way. Most of the downtrodden in 1984 had already given up...

awesome book, awesome picture, awesome

Thank you to grim, and a very very belated thank you to Mimi, Joost and Sam. I'm glad you all took a look and enjoyed.

That's awesome!!! Lovin it!

...what the heck....I've never commented on this?! I should be ashamed of myself....
damn great image IMHO. Red was a great color to use for this too. I'll not go on gushing over it...but, you get the picture - I like it, I really, really like it. ; )

That's gotta hurt great image beautiful red you've used

This is an awesome image, it represents so much. Thanks

i swear those are my shoes (spend less shoes $30), anyway very powerful image, we had to read the book for school, all the anylising sort took the fun out of it but it is still a great book and it is represented well in this image, well done.