In this passage, Orwell uses symbolism, imagery, and similes to show the effect the Party has on one’s individual thoughts. “Behind his screwed-up eyelids, a forest of fingers seemed to be moving in a sort of dance, weaving in and out, disappearing behind one another and reappearing again. He was trying to count them, he could not remember why.” Orwell uses the fingers to symbolize the lies the Party tells it citizens by having O’Brien force Winston into believing there are an untrue number of fingers present. Like O’Brien, the Party forces untrue mottos down its members’ throats. “a forest of fingers seemed to be moving in a sort of dance, weaving in and out, disappearing behind one another and reappearing again.” The personification
This itself alludes to America’s extreme response to communism during the Cold War era, under the influence of Senator Joe McCarthy. Similar to the paranoia that characterized the McCarthy era, Orwell’s dystopian society was expected to betray their friends, family and co-workers for the benefit of the state and themselves. This is made explicitly evident during Winston’s visit to the cafe, in which the telescreen sang; “Under the spreading chestnut tree/ I sold you and you sold me…”Foreshadowing Winston’s eventual betrayal of Maria in order to save himself, and his conformity to the party. Furthermore, the notion that “nothing was your own except the few cubic centimetres in your skull” becomes ironic as the novel develops in which the criminalisation of unorthodox ideologies leads to the punishment of “thoughtcrime”, and the eventual “vaporisation” of dissidents. This itself alludes to the ‘great purges’ that took place under the terror that characterized Joseph Stalin’s reign. Likewise, the inherent fear of eccentricity amongst the oppressed citizens of “Airstrip one” is highlighted by the nature of “facecrime” in which the presence of an improper expression or any suggestion of abnormality could be punished. Thus, through Orwell 's effective use of allusion and characterisation, contextual audiences are provided with a didactic warning regarding the nature of a totalitarian reign, in which a “hideous ecstasy of fear” influences society’s
Thinking back into history, many important events have occurred in history since the publication of 1984 by George Orwell in 1949. In no specific order there would be the Holocaust, The creation of the United Nations, NATO (North Atlantic treaty Organization), and even The Iron Curtain being established. After 1984 was published huge events also occurred in history. There was the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Korean war, the Vietnam War, the creation of the Berlin Wall, and the destruction of the Berlin wall, Joseph Stalin dies, and Khrushchev gains power....etc, etc. No matter when a book is published the events in history will always surround it, such as this book.
This is an important example of the foolishness of writers that do not understand the metaphors, similes, and symbolic expressions to help the reader understand their ideas in the writing. I also agree that writers do not use words “precisely”, which can confuse the reader. Many writers are not fully aware of the meaning of the words they choose, which Orwell breaks down in the writings he is analyzing. Clarity in the writing process is conveyed with great accuracy by Orwell to make this second point.
1984 is about a parallel world 35 years into the future, in which all nations have been combined into three major countries: Oceania, Eastasia, and Eurasia. London still exists, but it is now a part of Oceania, governed by an entity called the Party, headed by a dominant figure called “Big Brother”. The Party's one goal is power; power over everybody and everything in Oceania. There is constant surveillance; devices called telescreens are put in people's homes to monitor thoughts, actions and broadcast Party propaganda continuously, with no way for the person to turn it off or change the channel. Free thinkers are not tolerated, and the "Thought Police" are sent to capture the culprits. The Party is developing an official language called “Newspeak,” whose goal is to simplify language by eliminating as many "extra" words as possible and reducing vocabulary to a small number of basic words, thus narrowing the range of thought.
Throughout the evolution of man, power and control have been idealized. When power is attained by manipulative dictators, citizens may initially view them as a means to satisfy their need for structure and direction. An author’s grim prophecy of mankind in a totalitarian society is depicted in George Orwell’s, 1984. Citizens in Oceania are governed by the Party Big Brother, which succeeds in controlling their actions and minds. The concept of oppression is taken to a new level, until there is no sense of humanity within the society.
The reader at this point sees more and more that the quality of life is low and almost akin to that of a prison. This strategy used by Orwell is a strong pathos argument as it plays to the emotions of the reader to cause the association of The Party and negativity in the mind of the reader. 1984: A Rhetorical analysis 2 1984: A Rhetorical analysis 5 The way that The Party, Big Brother, and many of the other foreign concepts are referred to are quite vague at first which Orwell does on purpose.
This type of appeal plays a significant role in the literature, as it provokes the reader's interest and raises awareness of the reality that is living in a suppressed society. "The only evidence to the contrary was the mute protest in your own bones, the instinctive feeling that the conditions you lived in were intolerable." (Orwell, 76). Orwell clearly uses the sense of touch to illustrate a greater issue of denial faced by people aware of the Party's propaganda. Specifically, Winston's perception of life is represented by individuality and the struggle against his own morals in contrast to lies of the telescreens. This is further enhanced by the use of figurative devices and descriptive adjectives. "It struck him that the truly characteristic thing about life was not its cruelty and insecurity, but simply its bareness, its dinginess, its listlessness." (Orwell, 77). Orwell's use of parallel structure compliments the emotion of touch with emphasis on the message of life's simplicity. The language used depicts a utopia formed by Winston, where life is considered straightforward despite its present gloom. Thus, connection between touch and the usage of parallel structure provokes a sense of emotion in the reader, which allows them to relate to Winston's struggles. However, it also relates to the sense of smell- as an appeal to the physical living
This symbolizes the society in 1945 and it is the reason why George Orwell wrote this book — to wake up the people at that time.
17. Author’s Craft: Authors use a variety of literary techniques to reveal the message (or theme) of their works. Choose one of the following and explain how Orwell uses it to enhance the meaning of the work as a whole: Imagery, Foreshadowing, Flashback, Motivation, Irony, Contrast, Symbolism, Point of View, or Allusion.
The novel 1984 is a futuristic portrayal of the world in the year 1984. The main characters Winston and Julia fall in love with each other but are caught and purified of all their wrong doings. In the end they betray each other because of the pressure of the party. The party is a group that controls society in these ways: Manipulation of Reality, Invasion of Privacy, and Desensitization.
...art of the whole society and have greater power through the amount of support for the party, while those who believe otherwise are less powerful as their support is much less and limited. Orwell shows how those who do not conform will end up being taken down by those with the power and there is not much anyone could do about that. Those who believed in change and tried to change the society only ended up meeting failure as majority rules, those with more power will overpower the weak and succeed.
Psychological manipulation the Party uses on the citizens is one of the first themes Orwell exposes in this dystopian society. The Party maintains this manipulation by constantly overwhelming citizens with useless information and propaganda. And when memory failed and written records were falsified—when that happened, the claim of the Party to have improved the conditions of human life had got to be accepted, because there did not exist, and never again could exist, any standard against which it could be tested. (Orwell 82) Winston Smith, the protagonist, is having a frustrating conversation with an old man about life before the Revolution.
The principle reason for the party’s existence was in rebellion against capitalism and independent thought, as the novel in its totality is a rebellion against structures of absolute power. Orwell’s final defiant method is allowing the reader to become engaged and eager to celebrate the successes of the oppressed, which is ultimately unsuccessful, revealing what such a totalitarian regime can produce. In comparison, Fitzgerald uses rebellion as an expression of people on the fringe of society, as a lesson in acceptance. Not so much as a will-full act in so much as a unique and unexpected behavior of the individual seeking one’s identity and place within society. Instead of acceptance, an endurance is
Everything is a symbol. Everything has a deeper being in which it represents once it is unlocked. The father of deconstruction, Jacques Derrida, was quoted in an interview saying that deconstruction is “to not naturalize what is not natural”. Therefore symbolism is deconstruction in its rawest form. Symbols beg to not be taken at their natural face-value, but rather dived into to reach their deep inner-core of true meaning. One must use every element of deconstruction to unlock the true meaning of a symbol. Symbolism in literature allows the author to express his thoughts and motives in a way that is engaging and entertaining to the reader. The reader must dissect every bit of knowledge presented in order to reach the full fountain of knowledge that can be expressed by a symbol. Symbols are a beautiful thing. It allows the reader to make his own connections to the author’s expressions. The reader can especially be engaged in George Orwell’s 1949 dystopian novel 1984. Symbolism is important in 1984 because the reader can find connections to today’s government in Orwell’s message of control, propaganda, and oppression within the symbols that Orwell creates.
George Orwell’s novel, 1984, raises many questions through demonstrating what it would be like if the United States government, or any government, began destroying the language, building spies at a young age, changing history and creating rooms filled with torture. Language is a very important and powerful gift of thought and self-expression. It is the focal point for conversation and how we express our emotions; it is what sets humans apart from the animal kingdom. Without it what would we become as a people? What would come of our everyday lives? What would it take for the government, our government, to make Orwell’s fiction a reality? From the changing of history, creating a new language, training children spies, to what lies in Room 101,