George Orwell's Symbolism and Derivation for 1984
George Orwell's 1984 had a profound effect upon the way people thought during the mid 20th century. The book signified Orwell's most complex novel which told the story of Arthur Koestler and the countless others who suffered because of the totalitarian governments in Eastern Europe (Meyers 114). When 1984 was published in 1949, the Cold War had just begun. The novel's ending was pessimistic and thus seemed as an attack on communism. The novel was also considered to be the prophecy of what would happen to the West if the communist ideology spread. The idea for writing 1984 also came from an American economist named James Burnham. Burnham predicted that if Germany had won the war, the world would be divided into three areas (Meyers 125). This idea is used by Orwell because the society in 1984 is centered around 3 areas- Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia.
Koestler, a refugee from Fascist and Communist prisons, was the model for protagonist of 1984 - Winston Smith. Orwell chose this name because he felt that the reader could relate to Winston. By using the last name 'Smith' it conveys the universal appeal of everyman. The name Winston was chosen because Winston Churchill ruled England at the time and was seen as a hero. (Gardner 118) From this, Orwell puts forth the idea that anyone can do anything and rise to greatness.
The physical setting of 1984 came from the actual way London looked during the war years. The Ministry of Truth, the place where Winston worked was derived British Broadcast Company (BBC) building. Inside the BBC, there was a restaurant that had a dish called 'Victory Pie'. And thus, Orwell used Victory as the word that proceed as all ...
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...ements. So far from endeavoring to influence the future, he simply lies down and lets things happen to him." (Bookshelf 1994) In essence Orwell is trying to let people know that they should be aware about what is going on around them. You can't expect everything to fall in your lap, you have to go out and get it, or someday someone will get it for you- and it will be too late to change it. Human nature wants to be passive and have decisions made for them. through this venue, free will and choice is lost and a totalitarian government will prevail causing democracy to be forgotten.
Works Cited
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Meyers, Valerie. George Orwell. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1991.
"Orwell, George." Microsoft Bookshelf, 1994.
Reilly, Patrick.George Orwell, The Age's Adversary. New York: St Martin's Press,1986.
In “1984,” Orwell uses Winston to portray a single individual’s attempt to take action against a powerful government, culminating in his failure and subjugation. His individual efforts failed tremendously due to the overarching power of the Party to control every aspect of social life in Oceania. Orwell uses Winston’s deeply seated hatred of the Party to portray his views on power and social change. Winston’s actions show that even in the direst of situations ...
The history of the Scopes trial begins in Tennessee with the Butler Act, which passed on March 13, 1925. The Butler Act stated that “it shall be unlawful for any teacher in any of the Universities, Normals and all other pub...
). Did Orwell realise quite what he had done in Nineteen Eighty-Four? His post-publication glosses on its meaning reveal either blankness or bad faith even about its contemporary political implications. He insisted, for example, that his 'recent novel [was] NOT intended as an attack on Socialism or on the British Labour Party (of which I am a supporter)'.(1) He may well not have intended it but that is what it can reasonably be taken to be. Warburg saw this immediately he had read the manuscript, and predicted that Nineteen Eighty-Four '[was] worth a cool million votes to the Conservative Party';(2) the literary editor of the Evening Standard 'sarcastically prescribed it as "required reading" for Labour Party M.P.s',(3) and, in the US, the Washington branch of the John Birch Society 'adopted "1984" as the last four digits of its telephone number'.(4) Moreover, Churchill had made the 'inseparably interwoven' relation between socialism and totalitarianism a plank in his 1945 election campaign(5) (and was not the protagonist of Nineteen Eighty-Four called Winston?). If, ten years earlier, an Orwell had written a futuristic fantasy in which Big Brother had had Hitler's features rather than Stalin's, would not the Left, whatever the writer's proclaimed political sympathies, have welcomed it as showing how capitalism, by its very nature, led to totalitarian fascism?
A significant portion of children in the United States are impacted by divorce. Empirical investigations verify that children of divorce are at a heightened risk for the development of psychological, social, behavioral and academic issues (Amato, 2000; Amato, 2001). Amato and Keith (1991) studied the welfare of children of divorce compared with that of children whose parents are still married to each other. Children from divorced families scored considerably lower on a range of outcomes and it was shown that these problems can persist into adulthood. Given the high rate of divorce and the negative effects it has on our youth, the implementation of effective prevention programs has great significance (Wolchik, West, Sandler, Tein, Coatsworth, & Lengua, 2000).
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Foulkes-Jamison, Lesley Matthews, D. Wayne, (1998). Long-term effects of divorce on children. [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/fcs/pdfs/fcs482.pdf
Divorce is becoming a worldwide phenomenon, significantly affecting children’s well-being. It radically changes their future causing detrimental effects. According to (Julio Cáceres-Delpiano and Eugenio Giolito, 2008) nearly 50% of marriages end with divorce. 90% of children who lived in the USA in the 1960s stayed with their own biological parents, whereas today it makes up only 40% (Hetherington, E. Mavis, and Margaret Stanley-Hagan, 1999). Such an unfavorable problem has been increasing, because in 1969, the legislation of California State changed the divorce laws, where spouses could leave without providing causes (Child Study Center, 2001). This resolution was accepted by the other states and later, the number of divorced people has been steadily growing. Such a typical situation is common for most countries in the world, which negatively affects children’s individuality. However, remarkably little amount of people can conceive the impact of marital separation caused to offspring. (? passive) Many children after separation of parents are exposed to a number of changes in the future. They have to be getting used to a further living area, feelings and circumstances. Their response to divorce can vary and depends on age, gender and personal characteristics. This essay will show the effects of divorce on children under various aspects such as educational, psychological and social impact. In addition, it will contain data about the divorce rate in the US and present disparate reactions of children. It will also include adequate recommendations for parents as to how act to children after divorce, in order to minimize the adverse effect on children.
Kelly, J. B., & Emery, R. E. (2003). Children's adjustment following divorce: Risk and resilience perspectives. Family Relations, 52(4), 352-362.
DeBord, K. (1997). Focus on kids: The effects of divorce on children. National Network for Child Care. Retrieved November 3, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://www.nncc.org/Child.Dev/effectsdivorce.html
Malone, Dudley F. State of Tennessee V. John Thomas Scopes. No. No. 5232. Circuit Court of Rhea County. 21 July 1925. 30 Mar. 2008 .
Pasley, Kay. “The Long-Term Effects Of Divorce.” Stepfamilies 16.1 (1996): 11. MAS Ultra – School Edition.Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
... gives in to Big Brother, and begins to praise and love him, “He loved Big Brother”. Orwells ending is very different than most novels, the ending leaves the readers questioning them selves, hoping that there is more to it, that there is hope for Winston, But no. Orwell finishes the novel with a dark and hopeless ending, to try to make it more realistic and relatable. 1984 is a dystopian novel, because Orwell wanted the readers to relate between the world of 1984 and real world, he wanted to try to make the message clearer to the readers, by making the readers think of the ending, and how relatable is it to the current world.
(2009). The effects of divorce on children (Order No. 1470847). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full Text. (304998358). Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/304998358?accountid=458
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.
Amato, P. R. (2000). The consequences of divorce for adults and children. Journal of Marriage and Family, 62(4), 1269-1287.