Having focused on E.M Forster’s ‘A Passage to India’ and Paul Scott’s ‘The Jewel in the Crown’ it is evident that both novels share the central theme of contrasting views of Indian culture to reflect society from the time periods of which their novels are set. The form of ‘A Passage to India’ is a retrospective diary account dictated by an omniscient third person narrator who has multiple viewpoints which endeavours into the psychological mind set of the characters.
The form allows the reader to experience a first-hand account and a view on the forefront of the minds of the characters’ experiences. ‘The roads, named after victorious generals and intersecting at right angles, were symbolic of the net Great Britain had thrown over India. He felt caught in their meshes.’ From this, the main protagonist Aziz is claiming that the ‘right angles’ which are marked out by the colonial roads, connotes the British illustration on how they organise their colony. By being ‘caught in their meshes’, Aziz is affected greatly by the ordeal at a psychological level as he is feeling individually trapped. This epitomises the society’s reaction during the British ruling as the readers are able to see how it affects Aziz on a personal level, but this is a common theme through the novel – the analysis of the minds of the characters. By using an omniscient narrator, Forster can exploit the character’s flaws, especially when we learn that ‘suspicion in the Oriental is a sort of malignant tumour, a mental malady, that makes him self-conscious and unfriendly suddenly’ which claims that Aziz is naturally dubious just because he is Indian.
Equally, the form of Scott’s ‘The Jewel in the Crown’ is written in a third person narrative with multiple narrations ...
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...ogan of Oceania from the novel. The party’s power of the psychological control is equally contradictory to that of their testimony of power. By stating that ‘war is peace’ it is arguable that Orwell writes this to show that having an enemy within your nation will bring the nation (in this case Oceania) united together just like India becomes united with the acts of Gandhi to fight for independence.
In sum, through their dichotomies of the British and Indian relationship during the emergence of India to independence, Forster and Scott allow the reader to free themselves of their prejudices and open up to their views on historical culture. Forster ‘attaches to India through extravagant metaphorical meanings and anthropomorphisms’ whilst Orwell stated that he ‘didn’t do prophecy’ and that he would not ‘put anything into it that human societies have not already done.’
Not only did the inequality and separation of the Indian society frustrate the citizens of India, but the imperialism Britain had upon them as well. In the early 20th century, Indian nationalists wanted to take a stand against the British rule and make India independent. The British created unfair laws that created a nationalist movement in India to regain their freedom. He believed that there should not be a Caste System because of one’s birth.
Rather, it contends that when government is unrestrained in the form of totalitarianism, as exemplified by the Party of Oceania, it can by nature exist only to serve itself. This argument serves as Orwell’s warning against the dangers of totalitarianism; it is so corrupting a force that it can hide behind claims of good intentions, but ultimately exists only to accumulate its own power. Furthermore, since a totalitarian drive for power constitutes a total control of its citizenry and a political structure that necessitates its existence, as shown by the military strategy of the Party, Orwell warns that once a truly totalitarian state is in place, there is no possible way to overthrow it or turn back from it. Ultimately, Orwell sees a government that is so distorted it has become completely self-serving as the largest threat, defining his view of totalitarianism and the themes of his
Early in the novel, the three fundamental mottos of Ingsoc are presented. These mottos are “WAR IS PEACE/ FREEDOM IS SLAVERY/ IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH” (Orwell 26). Each phrase is a paradox within itself. When analyzed with the context of the political and social atmosphere, each contradictory motto becomes logical. The first concept, “WAR IS PEACE”, is thoroughly brought into light by the untitled book that O’Brien lends Winston after Winston expresses his interest in the Brotherhood. War in Oceania is actually peaceful because “the object of the war is not to make or prevent conquests of territory, but to keep the structure of society intact” according to this informative book (164). The continuous wars between Oceania, Eastasia, and Eurasia prove that these regions have surprisingly civilized relationships with one another, with the book even stating “the effect would be much the same if the three super-states, instead of fighting one another, should agree to live in perpetual peace, each inviolate within its own boundaries” (164). These wars are only waged to gain a labor force that will be used to get the upperhand in the next war. The goal is to maintain peace. Although “WAR IS PEACE” appears to be a contradiction, the paradoxical quality of the statement actually adds to the complexity of ...
A fundamental element of any story is the perspective of the narrator. It guides the point of view from which readers perceive and understand a story and greatly affects how a story is presented. As such, the perspective is crucial in determining how engaging a story is. First person narration, a narrative perspective in which the story is told first hand, has proven highly effective in making a story more compelling to read. Recently, it has become very popular in young adult fiction, as it can allow, when well-executed, for the reader to be better immersed in the story, increased suspense, and insightful reflection on the significance of events taking place. In Claire Battershill’s Circus short story Two Man Luge, first person narration is
The Passage “The George and The Jewels” and “Black Beauty” are written with two different narrators but still use first person point of view to express the thoughts and feelings of each passage.
... 134). To Americans, India still continues to be an exotic land of fairytale. They also ask him questions on ‘recent rise of Hindu fundamentalism’ which Gogol, like any ordinary American kid, is oblivious to the current affairs of India. Another American lady Pamela comments that Gogol is lucky because he would not fall sick if he visits India like her friend had. Inspite of Gogol’s emphasis that his parents “devote the better part of suitcase to medicine . . .” Pamela cannot be convinced because to her Gogol’s identity is essentially to that of an Indian. It is apparent to a native American Gogol is a representative of India, a land of exotic culture, palaces, and simultaneously a land of diseases. In reality Gogol is like any other American kid of his generation but he cannot truly blend in their life as his first identity is ‘Indian’ and to that of an ‘outsider’.
Oceania appears to be in this situation where there is an endless war against either of the powers in the novel. The war effort against Eurasia or Eastasia - depending on how the Party feels that day - is used to the Party's advantage, since "WAR IS PEACE." This slogan, though the two being contradictory by definition, is an example of the Party is able to alter the meanings of words, and it seems to be rather true in the novel. Since war against another country, Eurasia or Eastasia, causes there to be a common enemy amongst the people, there is thus - with a little extra dab of propaganda and brainwash - a bitter hatred for the enemy country, and a sense of unity. Along with the annual Hate Week in Oceania, the hate of the people is being expressed to the enemies of Oceania, and away from the
He demonstrates this idea through big brothers use of war to unite the people against oceania rather than against their own regime, which alludes to the way in which Hitler united the German people by creating external enemies in the allies. The foreshadowing in Winston’s diary entry “To an age when thought is free. From the Age of the Thought Police, from the Age the Thought Police, from a dead man-greetings” symbolises Orwell’s belief that rebellion as an individual is futile and emphasizes Orwell’s warning against allowing totalitarian regimes to gain that level of power. He accentuates the power of the collective of the party against the individual human minds through the symbolism of the statement that “Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Not in the individual mind, which can make mistakes... only in the mind of the Party, which is collective and immortal”.
“War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength.” These letters are bolded and scattered around the nation of Oceania- a world ravaged by poverty, surveillance and oppression, all achieved by a means of global fear of war. This is the reality in the dystopian novel 1984 by George Orwell.
War is Peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. These are the beliefs that the citizens of Oceania, in the novel titled 1984, written by George Orwell, live by. Orwell gives a tragic illustration of what the world would be without the freedom to think or express within a dystopia.
In Leonard Woolf’s “Pearls and Swine,” the eurocentric perspective of India creates unreasonable stereotypes which alter the reader’s pre conceptual view of India. The West positions themselves on a pedestal by creating a sense of superiority over the East, making the reader see the West as civilized and modern unlike the East who is stereotyped as undeveloped. As the three men in the smokeroom pontificate about the East with their preconceptual views, all the men unknowingly put the Western culture above the Eastern culture. After the archdeacon stated that the West should not be so imposing of their culture on the Eastern people, the stockbroker states, “Look after ’em, of course: give ’em schools, if they want education––schools, hospitals, roads, and railways…… But let ’em know you are the top dog” (Woolf 203).
WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH” (Orwell 4). This slogan is used by the English Socialist Party (INGSOC), in the novel 1984 written by George Orwell, to control the citizens of Oceania, or more importantly their minds. Controlling INGSOC is Big Brother, a fascist and totalitarian leader who controls every aspect of Oceania's lives. However, they are easily able to mask this fact through tactics such as doublethink, newspeak, and the manipulation of the past. These tactics force the citizens of Oceania into blindly following the party, and a punishment of “purification” and death if they do not. Winston, the dystopian protagonist of the novel, is one of those who refuse to follow the Party’s beliefs. In the beginning
The decision to grant independence to India was not the logical culmination of errors in policy, neither was it as a consequence of a mass revolution forcing the British out of India, but rather, the decision was undertaken voluntarily. Patrick French argues that: “The British left India because they lost control over crucial areas of the administration, and lacked the will and the financial or military ability to recover that control”.
A Modern novel, Jewel in the Crown, by Paul Scott, depicts the latter stages of imperialism's erosion and explores it through the lives of individuals and their relationships as symbolic of larger societal conflicts and political events. Jewel was written well into the 20th Century and employs thematic concepts and literary forms characteristic of Modernism, as well as being significant in its literary-historical context of the decline of British Imperialism/post- colonialism in India.
Nicholas B. Dirks. (2011). Castes of Mind: Colonialism and the Making of Modern India. Princeton University Press