In George Orwell’s dystopian novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four”, the reader is bombarded with an innumerable amount of literary devices to produce an austere depiction of the future and a world lacking any prospect of relief. A gray landscape is formed through the use of harsh imagery, which subsequently disheartens the reader. The motif of surveillance, assisted by the use of telescreens, emphasises the fact that this world is doomed as no one can overcome the watchful eyes of Big Brother. Orwell continually utilizes foreshadowing to cleverly let the reader infer that future events in the novel will always end in the Party’s triumph. The tragic flaw of Winston, leads to reader to feel anguish as not even the protagonist can overcome the immoral Party. The desolate imagery that Orwell puts forth to the reader is evident throughout the entire novel, which consequently highlights Oceania as a place enveloped in despondency. In the opening of the novel, Orwell immediately establishes the setting of a “cold day” and an inescapable “vile wind”. The “grimy landscape” is abundant in “rotting nineteenth-century houses” and “windows patched with cardboard”. These numerous descriptions paint the grey picture of an ominous world, with no hope evident in any part of the opening. Harsh imagery is once again used in the depiction of the canteen at Winston’s work. The canteen was described as “low-ceilinged” to represent the feeling of claustrophobia in a society constantly being confined by the actions of the Party. The “filthy water here and there” and the array of broken windows in the Prole district reiterates the idea of dirtiness in Oceania. This constant repetition of a dreary setting instills a feeling of despair in the reader’s mind, which... ... middle of paper ... ...ith great dismay. By the end of the novel Winston “loved Big Brother”, “the struggle was finished.” The fact that not even the main character can conquer the antagonistic Party creates a dim future from the reader’s point of view. Orwell effectively constructs a grotesque future that even the protagonist can’t overcome, therefore causing the reader to assume that no other citizen of Oceania can either. The tyrannical world of “Nineteen Eighty-Four” lets the reader visualize a society fueled by misery and deceit. This unpleasant portrayal of the future is formed through the idea of surveillance, which highlights the dictatorship run by the government. The foreshadowing used lets the reader realise there isn’t a positive future awaiting the residents of Oceania. Winston’s tragic flaw shows there’s no hope, as the protagonist should have surely overcome any enemies.
Diction: While George Orwell used fairly simple and uncomplicated diction to tell the story many of his words still have a very powerful diction. In the first chapter the protagonist Winston is attack by the smell of “boiled cabbage and old rag mats”. This is the first indication to the nature of the living conditions of our protagonist. However, Orwell also uses his diction to create the atmosphere of Oceania with lines like “the world looked cold. Down in the street little eddies of wind were whirling dust and torn paper into spirals, and though the sun was shining and the sky a harsh blue, there seemed to be no colour in anything”. These lines contain powerful words like cold, torn, and harsh and these worlds help paint the picture of what kind of story we are reading.
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 ...
Due to rising levels of danger along with the creation and utilization of new technology, the government of the twenty first century, are becoming more involved and protective similar to the government of Oceania in the book Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell. In the book Nineteen Eighty Four, the main character Winston Smith, commits acts that are not legal according to the government of Oceania. Winston commits crimes which include thinking bad things about the government of Oceania, or thought crime, plotting against the government of Oceania, and having sexual relations with a young woman named Julia. Eventually, Winston ends up getting caught by a hidden telescreen and two thought police informants. When Winston is caught, he is transported to a prison without being read rights, much less having any actual rights. While in prison Winston is deprived of food and sleep, received regular beatings, is brainwashed, and is tortured physically, mentally, and emotionally. This essay will show the reader what the modern day government of the United States of America does to its political prisoners and how this compares to the treatment of political prisoners in George Orwell’s book Nineteen Eighty Four.
With Nineteen Eighty-Four, it is particularly necessary to trust the tale and not the teller, but even this has its pitfalls. Interpretations of the novel already exist which blatantly ignore the intentions of the author by reinterpreting its manifest content without any obvious justification. But all existing interpretations of Nineteen Eighty-Four are unsatisfactory in one regard or another. For many years Nineteen Eighty-Four 'served as a sort of an ideological super-weapon in the Cold War',(6) was used along with Animal Farm as propaganda in the Western occupied zones of Germany, which it was 'feared ... might be invaded by Soviet troops',(7) and was later also made use of by West Germany as 'warning . . . about what a future under Stalin might be like'.(8) There is much in the novel, of course, which allowed it to be interpreted as an attack on Soviet Communism and its allegedly aggressive intentions. Nonetheless, such an interpretation does not quite fit: Ingsoc has been established in Oceania by internal revolution and not by military invasion or external pressure. The model is Trotsky rather than Stalin.
Even though many of Orwell’s ideas in his novel 1984 seemed completely fictional, several of the concepts throughout his book have a common link to today’s society. For instance in the same way telescreens monitor people every second of their li...
Throughout the book 1984, by George Orwell, society was constantly being monitored and limited in their freedom. Orwell wrote this book to depict the most absolute and powerful totalitarian government. It showed people of his time how this could all be a possibility in the near future and the risks of accepting this form of control. He was able to create an extreme portrayal of the extent rulers would go to, to obtain total power over everyone. In the book, the government had set up a world of lies and deception, which people had to believe or else their life was at risk. However, there was Winston Smith, a unique man in this newly organized world that suppressed individualism. As the book progressed, the structure and plot of the story unveiled Orwells worry with the challenges Winston faced as he struggled to find the truth about the society he lived in.
George Orwell creates a dark, depressing and pessimistic world where the government has full control over the masses in the novel 1984. The protagonist, Winston, is low-level Party member who has grown to resent the society that he lives in. Orwell portrays him as a individual that begins to lose his sanity due to the constrictions of society. There are only two possible outcomes, either he becomes more effectively assimilated or he brings about the change he desires. Winston starts a journey towards his own self-destruction. His first defiant act is the diary where he writes “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER.” But he goes further by having an affair with Julia, another party member, renting a room over Mr. Carrington’s antique shop where Winston conducts this affair with Julia, and by following O’Brien who claims to have connections with the Brotherhood, the anti-Party movement led my Emmanuel Goldstein. Winston and Julia are both eventually arrested by the Thought Police when Mr. Carrington turns out to be a undercover officer. They both eventually betray each other when O’Brien conducts torture upon them at the Ministry of Love. Orwell conveys the limitations of the individual when it comes to doing something monumental like overthrowing the established hierarchy which is seen through the futility of Winston Smith’s actions that end with his failure instead of the end of Big Brother. Winston’s goal of liberating himself turns out to be hopeless when the people he trusted end up betraying him and how he was arbitrarily manipulated. It can be perceived that Winston was in fact concerned more about his own sanity and physical well-being because he gives into Big Brother after he is tortured and becomes content to live in the society he hated so much. Winston witnesses the weakness within the prole community because of their inability to understand the Party’s workings but he himself embodies weakness by sabotaging himself by associating with all the wrong people and by simply falling into the arms of Big Brother. Orwell created a world where there is no use but to assimilate from Winston’s perspective making his struggle utterly hopeless.
Orwell starts the book as Winston is getting home to his apartment. He utilizes strong but vague descriptions of the world around Winston to hint at the state of the world without directly saying it. He describes a bright cold day, which seems to perfectly depict the worlds bleak state in a sort of indirect way (Orwell, 1948). By writing the setting in this way, Orwell causes the reader to subconsciously associate the world of 1984, totalitarianism, The Party, and Big Brother with negativity; they begin to see Winston as a victim of the regime. Another excellent example of this is the way that Orwell describes the standard issue lunch. Orwell writes, “Onto each was swiftly dumped the regulation lunch – metal pannikin of pinkish-gray stew, a hunk of bread, a cube of cheese, a mug of milkless Victory Coffee, and one saccharine tablet.” (1948) The most poignant description is obviously that of the stew, but describing the bread as a hunk and noting the lack of milk in the coffee helps to get his point across further. The
Orwell’s novel begins with a horrid description of the living conditions of his main character, Winston. He explains that the “hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats” (Orwell 19) which immediately strikes the senses and repulses the reader. Upon deeper examination, this portion of the story is intended to generate feelings of distaste in the reader in order to get them pondering why Winston is in this situation rather than improving his conditions. As the reader continues on in the novel, they find that Winston has no option to better the environment he lives in and the strict government he is controlled by is to blame. Winston’s deteriorating home is only one example of the degeneration of his surroundings. His home city of London is decaying with “crazy garden walls sagging in all directions” (Orwell 23) and “rotting nineteenth-century houses” (Orwell 23). An article analyzing 1984 by Sean Lynch better describes Winston’s view of London as “dark and isolating”. This devastated city creates a mind-numbing sensation in its population because there is no one that finds beauty in where they live or even a trace of...
George Orwell’s haunting dystopian novel 1984 delves into the closely monitored lives of the citizens of Oceania as the Party tries to take control of society. In totalitarianism, propaganda and terrorism are ways of subjugation with a main goal: total obedience. He aimed to create a “what if” novel, what would happen if totalitarian regimes, such as the Nazis and Soviets, were to take over the world. If totalitarianism were to happen, the leader would be the brain of the whole system. Orwell emphasizes the theme of individualism versus collective identity through Winston, the protagonist, and his defiance to the Party and Big Brother, with a frightening tone, surreal imagery and a third person limited point of view.
In the novel 1984, Orwell produced a social critique on totalitarianism and a future dystopia that made the world pause and think about our past, present and future. When reading this novel we all must take the time to think of the possibility that Orwell's world could come to pass. Orwell presents the concepts of power, marginalization, and resistance through physical, psychological, sexual and political control of the people of Oceania. The reader experiences the emotional ride through the eyes of Winston Smith, who was born into the oppressive life under the rule of Ingsoc. Readers are encouraged through Winston to adopt a negative opinion on the idea of communist rule and the inherent dangers of totalitarianism. The psychological manipulation and physical control are explored through Winston's journey, and with Winston's resistance and ultimate downfall, the reader is able to fully appreciate O'Briens reasoning, "Power is not a means, it is an end."
The constant theme of betrayal in 1984 is being used by George Orwell to show how hopeless Winston’s struggle against the Totalitarian system is, giving the reader an idea of how bad this type of government is. The reader is introduced to this dark time and given hope in the form of the rebellious protagonist, Winston. However, the reader soon realises how hopelessly alone Winston is in his silent battle when they see that the government is against him, he has no support or allies, and that even his own mind can be turned against him. The message is clear and makes readers who live in a democracy happier with what they have.
Nineteen Eighty-Four, by George Orwell, is a superb novel with outstanding themes. One of the most prominent themes found in this novel is psychological manipulation. Citizens in this society are subject to ever present signs declaring “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” (Orwell 1). Along with psychological manipulation, physical control takes place. The Party not only controls what people in Oceania think, but what they do as well.
Orwell utilizes mood in the text to show how the Party and Big Brother control the society of Oceania, making it dull and lifeless. The author discusses the Thought Police that is implemented to keep surveillance on citizens, stating “You had to live-did live, from habit that became instinct-in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and except in the darkness, every movement scrutinized.” ( Orwell, 3) The description that Orwell provides about the oppressed society of Oceania spreads a feeling of gloominess and distress. Due to the constant vigilance over the citizens
The idea of the future has been explored for as long as writers have been writing. The interesting concept about the future is that it will always remain a mystery. The future is always changing and never ending. In George Orwell’s 1984, Orwell ruminates on his thoughts and ideas of what the future will be like. Orwell wrote the book around 1950 during the writing era of postmodernism. Postmodernist books often expressed thoughts of the future, as well as other themes. 1984 describes the future as a place where the Party has taken over and controls everything and everyone. The residents of Oceania have no control over their bodies, their relationships, or even their thoughts. Oceania is a place of war and control. The protagonist in 1984 is a middle-aged man named Winston. Winston is one of the only living people who realize that the party is changing the facts, and he wants to do something about it (Orwell). Winston deals with the struggles of hiding from the law and who to trust. In 1984, George Orwell uses the themes of physical and mental control, forbidden love, and a “big brother” figure to exhibit characteristics of postmodernism.