Title: 1984
Author: George Orwell
Date of Publication: 1949
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George Orwell was a British journalist and author He also wrote the famous novel nove l Animal Farm He was born in Eastern India and educated in England. He has also lived in Paris where he lived by working menial jobs. In the 1930s he became beca me an anarchist and later a socialist During the 1940s he wrote propaganda for BBC.
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Winston
Smith is a worker of the Big Brot her ouer party, in the Ministry of Truth. He begins to write his rebellious thoughts aga inst the party in a diary during his lunch break from work. Thus, Winstoncommits a thoughtcrime and anticipates the da ythat he will be discovered by the Thought Police and probably killed. Winston goes back to work, work , participates in the 2 minutes hate and pro ceeds his dialy routine (altering documents) as usual. Winston becomes interested in several people peop le within his office building: O¶Brien and a strange dark haired girl. He befriends Mr. Charrington, the prole owner o f a junk-shop, whoshares his interest in the past and life before the rule of Big Brother. During work, the dark-haired girl who wo rks in another department approaches Winston in the corridor. She pretends to fall and hurt herself andthen slips a piece of paper into his hand when he tries to help her get up. The paper says "I love you." ALthough he is flabbergasted at first, first, Winston and the dark haired girl who later introduces herself as Julia engage in an affair regardless of the fact that any sexual sexua l relationship between Party members is strictly forbidden. They secretly arrange to meet in the country. Afterwards, they try to meet in places that t hat aren't watched: a clearing in the woo ds, an old church. They eventually eventua lly rent the room above Mr. Charrington's junk-shop as a long-term meet-up spot.
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O'Brien invites, Winston and Julia to his apartment. This meeting is a trap and O¶Brien poses as a member of the Brot herhood to trick Winston and Julia into committing an open crime against Big Brother: enlisting in the Bortherhood and reading Goldenstein¶s book. It turns out that O¶Brien and Mr. Charrington are both Thought Police agents. When taken into the Ministry of Love, O'Brien "re-integrates" Winston, torturing and brainwashing betrays his love for Julia, and fully b elieves in the Party and its doctrines. Winston is released to live out his final days as a broken man although t he Thought Police will soon execute him. Winston has submitted completely and loves Big Brother. Identify the 1984 is a piece of dystopian literature with additional elements of drama and romanticism, satire, and the prevelant nature of science fiction. Heavy conflict and emotional weight is generated by Winston¶s thoughtcrimes including his written hate for the part, mysterious psychological mishaps due to a dysfunctional childhood, and his affair with a fellow party member. The novel is clearly dystopian, according to the overall set-up of the totalitarian society within. Various technological aspects of Oceania: the telescreens, the Thought Police, Big Brother, and Newspeak make this a whole work of science fiction. an image or write your impressions
Identify and explain the use and effect of three literary techniques Cite and quote one example of each 1. Stairical irony: Exaggerates the aggressiveness of the dysto pian society and characterizes Big Brother¶s ideology. Example: WAR IS PEACE ± FREEDOM IS SLAVERY ± IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH - Pg. 16
2. Technological Symbolism: Portrayed through the multiple t elescreeansthat appear throughout the novel. They represent the ever-present and always watching nature of totalitarian governments similar to the one featured in 1984. Example: Various occasions throughout the novel ± Winston¶s house, workplace , and public areas like the canteen. 3. Pyro Metaphors: Anguish, pain and destruction are compared to the fiery burnng of oneself or the fiery burning of documents. Example: He felt as though a fire were burning in his belly ± pg. 108 Cite and quote three significant passages (use ellipses to abbreviate) Explain the significance of each passage o r explain how it relates to the work as a whole 1. Pg. 3 ³He tried to squeeze out some childhood memory that shou ld tell him whether London had always been quite like this«..nothing remained of his childhood except a series of bright-lit tableaux occurring against no background and mostly unintelligible.´ This initial demonstration of Winston¶s inability to remember his childhood emphasizes the Party¶s ability to repress political thought and memory. He only has a vague recognition of violence and war, which is one of the things that the Party places total focus on. This foreshadow¶s how Winston¶s memory will later serve as his emotional demise as he endures his own psychological warfare, while being tortured by O¶Brien later on in the novel. 2. Pg. 108 ³For several seconds he was too stunned to throw the incriminating thing into the memory hole«.she appeared not to have seen him, and he did not look in that direction again.´ This passage illustrates how Winston can not even begin to fathom emotions as strong as love. Such instances are condemned by the Party, moreover, personal relationships between Party members is already forbidden. Bewildered and confused, Winston is unable to think straight or complete his work. Although he did not realize it at that time, he had fallen in love after reading the note. 3. Pg. 221 ³We were dead, ³ He said. ³We are dead,´ echoed Julia dutifully. ³You are dead repeated an iron voice behind them.´««´You may as well say goodbye,´ said the voice. This passage highlights the shocking ever present nature of the Party. While assuming that they were safe all along, Winston and Julia were being watched all this time. Their so called friends were Thought Police agents and everything they thought they knew was a lie or a part of O¶Brien¶s conspiracy to admit their crimes against the party. This passage exemplifies the ambush actions of Nazis d uring the holocaust, this encounter was both violent and authoritative, just like all totalitarian actions.
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the setting(s) and explain its significance.
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and explain the theme(s) of the work.
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at least five vocabulary words from the text and define them.
Cite the page and passage in which you found them.
Identify and explain key metaphors (M), symbols (S) or motifs (F) in the work.
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at least three questions or topics for discussion.
