Lit Analysis #1-"1984" George Orwell

Literature Analysis#1

"1984" George Orwell

 

Book Edition: Signet Classics Mass Market Paperback

 

"Who controls the past", ran the Party slogan, "controls the future: who controls the present controls the past."

-1984 (Part  1, Chapter 3, Pg 34)

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read according to the elements of plot you've learned in past courses (exposition, inciting incident, etc.).  Explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same).

Overall the purpose of George Orwell's 1949 politically fueled and negative utopian novel "1984" is to renounce the idea of totalitarian governments (primarily Soviet Russia, whose citizens under Stalin  faced terrible oppression and a powerful totalitarian styled government) who strip their subjects of all individuality and free will and strive to control every aspect of their being.

The novel itself is divided into three parts each consisting of several smaller chapters which provide the bulk of the novel. Part One primarily concerns itself with the exposition and rising action of the novel and introduces the reader to the basic ideas behind the government of Oceania, Newspeak, the Ministries, the Thought Police and most importantly the mysterious, omnipresent and omniscient BIG BROTHER. In Part One we are introduced to the novel's protagonist Winston Smith, a 39-year-old lower party member who works with the Ministry of Truth altering newspaper articles to alter the past and control the present. We also learn that Winston, unlike many of his peers feels a lot of hatred for the Party and BIG BROTHER in particular and commits thought crime by writing in a journal of his dissent and his hopes of revolutionary change.

In Part Two of the novel we get deeper into Winston's past and personality, but the major part of part two consists with Winston's love affair with fellow ministry of truth worker Julia. Their love affair is incredibly dangerous for both of them as they are committing Thought Crime and at any moment may be found by the Thought Police.
 

By Part Three  Winston has found himself in a cell in the Ministry of Love after being discovered in his love affair with Julia by the Thought Police. It becomes known that O'Brian is actually a member of the Thought Police and not a member of the Brotherhood as Winston had hoped. Under O'Brian Winston is tortured in an attempt to correct and reeducate Winston's false beliefs. It soon becomes clear that the party has more control over its citizens than the reader previously thought. Through the Thought Police, BIG BROTHER, Newspeak, Two Minutes Hate, and the Brotherhood it becomes clear that the party actually seems to take over the conscience thought of the people and in and all powerful sense it becomes clear that nothing can be done to over throw the Party. "There is no way in which the party can be overthrown...But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother." (pg 262, 298)

 

2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid clichés.

Like practically every other novel written there are several themes within "1984" by George Orwell, but the theme that stood out the most to me was the power of free will and thought and the dangers which occur when that free will and thought are taken away. This whole novel wrestles with that idea of free will and thought. And the fact that that does not exist in the fictional Government of Oceania makes sets the premise and brings home the dangers of a totalitarian government where all aspects of your daily life are controlled and set out for you.

 

3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).

 Despair. From the novel's first lines describing the platform of the party, "War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength." (pg 4) and the phrase "Big Brother is Watching You!" (pg 2) really drive home the idea of the hopelessness and despair that Orwell feels toward totalitarian governments and the people trapped in them.

 

 4. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each, please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your readers. (Please include edition and page numbers for easy reference.) 

 

Allusion: What I consider to be one of the biggest allusions and also a huge motif within the novel itself is the existence of the Thought Police. Like many totalitarian governments the Thought Police (first mentioned in detail on pg 3) functioned as a form of secret police used to monitor public activities for dissenters and weed out those the government would consider a threat. In the novel the Thought Police are a direct allusion to the Nazi Germany Gespato  and to the Soviet Russian MGB secret police force. "There was a sound of trampling boots below, inside the house and outside. The yard seemed to be full of men...It occurred to Winston that for the first time in his life he was looking,with knowledge, at a member of the Thought Police." (pg 222, 224) Like their historical counter parts, the Thought Police pull off raids instilling both fear and hatred within their society. Orwell's opinion of the thought police is easily seen through the eyes of the protagonist Winston Smith who like many of his peers is both terribly afraid of the Thought Police and in secret hates them and all that they stand for. "They'll shoot me I don't care down with big brother they always shoot you in the back of the neck I don't care down with big brother-" (pg 22) Further more the Thought Police aren't just an allusion for the secret police of totalitarian governments, they are a tool in which Orwell utilizes to describe his hatred  for governments which completely control their citizens through fear which is a driving force and theme within the novel.

Antagonist: Probably the most obvious answer within the novel itself, the Antagonist is BIG BROTHER. He is practically the head of a cult of personality and controls every aspect of the lives of the citizens of Oceania, even though he may or may not exist. "“Does Big Brother exist?"
"Of course he exists. The Party exists. Big Brother is the embodiment of the Party."
"Does he exist in the same way as I exist?"
"You do not exist.”...
"Will Big Brother ever die"
"Of course not. How could he die?"

Connotation and Jargon: Newspeak, is actually a great example of connotation in Orwell's "1984". Newspeak is another attempt by the Party to control its citizens, this time by the way they speak. "You don't grasp the beauty of the destruction of words. Do you know that Newspeak is the only language whose vocabulary gets smaller every year?" (pg 52)

Indirect Characterization and Dramatic Monologue and Ad Hominem: Although the following quote I used to describe the allusion behind the Thought Police, it also works well in describing and showing the use of Indirect Characterization, Dramatic Monologue and Ad Hominem. "They'll shoot me I don't care down with big brother they always shoot you in the back of the neck I don't care down with big brother-" (pg 22) Winston's diary contains the most indirect characterization of the entire novel. Without specifically saying what Winston looks like and who he is (which Orwell does in the first few pages of Part One) really brings home several aspects of his character. His writing is very rugged and helps capture the personal turmoil and inner struggle he has with Big Brother (Ad Hominem) and at the same time is also a great example of Dramatic Monologue as it is supposed to be for Winston's eyes only as it is his private and illegal diary.

Foreshadow: "The thing he was a bout to do was open a diary. This was not illegal (nothing was illegal, since there were no longer any laws), but if detected it was reasonably determined that it would be punishable by death, or at least by twenty-five years in a forced labor camp" (pg 3). Ironically one of the first act we see Winston commits isn't actually illegal since laws are abolished, but it is "illegal" in the sense that he is committing thought crime, and it is his act of rebellion against the party through his affair with Julia and his purchasing of the diary itself from who he originally suspects is a poor prole shopkeeper. I think that Orwell's sole purpose in adding little foreshadows in "1984" aren't just for hinting at what comes next, but are also tools for showing how backwards and twisted totalitarianism really is through the idea of breaking a law, even though nothing is truly illegal.

Anaphora: In terms of most types literature, anaphora plays an interesting role. Perhaps in most novels it doesn't have a significant role, which is why we primarily see it in poems and although I can only remember anaphora being used once  in "1984" by George Orwell it actually plays an important role. "At this moment the entire group of people broke into a deep, slow, rhythmical chant, 'B-B!...B-B...B-B...' (pg16) The quote here shows how strong the Party's grip on its people was at the beginning of the novel with its subjects practically worshiping Big Brother during the daily Two Minutes Hate. It is an incredibly and scary scene within the early part of the novel as readers still only have a small grip on what is going on, but is also scarily familiar with examples of this showing up in everyday life. And when I first read this I instantly thought of North Korea and their reverence for their leaders, especially Kim Il-Song. It is very scary and I think it was a point that Orwell is trying to drive home early on in the novel.

Extended Metaphor: "Who controls the past", ran the Party slogan, "controls the future: who controls the present controls the past." (pg 34) Another huge metaphor in "1984" is the idea of truth. In the totalitarian government controlled by the Party, truth outside what the party says is considered not truth. For us living in the modern world this idea seems strange and alien, but for Winston this idea is the norm. His whole job is to recreate the truth and make everything that the Party says the truth even though it is all one big lie.