1984

Character List Winston Julia O'Brien Big Brother Emmanuel Goldstein Charrington

Plot Summary: Winston Smith is an unhappy citizen in Oceania, a nation that is ruled by a totalitarian government. He faces severe restrictions and is frustrated with the lack of information available about the true past. He eventually meets a girl named Julia and they begin to hair an affair. However, they are soon found out and seperated to be tortured. Although Winston does not lose his feelings for Julia throughout his torture sessions, he finally gives in when he enters Room 101, where he is confronted with his worst fear. In the end, Winston is changed and no longer loves Julia, but love Big Brother instead.

Author: George Orwell, author of Animal Farm, wrote 1984. He has stated that he was a socialist, but also anti-Communist. He fought in the Spanish Civil War, where he personally witnessed the damages of Fascism, and worked as a British Imperial policeman in Burma. The world he created in 1984 has almost become household knowledge, and the verb 'Orwellian' is commonly applied to a government's abuse of power and language.

Style: George Orwell uses direct and straightforward explanations when describing Oceania as well as Winston and how he copes with living in this “negative utopia.” Detailed imagery, symbolism, and juxtaposition are explicitly used, also. Dark humor is added in some areas in the novel to lighten up the serious mood. Orwell writes uniformly, also, in exception Goldstein’s book of how and why the Party emerged.

Tone: __1984 __’s tone is morose, pessimistic, and depressing as Orwell describes what may become of the world if totalitarian government continues to persist throughout the world. The novel is also straightforward and frank to convey the message to the reader quickly and easily.

Purpose: The purpose of this dystopian novel is to warn against the effects of totalitarianism. Orwell's view of the future, which projected only thirty-five years, contains the all-powerful Party, which has reduced the citizens of London to paranoid, suffering, and pitiful people. The presence of telescreens and thought police discourage any crime against the party, no matter how small. The presence of Newspeak, even, restricted the thinking process of citizens. The novel's plot is essentially Winston Smith, the protagonist, and his fight against this totalitarian regime; however, it is a fight that is lost. This novel clearly achieved its purpose- to draw attention to the abusive and manipulative governments reigning during that time.

Historical Context: As Orwell wrote this novel, totalitarianism had been rising through Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin in Germany and the Soviet Union, respectively. Freedom of citizens was being taken away by governments, and the idea of peaceful, democratic societies was slowly diminishing. This fearful point in history prompted Orwell's politically charged novel. 

Points of Discussion: -Sexual Repression children of members of the party are taught, at a very young age, that sex is a means of reproduction early.Even Winston mention that his wife seemed "stiff" and only had sex to fulfill her "duty to the party". This harsh repression is what pushes Julia to involve herself in a variety of sexual activities, because she want to feel that she's fighting against the party. -Alteration of the Past The government keeps tabs on all aspects of the past in order to ensure that they are always correct. If an enemy changes, history is rewritten in an effort to math up the -Totalitarianism The government shown in 1984 strongly follows that of totalitarianism, which is an exercise of total control over its citizens, with one, clearly evident leader in charge. -Control of Information and Censorship Winston Smith works to rewrite articles in accordance with the government right now in order for the government to stay infallible. This censorship also controls the amount of informatino that goes through to the people - although there are many statistics read from the telescreens that plenty of boots had been made, almost half of the population goes barefoot. -Technology and Mental Control Telescreens play a large part in controlling the Party members of Oceania. Telescreens can broadcast information, but they can also serve as videocameras, keeping tabs on the citizens 24/7. Citizens always control their emotions when in front of a telescreen, since even the slightest twitch can be a sign of thoughtcrime.