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Essay - portrayal of women in literature
Intor to 1984 and how there is no freedom
Treatment of women in literature
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A Man’s Portrayal of Women Throughout the novel 1984 by George Orwell, misogynistic thoughts and actions are a recurring motif.Whether it be due to time period or thoughtfully written as a part of the character, misogyny is prevalent in Winston's mind. Orwell makes Winston selfish and arrogant. He turns sex into a symbol and Julia into a toy. She is not given any sort of respect or a brain. Orwell does not let Julia’s character develop, into her own person. Through Winston’s thoughts and actions, it is shown that there is an underlying feeling of hatred that stems from misogyny. Considering 1984 was published in 1949 it is expected that sexism and misogyny would play a role throughout the book. Yet it is unclear if Orwell believed in the …show more content…
Names are not used to identify a woman as an individual, “Julia has only a first name; she is an insignificant female, and Orwell in this respect follows his society's convention of considering a woman's last name a disposable, because changeable, element in an uncertain social identity. O'Brien, at the opposite pole, has only a last name, in typical masculine style. And Winston Smith, halfway between the powerless personal feminine and the powerful impersonal masculine, has a complete name, albeit an ironic one in that it combines the legendary with the commonplace”(Patai 12). Julia’s last name was not given because she was not the property of someone. Just as Mrs.Parsons was not given a first name because she was identifiable as Tom Parsons’ wife. It is abusive and controlling for someone to believe that because they slept with someone before, they now could do whatever with their bodies. “She had become a physical necessity, something that he not only wanted but felt that he had a right to. When she said that she could not come, he had the feeling that she was cheating him”(Orwell 139), Winston was angry because she had a life to live and was not there to have sex with him whenever he wanted. He thought of Julia as a toy that he could play with whenever he wanted. Orwell wrote with the idea that women were only meant for a man’s pleasure. The only use for a woman is to be there for a
I strongly agree with Fromm’s viewpoints and interpretations of Orwell’s 1984 text. He warns that the future federal powers will dehumanize society and leave everyone alienated. Thus, I agree with Fromm to the extent that he acknowledges the fact that humanity can indeed cease to exist as a result of our own self-destruction as well as the effect of our actions. Many of his opinions and warnings expressed by Orwell to an extent appear in contemporary society.
How do you think society would function without gender roles? The novel 1984 by George Orwell depicts a dark dystopian society in which a manipulative, totalitarian government creates the nation of ‘Oceania’ where gender is irrelevant to the government; citizens solely needed to support “Big Brother.” The story follows Winston Smith, a 39-year-old man, through a series of events that showcase just how twisted the beliefs and morals of the dystopia are. Regardless of both sexes’ shared goal, the gender roles are still clearly defined. In the book 1984, gender roles are defined through the government, sex, and family.
Thinking back into history, many important events have occurred in history since the publication of 1984 by George Orwell in 1949. In no specific order there would be the Holocaust, The creation of the United Nations, NATO (North Atlantic treaty Organization), and even The Iron Curtain being established. After 1984 was published huge events also occurred in history. There was the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Korean war, the Vietnam War, the creation of the Berlin Wall, and the destruction of the Berlin wall, Joseph Stalin dies, and Khrushchev gains power....etc, etc. No matter when a book is published the events in history will always surround it, such as this book.
In the novel 1984, written by George Orwell, there is a place called Oceania where the government is Big Brother. The government, the Party, and the Thought Police are constantly oppressing the citizens of Oceania. Most of the people don't know that they are being oppressed, but the two main characters, Julia and Winston, realize the oppression and don't stand for it. Winston and Julia absolutely hate the Party, and are constant breaking its “rules”. Julia is self-centered and resists the Party by doing rebellious acts that only affect her in a positive way. Similarly, Winston also does small acts of rebellion in the beginning of the book in ways that only relate to him. Later, Winston rebels for a greater cause, joining the Brotherhood to
Orwell utilizes Julia’s character in order to capture the attitude of the oppressed as well. Winston wonders, “Any kind of organized revolt against the Party, which was bound to be a failure, struck her as stupid. The clever thing was to break the rules and stay alive all the same” (Orwell 131). Julia has no interest in overtly fighting the Party because she believes that the rebellion would never work out in her favor. Winston goes on to think:
Throughout history, it is obvious that our actions will affect the future, however in this horrible society that Winston lives in, his job is to erase the past. People argue that high school students should not read a book if it contains any sexual themes. Orwell mentions a lot of things that are related to sex, along with describing very explicit detail on how Winston feels about Julia sexually, “Her body was white and smooth, but it aroused no desire in him, indeed he barely looked at it. “ (Orwell pg.
In the 1930s and 40s, Adolf Hitler used the Jewish people as a scapegoat on which to blame Germany’s problems. This fear of what the Jewish people had apparently created granted the German people free reign to discriminate and detest. This hatred allowed the Nazi Regime to subsist and thrive. The same is true for The Party in 1984. The Party takes away the opportunity to expand one’s mind and freely use one’s body to one’s own pleasure, essentially taking away the humanity from human beings. In George Orwell’s 1984, The Party uses racism, sexism, and anti-semitism as a way to control the masses and quell rebellion.
War Is Peace. Freedom Is Slavery. Ignorance Is Strength. The party slogan of Ingsoc illustrates the sense of contradiction which characterizes the novel 1984. That the book was taken by many as a condemnation of socialism would have troubled Orwell greatly, had he lived to see the aftermath of his work. 1984 was a warning against totalitarianism and state sponsored brutality driven by excess technology. Socialist idealism in 1984 had turned to a total loss of individual freedom in exchange for false security and obedience to a totalitarian government, a dysutopia. 1984 was more than a simple warning to the socialists of Orwell's time. There are many complex philosophical issues buried deep within Orwell's satire and fiction. It was an essay on personal freedom, identity, language and thought, technology, religion, and the social class system. 1984 is more than a work of fiction. It is a prediction and a warning, clothed in the guise of science fiction, not so much about what could happen as it is about the implications of what has already happened. Rather than simply discoursing his views on the social and political issues of his day, Orwell chose to narrate them into a work of fiction which is timeless in interpretation. This is the reason that 1984 remains a relevant work of social and philosophical commentary more than fifty years after its completion.
From the beginning of this story, it is shown how important Julia, or the girl with dark hair, is going to be in the life of Winston Smith. Although his feelings towards her are less than friendly, he explains only one reason for really disliking her. It is stated, “He hated her because she was young and pretty and sexless, because he wanted to go to bed with her and
George Orwell displays a tendency to disregard women in his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, showing none of his female characters to ever be equal to a male character, whether physically or intellectually. Orwell's portrayal of women shows them in a very unflattering light. Firstly, the female characters base the relationships they form solely on sex and are unwilling to form any other type of relationship. Furthermore, the women are all two dimensional characters, lacking the brains and personalities the male characters all posses. Finally, women are presented as having no interest in world issues and no differences of opinion with the Party on anything that truly matters. These presentation of women as inferior to men is obvious at all times; accordingly, the female characters in Nineteen Eighty-Four reveal an anti feminist bias on the part of the author.
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.
In the 2nd part of 1984 Winston is meets a girl named Julia. At first Winston believes Julia will turn him in for committing Thought Crime. Then Julia passes Winston a note and they meet each other. The Party also does not allow association that is not goverernd. This is the start of an affair between the two, because they are not married and free love is not allowed. Winston is rebelling fully by his association with Julia. The 2nd section Winston fully rebels, he joins an underground resistance, and he believes that his life is better because The Party is no longer controlling him. At the end of this section Winston learns that he has been set-up and followed by the Thought Police the whole time. He and Julia believed that they were resisting and rebelling but had actually been entrapped by the Thought Police.
Given that George Orwell’s occupation was a English novelist, journalist, and critic his opinion that totalitarianism is wrong is not surprising because as a kid growing up in India and England he was brought up as a socialist. In 1984, Winston starts to look at his own life and the job that he has to help realize that what he is doing is wrong. He also tries to remember what is was like before Big Brother and he remembers his parents and he doesn’t know how they disappeared. Winston also starts a journal to keep track of all the dreams and thoughts he has. Furthermore in 1984, Julia knows that Big Brother is controlling the public so in her way of rebelling she has sex. One of the rules by Big Brother is that people are not allowed to have kids or any type of relationship unless permitted by the government. Julia knows that there is not much she can do to change the future but as she examines her own life she comes closer and closer to the truth. Winston and Julia looked at their own lives to help figure out that Big Brother was controlling the public. They did this by looking at their everyday lives, like the constant playing propaganda for Big Brother, the forced hate meetings, morning exercises by the telescreen. These all contributed to them checking their chains and finding
Dystopian novels are written to reflect the fears a population has about its government and they are successful because they capture that fright and display what can happen if it is ignored. George Orwell wrote 1984 with this fear of government in mind and used it to portray his opinion of the current government discretely. Along with fear, dystopian novels have many other elements that make them characteristic of their genre. The dystopian society in Orwell’s novel became an achievement because he utilized a large devastated city, a shattered family system, life in fear, a theme of oppression, and a lone hero.
The novel 1984 is a futuristic portrayal of the world in the year 1984. The main characters Winston and Julia fall in love with each other but are caught and purified of all their wrong doings. In the end they betray each other because of the pressure of the party. The party is a group that controls society in these ways: Manipulation of Reality, Invasion of Privacy, and Desensitization.