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Orwells satire of the political system
George Orwell 1984 political satire
George Orwell’s dystopian novel about the dangers of totalitarianism
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Syme is Winston's “friend” who works in the Research Department as a Newspeak specialist. Syme was “venomously orthodox” (pg.49) and didn't seem to have any sense of emotion. He talks about hangings and raids on enemy villages as if he were discussing the weather. Winston seems to think that Syme is always trying to detect unorthodoxy or facecrime in his responses when they talk. He believes that Syme is too intelligent and blunt and that the Party will vaporize him. Syme is different from Winston in that he is wholeheartedly devoted to the party. Syme and Winston are both smart enough to see the corruption in the Party, but Syme swallows it with the help of Doublethink, while Winston does not. Winston sees Parsons, his tenant at victory mansions,
as a tubby man-child who believes the Parties lies easily, “with the stupidity of an animal”. (pg.58) Winston thinks that unlike Syme and O’Brien, Parsons would never be vaporized; His ignorance and loyalty to the party is too strong. But his daughter ends up denouncing him because he chanted “Down With Big Brother” in his sleep. He was proud of his daughter for upholding her duty to the Party. Parsons proclaimed, “I’m glad they got me before it went any further.” Even though he was reported for Thoughtcrime, Parsons is still a devoted follower of Big Brother. O'Brien is a very important and powerful member of the Inner Party. Winston has a feeling that O’Brien is secretly against the party because “something in his face suggested it irresistibly”.(pg.11) O’Brien is really part of the Thought Police and turns Wiston in and eventually tortures him into submission and loyalty to the party. Winston and O’Brien are alike in that Winston’s mind reminds him of himself.
Returning to his diary, Winston then expresses his emotions against the Party, the Thought Police and Big Brother himself; he questions the unnecessary acts by the Party and continuously asserts rebellion. Winston soon realized he had committed the crime of having an individual thought, “thoughtcrime.” The chapter ends with a knock on Winston’s door. Significant Quotes “From where Winston stood it was just possible to read, picked out on its white face in elegant lettering, the three slogans of the Party: WAR IS PEACE FREEDOM IS SLAVERY IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH” (Orwell 7). “But there was a fraction of a second when their eyes met, and for as long as it took to happen Winston knew— yes, he knew!
Throughout the section, the main character, Winston is constantly facing conflicts. Most of these conflicts are internal. In the society Winston lives in, he is being monitored 24/7, which prevents him from doing most things freely. The first sign of conflict is shown when he takes out the diary he bought, and starts writing things he remembers. Of course he is disobeying the law, but he is taking a risk. The “Two-minute hate” is literally a time where everyone hates on the traitors for two minutes. There, Winston faces some internal conflicts; they are internal because the other characters do not know what Winston is thinking. The girl with the dark hair is introduced. She is a bad impression to Winston, and he always feels uncomfortable around her. Later in the book, she intimidates him even more because it feels like she is watching him. Another character that Winston has an internal conflict is O’Brien. It is one of the most interesting encounters because it might have involved O’Brien himself. During the Two-minute Hate, their eyes meet together and Winston suddenly thinks that ...
Winston Smith is a thirty-nine year old man who participates in a group of the “outer-party,” which is the lower part of the two classes. Smith works in one of the four main government buildings. This building is called the Ministry of Truth; his job is to rewrite history books so those that read them will not learn what the past used to be like. The occupation Winston is the major factor that allows him to realize that Big Brother is limiting people’s freedom. He keeps these thoughts to himself as secrets because the totalitarian party will not allow those of rebellious thoughts around. The tensions between the two grow throughout the book because the Big Brother becomes very suspicious of Winston. The Big Brother becomes so suspicious of Winston that he sends a person by the name O’Brien, to watch over him. Mr. O’Brien is a member of the “inner party,” which in this book is the upper-class. Winston doesn't know of the trap that Big Brother had set tells O’Brien of his own idea and plans. He tells Winston of a rebellious leader that has been rounding up those that want to go against the totalitarian government. But like the Big Brother had done, he set a trap and O’Brien betrayed Winston. During the story the conflict between Big Brother and Winston climaxes when Winston is caught. He is taken to some sort of bright underground prison type
Winston works for 1 of the 4 government agency’s, The Ministry of Truth. In his job he re-writes old news articles so they show that The Party has always been and will be in control. By re-writing everything in print, The Party effectively changes history. The only proof of actual history is in the minds of the people who were there. Winston realizes that there is something wrong with this, yet he doesn’t know what. The re-writing of history is all he has ever known. It is most likely Winston’s job that leads him to rebel against The Party.
Throughout the rising action, Winston recalls his memories and fails to remember a period after the revolution when Oceania has not been at war. He relives a season about four years from modern times when Oceania had been at war with Eastasia rather than Eurasia; that has been wiped from the memories of the people due to their current circumstances. Winston deviates with what the government claims has happened in the past, yet “… the Party [can] thrust its hand into the past and say of this or that event, it never happened, that, surely, [is] more terrifying than mere torture and death” (34). In order for the people to believe that the past as they remember it is inaccurate they must have a sense of ignorance about them. The Party favors naive members of society because it makes it much easier to change the past; therefore, increasing their strength. Furthermore, Winston has become accustomed to living in the type of environment where he pretends to trust everything the party expresses. Many characters in the novel are ignorant enough to forever be oblivious to reality; meanwhile, those possessing intelligence will inevitably catch on sooner or later. Winston has lunch with his comrade Syme when he realizes that “…Syme will be vaporized. He is too intelligent. He sees too clearly and speaks too plainly. The Party does not like
Winston Smith is not an admirable character, because he falls under the spell of The Party, and betrays the love of his life, Julia.
Syme can also be marked as a rebel of the party. Although we have very little actual contact with him in the book, Winston thinks that Syme is too smart to have the party favor him for long. This is probably the reason that Syme disappears later on. He was working on a new Newspeak dictionary for the party but may have fell out of favor because of his intelligence. Syme is a rebel because of his brain. He refuses to go along with everyone else and bring himself down to the I.Q. of the masses, so he, in turn, gets himself killed by the party. This is an important note because Syme does not actually hate the party or even dislike the party.
Winston is confronted with struggle throughout the entirety of George Orwell`s dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. Living within a totalitarian regime subsequently causes Winston to seek approaches for dealing with such abundant oppression; he finds liberation through self-awareness, understanding and ultimately rebellion. First, Winston realizes that “if you want to keep a secret you must also hide it from yourself”, alluding to the notion of thoughtcrime (162). This recognition exemplifies the complete cognizance that Winston has regarding the oppressive society displayed throughout the novel. Next, Syme states “It’s a beautiful thing, the destruction of words”, alluding to the idea of Newspeak (28). This statement directly correlates to Winston speaking with other party members to gain knowledge about how others feels about policies deployed by the government. This information-seeking also connects with Winston`s rebellion, as he actively searched for others to join his uprising, which is shown when Winston tells O’Brien “We want to join [The Brotherhood]” (171). Winston’s attempt to join a rebellious organization exhibits his evident desire to release his suppressed emotions. Winston devises a very methodical approach to deal with the problematic society he resides in.
As Winston Smith comes to the last of his punishment he is put into room 101. This is a room of extreme punishment the punishment through your biggest fear. Know as “the worst thing in the world.” Winston gets his worst fear, rats, right in front of him and cracks, he loses the one thing he still loves that now is taken away from him, Julia. This ending is not happy and nothing you would wish on the life of Winston. Yet is there optimism? To some extent there is.
Just as Winston constantly judges his society - readers guess at the reality of the situation where he is placed in. This includes larger facts of the Party and who exactly controls everything and
Winston is taken to Room 101, a room where anyone who goes against the Party is taken to face their biggest fear. Winston’s just so happens to be rats. After O’Brien places a cage full of rats on Winston’s head, he pleads for O’Brien to do this to Julia instead. This is what O’Brien wanted, Winston to give up Julia. It shows that Winston’s spirit is broken. At the end of this story, Winston is released into the outside world and meets Julia again, but feels nothing for her. He has learned to love Big Brother and accept the Party completely.
Additionally, Winston’s primal feelings of lust and compassion are completely abolished, evidenced by his final encounter with Julia. Clearly, Winston no longer feels any love towards Julia, for when they meet again “He did not attempt to kiss her, nor did they speak.” (305) Furthermore, any thought of sex causes Winston’s “flesh [to freeze] with horror” (304). His inability to love or feel sexual desire renders him less likely to revolt against the Party, which makes him an ideal Party member. Finally, his unquestionable love for Big Brother is ultimately what makes him “perfect” from the party’s perspective.
He starts off his days by bullying his wife Delia when she tries to work for the white-folks. Syke proceeds to threaten her with a whip because he doesn’t like how she washes the white-folks clothes for money. Their relationship has always been rough because two months after their marriage, Syke beats her for the first time and that’s when everything went downhill. He does not appreciate about the life he has and how lucky he is to have a wife that is a hard worker. Syke is disrespectful and no one in the village likes him because of they way he treats Delia. He cheats on her, wastes her hard-earning money, and worst of all, beating the woman that he is married to. The way that Syke has been functioning seems to be abusing his powers because he’s a man.
Winston's memory of his mother and his sister serves to give the reader more insight into Winston's past and thus more insight into his character as an adult, into his motivations and why he does the things he does. He remembers a time when a gesture, such as embracing a child, could be done merely for the sake of itself, without catering to a political purpose. This memory reminds him of the proles, who do things just to do them, unlike Party members, who do things only because of their duty to Big Brother. Winston feels that the proles are the only hope for society to regain its humanity.
They additionally exist inside the novel keeping in mind the end goal to give a differentiating foundation to Winston's life. Their lives are clear and normal, yet they have something Winston does not have. They are exemplified by the lady who sings a nostalgic tune as she distributes the washing—whom Winston in the long run perceives as excellent. She lacks much, however she can be upbeat, and to sing. Winston's life is so controlled, so kept an eye on, so contracted that he lives in consistent and legitimized distrustfulness. He can't sing, on the grounds that such conduct would be outside the required parameters, what's more, he doesn't feel any desire to do as