Examples Of Imagery In 1984 By George Orwell

Orwell’s Use of Imagery in 1984
In Orwell’s novel 1984, Orwell masterfully uses imagery in order to leave a major impact on the reader right from the get go about how the world the protagonist lives within. Within the novel, 1984, Orwell describes a poster he passes by with a man’s face on it, he describes it as “The face of a man with a heavy black mustache and ruggedly handsome features.” (Orwell 1). The reason this example is important enough to add to the paragraph is just the fact that Orwell did not even skip a beat and went right into describing every potentially major items within the story, he went so far as to develope the figurehead of the party which are likely to become the main antagonist within the story within the first couple sentences of the novel. The way he uses imagery here is to show the reader the true nature of the man in the poster, what he describes is that of a middle aged man who would be in theory

the epitome of what the party is.

Another keen example of Orwell using imagery would be when Orwell describes the taste of the pills in which the protagonist uses within the first chapter, saying that it instantly turned “...his face turned scarlet and the water ran out his eyes. The stuff was like nitric acid, and moreover, in swallowing it one had the sensation of being hit on the back of the head with a rubber club.” (Orwell 5). This entire passage describes the disgusting flavor of a pill in which the human body’s natural reaction to it is that of rejection, however it clearly is some sort of drug as later within the passage it talks about how the protagonist goes into a state of bliss and peacefulness. With the imagery the author puts into place about the pill it also hints at the possibility that the pills themselves might not be too good for the protagonist as the initial effects of it leaves his body in a state of disgust as described in the quote. During the first chapter Orwell describes “The hallways of boiled

cabbage and old rag mats.” (Orwell 1). This is a very basic example of Orwell’s use of imagery within the the novel. What is very important to note is that throughout the entire first chapter Orwell makes sure that every line is layered with key information in which is used to create the eerie tone that the novel is so famous for. So essentially, in Orwell’s novel 1984, Orwell uses imagery in order to lead the reader into understanding both the mood and the tone and how the life goes by for the protagonist.