In 1984, Orwell makes excellent use of symbolism to further enhance the novel's theme and to reveal character. He wrote 1984 as a political message to warn future generations about the dangers of totalitarian societies. He relays this message through various themes and characters, in turn utilizes powerful symbols to give them further significance. His symbolism is very vast but it can be classified into three categories: characters, places and objects. Orwell uses different historic figures to reveal characters in 1984. First, Orwell's character Winston Smith a hero, symbolizing the British statesman, Winston Churchill. Smith was name of common man in England. Presenting him as a commoner portrays this character both as common soul, and yet uncommon in many ways. Through Winston, Orwell highlights the controls imposed on individual freedom in totalitarian society. Second, Emmanuel Goldstein, the main enemy of Oceania, is a portrayed as a Jew: "It was a lean Jewish face..."(p. 14) Using Goldstein - a Jew - Orwell connects to other totalitarians, like Hitler, who had anti-Semitic ideas. They used Jews as scapegoat, i.e. according to them Jews were responsible for all evil. Similarly, in the novel, Goldstein is made a scapegoat, when a bomb goes off; the blame was on Goldstein's party. Third, Orwell's Big Brother symbolizes Joseph Stalin: ."..with heavy black moustache..."(p. 3). Big Brother's party is symbolized as communist. The author warns about the dangers of totalitarian havocs and reminds the reader of the dark side of history. Interestingly, Orwell's character not only develops the theme, but also symbolizes places. First, Orwell divides the imaginary superpowers that existed during the cold war, i.e.... ... middle of paper ... ... Winston and Julia were searching for this freedom. Orwell wants the reader to see the disadvantages and the lack of liberty given to the people in the totalitarian society. He wants the reader to see what's going to happen to the freedom of a common man. In conclusion, these symbols intensify deep insight into the theme and the characters of the novel. Orwell uses Winston to create a hatred for the society. In fact he has so well used the symbolism that the reader is compelled to empathize with all of his thoughts and feelings about the party. Orwell warns about the dangers of totalitarianism through objects, places and characters to prove his point. He through Winston's eyes and thoughts gives the reader an idea of the new society, which has no place for freedom, truth or human emotions. Bibliography: George Orwell: 1984. New York, Penguin Books, 1949.
Big Brother - Big Brother is the enigmatic dictator of Oceania. In the society that Orwell describes, everyone is under complete surveillance by the authorities. The people are constantly reminded of this by the phrase "Big Brother is watching you", which is the core "truth" of the propaganda system in this state. In the novel, it is unclear if Big Brother is a man or an image crafted by the Party. In a book supposedly written by the rebel Emmanuel Goldstein, it is stated that nobody has ever seen Big Brother. His function is to act as a focusing point for love, fear, and reverence.
It is said that 1984 is one of the greatest books ever written, a literary work that remains as transcendent as ever since its publishing date sixty-four years ago. It is a grimly realistic story crafted together by George Orwell, who takes upon particularly effective literary elements, such as the limited third-person point of view, to follow the life of Winston Smith, the average everyday, resentful civilian who attempts to fight against the seemingly omnipotent and ubiquitous powers of the Ingsoc Party. The Ingsoc Party, a totalitarian government that governs the fictional country of Oceania, holds a casket of brilliantly intelligent individuals, some of who are members of the terrifying Thought Police and the notorious Inner Party, who employ informal language against the uneducated masses of Oceania civilians. Symbolism is also a key literary element in the novel, for anything ranging from ubiquitous telescreens to the infamous Big Brother ultimately contribute to Winston’s realization of how unbreakable the power of the Ingsoc Party truly is. All throughout 1984, George Orwell exercises the elements of diction, point of view, and symbolism to bring out the novel’s theme of how futile resistance is against established totalitarian governments.
I think that Orwell’s use of strong but subtle ethos and pathos arguments in his depictions of the world that Winston lives in is effective in convincing the reader against totalitarian governmental structures.
The novel 1984 by George Orwell is a fictional future where The Party controls everything. The Party is lead by a larger than life figurehead named Big Brother. The main character is Winston Smith. The story is divided into 3 parts and chronicles Winston’s rebellion against and then re-entering of The Party.
Through out the course of history there have been several events that have been a pivotal point which has molded the behaviors and thoughts of this century. A lot of notable activist and authors wrote stories and speeches about how they believed that this day and time would be like. A lot of these views were very accurate surprisingly. In the novel 1984 author George Orwell gives his vision on how he believed that the countries would be like if they kept going the way they were.This report will give you a brief rundown of the characters, theories and principles of this novel along with some of my personal insight of the novel.
The book, 1984 by George Orwell, is about the external conflict between Winston Smith and Big Brother; and the internal conflict between the two ideas, democracy and totalitarianism. Orwell wrote the novel to show society what it could become if things kept getting worse: he sensed of the expansion of communism when he wrote the novel. The conflict between democracy and totalitarianism at the year of 1945 created two characters, Winston Smith and Big Brother, in orwell's mind. Big Brother is the embodiment of all the ideals of the totalitarian party. In contrast to Big Brother, Winston Smith keeps the idea of democracy emphasizes freedom, he has to hide his own thought because the Big Brother's party will punish him by death if the party finds it out. George orwell criticizes of Big Brother's society by describing it as a dark and a gloomy place. It warns that people might believe that everyone must become slaves to the government in order to have an orderly society, but at the expense of the freedom of the people.
Winston’s change and expressions were miniscule resistance towards the whole society, but it still provides an example of an individual who chooses not to conform to society standards. Orwell expresses how even with a miniscule resistance towards conformity, we cannot get rid of it without the help of an entire society.
The constant theme of betrayal in 1984 is being used by George Orwell to show how hopeless Winston’s struggle against the Totalitarian system is, giving the reader an idea of how bad this type of government is. The reader is introduced to this dark time and given hope in the form of the rebellious protagonist, Winston. However, the reader soon realises how hopelessly alone Winston is in his silent battle when they see that the government is against him, he has no support or allies, and that even his own mind can be turned against him. The message is clear and makes readers who live in a democracy happier with what they have.
In the novel 1984, Orwell produced a social critique on totalitarianism and a future dystopia that made the world pause and think about our past, present and future. When reading this novel we all must take the time to think of the possibility that Orwell's world could come to pass. Orwell presents the concepts of power, marginalization, and resistance through physical, psychological, sexual and political control of the people of Oceania. The reader experiences the emotional ride through the eyes of Winston Smith, who was born into the oppressive life under the rule of Ingsoc. Readers are encouraged through Winston to adopt a negative opinion on the idea of communist rule and the inherent dangers of totalitarianism. The psychological manipulation and physical control are explored through Winston's journey, and with Winston's resistance and ultimate downfall, the reader is able to fully appreciate O'Briens reasoning, "Power is not a means, it is an end."
Symbols that Orwell uses pose as natural occurrences, but these symbols are those that would be considered aspects of a “normal world.” They are normal but in 1984 the symbols serve as symbolism that serves a justly purpose. These symbols are important to the theme of a dystopian society. The language is a symbol of the manipulation of the lower parties in 1984. The development of Newspeak completely rule...
In conclusion, both symbols and the three major themes played a major role on George Orwell’s novel 1984. It was through the use of the above mentioned symbols, as well as others, that Orwell managed to make his message clear to all his readers, and to create such a intense and haunting novel.
To begin, one object that has symbolic representation throughout the novel is the telescreens Oceania uses to monitor their citizens. These telescreens symbolize how totalitarian governments abuse technology in order to assure people are conforming to their standards. Orwell thoughtfully created this symbol in order to prove that totalitarian societies can control the actions of their subjects. The telescreens have absolute power of seeing and hearing what anyone does or says at any given time. It takes away the citizen’s privacy and keeps them in fear of doing something they are not supposed to. Rather than giving trust to their citizens, the Party has to watch every action they make.
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. Orwell’s novel begins with a horrid description of the living conditions of his main character, Winston.
As a writer, Orwell completely masters his characters so that they are the most outstanding and powerful symbols of totalitarianism, communism, and socialism in a fairy tale setting. With his characters brought to life as one unto themselves to individually portray a particular political stance. If nothing else, this book is a incredible example of the power of allegorical and fairy tale writing and is highly recommended for readers of all ages.
The social structure of George Orwell’s 1984 is based on Freud’s map of the mind and the struggles between the id, the ego and the super ego. The minds of these individuals living in this society are trained to think a certain way. Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis can be applied to Orwell’s 1984. Using Freud’s psychoanalytic approach, 1984’s main character Winston Smith is portrayed as the one who goes against the ideas of the Party. In a Freudian point of view, Winston’s character represents a mind where the id is the driving force and where the ego and superego are ill developed in the views of the Party. Freud describes the psychoanalytic process as something that is normally used to treat patients with metal disorders, and in the eyes of the party, Winston is seen as one that has a mental disorder. The procedure that Winston undergoes directly parallels Freud’s psychoanalytic process.