Each human is born with a set of characteristics that distinguishes that person from every other organism on Earth, including other humans. These special traits, such as personality, beliefs, and desires, make each person on Earth unique in his or her own way. This individuality has a huge impact on exactly what allows humans to advance so much more than animals. George Orwell, author of 1984, uses his protagonist, Winston, along with diction and simile, to demonstrate how this individuality can be taken away from a person. On the other hand, Walt Whitman uses characterization and diction in “Song of Myself” to demonstrate the benefits of living life while embracing individuality. The works of Orwell and Whitman reveal that individuality is …show more content…
essential to preserving humanity because it provides a reason and will to live. Winston’s final moments in the Chestnut Tree Cafe reveal, through diction and simile, that individuality is the key to preserving humanity because without a personality, life is meaningless.
After his time of torture in the Ministry of Truth, Winston has been permanently changed to reflect what the Party wants out of its followers. His now bland lifestyle solely consists of playing chess, mindlessly watching the news pour from the telescreen, and guzzling down obscene amounts of Victory gin. He is even described as “convulsive”(Orwell 297), a clear use of diction to describe Winston’s lack of control of his actions now that the Party has taken him over. Most of Winston’s uniqueness is gone. The horrifying torture techniques used on him have stripped Winston of that which made him Winston. He is now simply a pawn of the Party. This is specifically demonstrated in the passage where Winston is described to be in a “blissful dream”(297) in which he is back in the Ministry of Love, but is now “forgiven, his soul white as snow”(297). Here, Orwell uses simile to reveal the extremes of the change in Winston. All he desires now is to have a white, or pure, soul and to erase fully the marks left by his old self and be back to a blank …show more content…
slate. Winston’s colorful soul of the past, containing rebellious thoughts few dared to ponder, is eradicated; his individuality has disappeared, leaving him a shell of a man. He has no real likes or dislikes, no opinions, and no desires. Everything that once made him human, such as true emotions and sympathy, has vanished. He is no longer living, just simply existing. Having no personality leaves Winston nothing to achieve; life is simply pointless. Orwell really emphasizes this when, in Winston’s dream, he writes “the long-hoped-for bullet was entering his brain”(297). Without individuality, Winston has no reason to continue living the endless cycle he calls life. That is why the only thing he truly desires is death to come soon. Without individuality, a person regresses to mere existence, where there is no reason to live. Looking at life from the opposite perspective, Whitman’s “Song of Myself” reveals, through characterization and diction, that individuality helps preserve humanity by providing goals to live for.
The poem consists of a joyous man praising himself and his life. The Speaker is clearly characterized as self-confident, stating “I celebrate myself, and sing myself”(Whitman 1). Whitman establishes that the Speaker is experienced in life-he has come to the conclusion that “What I assume you shall assume”(2). He lives a life where he has the privilege of “loaf[ing] at [his] ease”(4). Just this small act incorporated by Whitman shows the reader that the Speaker lives a peaceful life, one where he only worries about himself and his own actions.The Speaker is quickly distinguished as a cheerful man. He seems to be very satisfied with his life and even has a bright image of the future, stating “I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin”(10). Whitman’s use of diction here perfectly demonstrates his character’s optimism. The use of the words “perfect”(10) and “begin”(10) showcase the Speaker’s hopeful outlook of his long life ahead. Both the self-confidence and positive behavior Whitman creates in the passage, develops a unique persona for the Speaker. The individuality of the Speaker allows him to have the human traits of unique likes, dislikes, and aspirations based around his personality.The man has discovered a reason to live through himself, setting goals and having
desires for the benefit of his personal character. He has set the objective of staying joyful and wants to live by it as long as he can, stating that he “hop[es] to cease not till death”(11). His targets provides him a will to live, and these goals are only possible because he has a unique personality which dictate them. Individuality allows for the goals to be established that provide a person with a reason to continue on and experience the joys of life. Since the turn of the century, differences among people have grown to be more accepted with each coming year. America had its first African-American president, same-sex relationships earned more equality, and unique thoughts and opinions are now encouraged to be expressed online. More people are starting to express and embrace their individuality, allowing them to fully accept who they are, and begin to pursue happiness. Though Winston would have loved to live in a world where this is possible, the horrible government of Oceania has stripped him of his individuality, leaving him a stoic man leading a meaningless life. On the other hand, Whitman’s Speaker has embraced his confident and optimistic self and is able to lead an exuberant life. Both Orwell and Whitman show readers that one cannot open up as a human and truly thrive unless he allows his individuality to shine through, leading him to discover a driving force to life.
Diction: While George Orwell used fairly simple and uncomplicated diction to tell the story many of his words still have a very powerful diction. In the first chapter the protagonist Winston is attack by the smell of “boiled cabbage and old rag mats”. This is the first indication to the nature of the living conditions of our protagonist. However, Orwell also uses his diction to create the atmosphere of Oceania with lines like “the world looked cold. Down in the street little eddies of wind were whirling dust and torn paper into spirals, and though the sun was shining and the sky a harsh blue, there seemed to be no colour in anything”. These lines contain powerful words like cold, torn, and harsh and these worlds help paint the picture of what kind of story we are reading.
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 book he tries to overcome the government, but in his heart, he knows he has no hope of thriving because “…was already dead” for committing ThoughtCrime and involving himself in acts worthy of death (Orwell 36). All of his character traits combined lead him to his ultimate death. His attraction to beauty makes him keep hold of objects and things considered suspicious, his rebelliousness causes him break nearly all of society’s rules, and his curiosity steers him toward people and places that eventually causes the Winston torture he endures in Ministry of Love. Winston could have had some false hope of a better world where he could get away from all of the harsh rules and regulations of the Party, but in reality, his personality traits dragged him through a life already pre-written and stamped with an early
As Winston does lose his identity and beliefs it does give some hope and optimism. Not to Winston but to the public. To the readers of Nineteen Eighty Four, George Orwell the author of this political novel wrote this novel to inform and by this grim ending he has done this. Big Brother and the party has control over everything, they control families, control language, control media and even the control of history. This creates full control over every act, thought and belief of a person. Consequently with Winston this is done so therefore Orwell’s point is made.
Winston is trapped in a society where he cannot express his individualism because the Party has control over him. Winston buys a diary to express his individualism and thoughts. In the diary, he writes, “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.” (Orwell 81) Winston holds onto reality at the beginning of the book. By holding onto this reality, he believes that he can overthrow the government and stop the lies that the Party tells. However, towards the end of the book, the Party takes control over Winston’s mind and Winston conforms to the Party declaring that two plus two equals five. Furthermore, Winston goes to Mr. Charringtons shop and purchases a glass paperweight. “Winston immediately
His actions prove that despite what he thought before, even in believing that he’d be tortured and almost murdered in the end, he betrayed his own tongue after uttering the quote that was placed above. He, after fighting and fighting, eventually gave into the fact that he was going to die in such a horrendous way. The thought that it’d be from one of his greatest fears made it even worse. After surviving the torture from O’Brien, the rejection from Julia, and the mind battles brought upon himself after all of it, Winston couldn’t take it anymore, despite his past confessions never to give into the wrath of Big Brother. He betrayed Julia, which in turn caused him to betray himself. He performs the greatest betrayal of all, he stops loving her, and in turn, stops loving himself as well (Katherine K). He knows he’s been defeated by the end of the book. That blank face he has, thinking about how great the Party is even though it’s not, just goes on to prove that very point. Winston is defeated, after betrayal had taken over his life and altered his mind.
One of Winston’s more distinguishable traits is his bravery. This is shown to be characteristic of Winston because he decides to go against the Party willingly, despite working for it. The Party knows that there are people who are against them, and they always take the rebels captive and eventually kill them.”Your name was removed from the registers, every record of everything you had ever done was wiped out, your one time existence was denied and then
Despite Winston’s good intentions and desires, his physical and mental state wear down to a point of capitulation. On top of this, he begins to understand the absolute nature of the Party’s power, and as a result gives in slightly: “In the mind he had surrendered, but he had hoped to keep the inner heart inviolate” (250). Although Winston is conceding the right to his own mind, he was still keeping what is in the heart, which are his values and emotions. If he is able to keep his “inner heart inviolate,” then his hatred for the Party will still exist in a remote part of him. Even if the Party is able to convert him into a loyal slave, he will still have that part of him that is true to himself, which is heroic. However, his instinctual emotions
Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" is a vision of the American spirit, a vision of Whitman himself. It is his cry for democracy, giving each of us a voice through his poetry. Each of us has a voice and desires, and this is Whitman's representation of our voices, the voice of America. America, the great melting pot, was founded for freedom and democracy, and this poem is his way of re-instilling these lost American ideals. In this passage from "Song of Myself" Whitman speaks through his fellow man and speaks for his fellow man when his voice is not socially acceptable to be heard.
The foundation of his new personality is his ability to effortlessly commit crimestop at a subconscious level. Thoughts that interfere with Party views are promptly erased from Winston’s mind. “False memories” such as when “his mother was sitting opposite of him and also laughing” (309, 308) were recollections of happiness, and thus, dangerous to Party ideologies. The ability to selectively believe which memories are true and which ones are false, using Party ideals as reference, is one of the main traits of a perfect Party member. 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 cause 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. Winston’s feeling of contempt towards Big Brother is completely altered into admiration and respect: “He looked up again at the portrait of Big Brother. The colossus that bestrode the world!” (310) Winston
Because of the torture he undergoes, Winston loses his humanity and his rebellious spirit. Instead, he begins to praise the Party just as he is supposed to. He becomes a supporter of the Party and Big Brother and forgets about his support of the brotherhood, if it even
The atmosphere George Orwell creates in his book is oppressive. Winston recognizes the Party’s true colors, because he knows his life is a lie. The people of Oceania are forced to love Big Brother. ¨Big Brother is watching you¨ (5). Winston is constantly looking over his shoulder in fear of being caught by the Thought Police. Winston understands that people who are caught are never seen again. Everyone is constantly monitored by the telescreen placed in each and every home. Winston has to control his emotions to keep out of reach from the Thought Police, otherwise he is committing ¨facecrime¨.
*Whitman, Walt. Song of Myself. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. 3rd ed. Ed, Paul Lauter. Boston,NewYork: Houghton Mifflin, 1998.
Although Whitman uses a great deal of structural ways to stress his ideas, he also uses many other ways of delivering his ideas. First of all, Whitman portrays himself as a public spokesman of the masses. The tone of the poem is a very loud, informative tone that grabs ones attention. The emphasis placed on the word “all” adds to the characterization of Whitman as a powerful speaker. Furthermore, Whitman takes part in his own poem. Participating in his own poem, Whitman moreover illustrates the connection between everything in life. Lastly, Whitman, most of all, celebrates universal brotherhood and democracy.
Winston lives a horrible, dreary existence. He is a member of the Outer Party who works for the Minitrue, or the Ministry of Truth, which is responsible for propaganda and historical revisionism. Winston rectifies past newspaper articles so that the historical record always supports the current party assertions. “It was necessary…to rewrite a paragraph og Big Brother’s speech in such a way as to make him predict the thing that had actually happened… This day-to-day falsification of the past, carried out by the Ministry of Truth, is as necessary to the stability of the regime as the work of repression and espionage carried out by the Ministry of Love”.