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What Is The Extended Metaphor Of Rats In 1984

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In the excerpt from 1984 Winston is experiencing severe torture. Winston is being threatened with the presence of rats, which appear to be one of his greatest fears. In the passage from 1984, George Orwell demonstrates the lasting effects a totalitarian society can have on an individual through an extended metaphor of rats, and a metaphor of falling. Despite Winston’s reference to a “tiny fragment of hope,” the extended metaphor of rats depicts that all hope is lost for a totalitarian society. The petrifying rats signify the breaking point. An authoritarian government will often construct a method to drive its citizens toward their breaking point. In the passage, the authoritarian government attempting to break Winston uses rats to do so. Essentially, the rats accomplish their task. The rats are so horrid that Winston suggest another individual suffer his punishment: “Do it to Julia! Dot it to Julia! Not me! Julia!” The extended metaphor of rats portrays the confinement that an individual experiences through a totalitarian society. The rats imply the obliteration of individuality that an authoritarian government attempts to achieve. Individuality gives a society meaning and life. Without the presence of individuality and personality, persons become accustomed to a robotic life. A society made up of robots allows the government to have total, dominant power. Consequently, once a government has reached the point of complete authority, humanity has taken a turn for the …show more content…

The individuals will consistently be abused and mistreated, only to realize that their current nightmare will never end. The qualities of individuality and personality cannot be reclaimed and the individuals are essentially nothing. Without those definitive characteristics, the individuals cannot present an impact on their society showing that they are comparative to

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