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Examples Of Diction In 1984 By George Orwell

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In George Orwell's dystopian novel, 1984, the author uses cacophonous and anaphora diction with rhetorical and imperative syntax to convey the fragility and selfish state of human nature; the author further portrays the immense suffering guided by abused power at the hands of a totalitarian government. An analytical and commentary writing on society, 1984 discusses topics such as the exploitation of and total control in the absolutist manner of tyrannic leadership. Written through the perspective of Winston Smith and his conflict between reality and illusion in a deceptive society, Orwell intentionally warns the future society of these topics. While forcefully observing himself in a mirror, Winston notices that “a…skeleton-like thing was coming towards him…[with] a bald scalp, a crooked nose, and battered-looking cheekbones” and under the layer of dirt, “the red scars of wounds, and… the scraggy neck seemed to be bending double under the weight of the skull” (296-297). The cacophonous diction used here forms a harsh description of Winston’s deteriorating body, a contrast to his previous confident state. O’Brien has broken Winston to his bones with indifferent cruelty; the once rebellious mind has been made fragile and weak. The rebels and delinquents are stripped to the skeleton of …show more content…

While O’Brien determinedly dehumanizes Winston, he orders him to “‘Look at the condition you are in!... Look at this filthy grime all over your body. Look at the dirt between your toes. Look at that disgusting running sore on your leg... Look at your emaciation. Do you see?... Look!’” (297-298). Demanded to notice his appearance, Winston is forced to observe his broken and fragile form as O’Brien scrutinizes every bodily offense with abhorrence. The repetition and demand emphasize O’Brien’s meaning and brings attention to the cruel suffering and breakable mind that Winston must

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On page 255, O’brien says “‘Everyone is washed clean...by the time we had finished with them they were only the shells of men.” Nothing sums up Winston better than this. On page 256, O’brien tells Winston, “‘We shall crush you down to the point from which there is no coming back. Things will happen to you from which you could not recover...never again will you be capable of ordinary human feeling. Everything will be dead inside of you.”

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Further, Winston, “ had the feeling that O’Brien was his protector, that the pain was something that came from outside, from some other source, and that it was O’Brien who would

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Yash Patel Mrs. Choi AP Literature October 2015 1984 Dialectal Journals for Part 2 Text Response 1. “In front of him was an enemy who was trying to kill him; in front of him, also was a human creature… He had indistinctively started forward to help her,” (Orwell 106) This quote shows that even in this time where they live in a life where they are being manipulated, Winston is still living in a time where he is experiencing hatred, but still maintains what keeps him normal or humane, which keeps him separated from everyone else. This hate is showing that people still have hate for each other and still want to kill each other but it also shows the true human he is by helping her when she was threatened.

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1692 Words | 7 Pages

In this section, Winston’s entire out look and thought process changes extremely quickly and determinedly. Once he starts to interact with this girl who he seems to keep bumping into to, the whole course of Winston’s outwardly obedient but internally disobedient behavior becomes much more actively counter regime than it ever had before. This drastic change begins even in his first interaction with the mysterious girl who falls in front of him in the hallway at their office, “A curious emotion stirred in Winston’s heart. In front of him was an enemy who was trying to kill him; in front of him, also, was a human creature, in pain and perhaps with a broken bone. Already he had instinctively started forward to help her” (107-108).

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468 Words | 2 Pages

This shows the contrast between Winston's career and his personal choices. His job is to alter the past so that everything agrees with the present, however, when given the slightest opportunity, Winston betrays the Party and begins writing in his journal about them and their lies. This is ironic because not only is the Ministry of Truth changing that past into lies, but Winston is also lying to the party about his loyalty. He is not openly admitting to disliking the Party and has continued to work for them despite his moral beliefs. This shows us to opposition between Winston’s job and how he feels about doing it.

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875 Words | 4 Pages

During their first meeting, Winston recounts their actions to follow that, “not merely the love of one person but the animal instinct, the simple undifferentiated desire: that was the force that would tear the Party to pieces,” (172). Their actions are one of the only ways they can rebel against the party, and Winston believes

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665 Words | 3 Pages

"1984" by George Orwell is a dystopian novel that depicts a totalitarian society controlled by the Party. The novel focuses on the experiences of two main characters, Winston Smith and Julia, who provide a stark contrast to one another in terms of their motivations, personalities, and approaches to resistance against the Party's oppressive regime. This essay will compare and contrast these two characters and analyze their differences in relation to their experiences of life under a totalitarian government. Winston Smith is a low-ranking member of the Party who works at the Ministry of Truth. He is an introspective and analytical individual who is haunted by a deep sense of disillusionment with the Party.

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Despite his efforts to defy pressure and overthrow the ruling party, Winston submits to a higher authority. Winston wishes to test the limits of power, but in convincing himself that he is doomed to succeed, Winston takes risks and gets carried away in rebellion. As Winston sits with an open diary, the text details, "It was no longer the same cramped, awkward handwriting as before. His pen had slid voluptuously over the smooth paper, printing in large, neat capitals, 'DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER'" (13). Winston exposes himself to the internal notion of failure from the start, as he indicates foresight of his future adversities.

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1504 Words | 7 Pages

This is seen after Winston is put through the wringer while at the torture camp. The abuse got to the point where he could not take it and succumbed to loving the party. Orwell wrote; “He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother”(Orwell 298). Winston had become so overwhelmed by the mental abuse from the party to the point his views had completely changed.

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1031 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout the novel, Winston constantly references the fact that ‘Today there were fear, hatred and pain’ and that in this society of Ingsoc ‘No emotion was pure, because everything was mixed up with fear and hatred’ and this is displayed in many, various ways. An example of this is when Winston writes about when he went to see a film stating that the ‘Audience were much amused by shots of a great huge fat man trying to swim away with a helicopter after him’ and that ‘there was a wonderful shot of a child’s arm going up up up right up into the air…and there was a lot of applause from the party seats’. This displays the extent to which

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919 Words | 4 Pages

The world around Winston had “no color in anything” and “looked cold” (Orwell 2). Furthermore, Winston is described by Orwell as having a “smallish and frail figure”

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Along with power, O'Brien puts down his foot with Winston and shows him that anyone like him, after him, is going to be extinct. The novel exemplifies this when it states, "His torturer, O'Brien, tells him "If you are a man, Winston, you are the last man. Your kind is extinct" (Orwell 270). O'Brien turns the once rebellious Winston into another thoughtless drone of the Party, exemplifying the all-powerful nature of the government, and the futility of fighting against it” (Bauer 1). Ultimately, those who torture feel

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453 Words | 2 Pages

In addition, Winston told Julia he wished to “walk into O’Brien’s presence” and tell him he was an enemy of

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513 Words | 3 Pages

O’Brien speaks in a kind and encouraging way; his words are encouraging in that he is pushing Winston to realize the how the Party has utter control over history and society itself. O’Brien explains that “[The Party controls] life, Winston, at all its levels. You are imagining that there is something called human nature which will be outraged by what we do and will turn against us” (Orwell 269). In reality, Winston is actually being unreasonable by not accepting that the Party has total control. O’Brien reveals his true identity as a friend by pushing Winston to accept this total control, justifying Winston’s torture to see five of O’Brien’s fingers instead of

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795 Words | 4 Pages

Within the Ministry of Love, Winston is questioned, lectured, and tortured by O’Brien in order to make him conform to societal expectations and lessen the spread of thoughtcrime. On page 270, O’Brien tells Winston, “If you are a man, Winston, you are the last man. Your kind is extinct; we are the inheritors. Do you understand that you are alone? You are outside history, you are nonexistent.”

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