Rhetorical Analysis Of 1984 By George Orwell

1984 depicts the circle of submission a citizen, or “comrade,” of a totalitarian government experiences. From Orwell’s numerous rhetorical devises, themes and plot outline it is clear the purpose of 1984 is to enlighten the reader to the dangers of a totalitarian government. Orwell was known to detest the notion of totalitarian governments and even assisted in wars to prevent them. From a minor amount of background information on Orwell combined with a basic understanding of rhetorical devises the reader can infer that Orwell is most likely addressing the rising existence of totalitarian governments of his era. Throughout the later sections of 1984 Orwell alludes to the Soviet empire and Nazi Germany. This series of allusions can be tied back

Each theme relates to, in some form, the dangers of a totalitarian government. From reading 1984, a reader can assess that the primary theme of the novel is the ‘dangers of technology’. Throughout the novel the protagonist, Winston Smith, lives in fear of the “telescreens,” a device that monitors every section of Oceania for any form of defiance to the totalitarian government that is Big Brother. This fear is proven by the lengths he goes through to interact with another person about basic human thoughts; “A half hour railway journey; turn left out side the station; two kilometers along the road; a gate with the top bar missing; a path across a field; a track between bushes; a dead tree with moss on it. It was as if she had a map inside her head,” (115). The amount of effort that Winston went through just for the opportunity to have a non-restricted conversation with a coworker shows, through technology, a totalitarian government holds complete control over its citizens. 1984 later demonstrates the dangers of technology by showing the reader Winston being brutally tortured because of things he said when he believed he was safe from being recorded. The use of recording devises and monitors to hold every citizen hostage exhibits the dangers of a totalitarian government through advancing

Orwell most commonly used allusion in 1984 to demonstrate the dangers of a totalitarian government. An example to Orwell’s use of allusion would be O’Brian’s description of former totalitarian governments; “The totalitarians as they were called. There were the German Nazis and the Russian communists. They imagined that they had learned the mistakes of the past,” (254). Orwell’s allusion to the Soviet Union and the German Nazi party demonstrates how in a world where history is rewritten to serve the needs of the current government, the faults of similar governments are acknowledged as a form of government that cannot exist due to human instinct. A second rhetorical strategy Orwell uses to demonstrate his purpose is the metaphor. An example of Orwell’s use of metaphor is from section one; “that from the moment you declared war on the party it was better to think of yourself as a corpse,” (135). This metaphor demonstrates that in a totalitarian government the individual is better off “as a corpse” due to his desire to experience free thought. From his use of rhetoric strategy it becomes clearer to the reader that Orwell meant to proclaim a message in 1984, the message was to warn the people of the dangers of a totalitarian