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George orwell's 1984 analysis
George orwell's 1984 analysis
George orwell's 1984 analysis
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More handpicked essays just for you.
George orwell's 1984 analysis
George orwell's 1984 analysis
George orwell's 1984 analysis
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
1984 Revised Timed Essay In George Orwell’s 1984, the protagonist Winston is an extremely complex character. He loathes the Party and Big Brother, yet he works for them in the Ministry of Truth. He often finds himself talking ill of the party when he is alone. Winston’s outward conformity and inward questioning causes tension and contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole by stirring hatred for the Party inside himself while doing the Party’s dirty work in the Ministry of Truth.
George Orwell’s 1984 tells the story of a man named Winston Smith attempting to escape the constant oppression he must face in a post-World War II totalitarian society. Winston struggles to be himself in a place that holds him back. With non-stop monitoring, Winston has to figure out how to rebel against Big Brother without dying. He does so by acquiring a book and a lover. His response to the poor standard enable him to experience happiness and some sort of freedom for a brief amount of time.
In “1984” George Orwell conveys many themes. The theme I’ll be focusing on is individuality/Freedom of thought and speech. The entire plot of the book is based around Winston’s individuality. The book is based on his need for freedom of speech. The need for freedom of thought is what lands many different characters in jail.
In the book 1984 by George Orwell, there are proles. Big Brother benefits from the proles having a lack of resources. The lack of resources allows Big Brother to manipulate the amount of resources that the paroles have which keeps the paroles in their status Big Brother benefits by making the proles dependent on Big Brother for resources. The proles can not revolt because they do not know better. Proles will never be able to raise their status because they are always dependent on Big Brother and the dependency becomes imprisoning.
In a world where thought is monitored, and actions are watched continuously by neighbors, strangers, and cameras, the conflicts that exist in that type of world are astronomical. This is the type of world that the main character of George Orwell?s book 1984, Winston Smith, lives his life in. So it is no surprise that Winston faces many forms of conflict, mainly within the range of character vs. character and character vs. society. Winston Smith faces many challenges within this novel, starting with the external challenges posed by other characters. One of the most prominent conflicts in this storyline in the beginning, was Winston?s conflict with Julia.
Orwell demonstrates the ability of an authoritarian regime to dehumanize its citizens by tearing down ideas of individualism and pleasure with threats of pain, which, Orwell warns, is only possible in a society in which the existence objective truth is denied. Orwell uses sex and pleasure as a symbol for humanity; those without it fail to be human. Winston’s wife, for instance, was entirely controlled by the Party, despised sex. She only tolerated it as a “duty to the Party” (Orwell 67). Katherine’s humanity is virtually nonexistent; she is portrayed as nothing but a tool for the Party.
This commentary was driven by the societal stratification around Orwell. A second commentary that is closely related to that of social stratification is the inequality of a patriarchal society. Of course, Orwell wanted to pose as something that could be fixed through the political solution of socialism. This criticism is shown through the characterization of women as unlikable
Some might argue that sanitizing the novel to conform to contemporary sensitivities would detract from its authenticity as a portrayal of Orwell's time. While it is essential to understand the historical context, we must also recognize the potential harm caused by perpetuating outdated language and stereotypes in literature. Balancing historical accuracy with the responsibility to engage with evolving societal norms is crucial in preserving the novel's timeless themes while acknowledging its limitations. Supporters of this counterargument might point to passages in the novel that reflect the prevailing attitudes and language of Orwell's era. For instance, when Winston Smith reflects on the Party's views on women, he observes that "it was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies and nosers-out of unorthodoxy" (Orwell 119).
One of the most notable themes in 1984 is George Orwell’s depiction of conformity. Conformity means to behave in accordance with socially acceptable conventions. In 1984, the party sets laws and brings in technology that forces the population into conforming. This is done so that they can control the population easier, and manipulate them into believing the party’s ideals. To do this, they firstly make everyone wear the same clothes, eat the same food, and live in the same conditions.
In George Orwell’s 1984, the character O’Brien deceives the protagonist, Winston, by making it appear as though he is a friend, and then unexpectedly turns on him, subjecting Winston to torture to ensure he has power over all the people, demonstrating that the extent to which one will go in order to obtain power has no limits.
In George Orwell’s novel, “1984” women aren’t viewed as important as the men are. Women are only seen being important because they produce children. Napoleon Bonaparte once said, “women are nothing but machines for producing children.” This quote emphasizes that the role of women is to produce children. Women in the novel are also portrayed like this.
Though written in 1949, the controversial political ideology discussed in George Orwell’s novel, 1984, is standing the test of time by proving relevant to a plethora of issues in modern society, especially in the United States with the election of Donald Trump, NPR cited that the novel sales were up around “10,000 percent” (NPR). Several of these themes include the issues of the makeup of a totalitarian state, as seen in governance of the Party, mass surveillance, through Telescreens and Though Police, and uniform thought, evident with 2+2=5. While all of these themes are present in modern day reality, one of the biggests overlaps between the novel and reality is the presences and role of whistleblowers. In 1984, we are introduced to the character Emmanuel Goldstein, who serves as a whistleblower against the Party and Big Brother. Similarly, in 2013, Americans became aware of various NSA
In the novel 1984, written by George Orwell, Winston Smith struggles to survive under the totalitarian rule of Oceania's government and their figurehead Big Brother. With his mistress, Julia, Winston breaks the laws of his country and both of them attempt to evade the “Thought Police” and continue to see each other. Orwell’s portrayal of women as weak, intellectually inferior, and by having his protagonist objectify women establishes the misogynistic views of the novel. How mothers are portrayed in 1984, largely reflects Orwell’s “back to the kitchen” mentality and belief of women being weak. Three types of women are portrayed in Orwell’s novel, mothers, wives, and sexual beings.
III. George Orwell’s style is fitting to the theme and plot of 1984. The author clearly uses bleak, dull and repressing words not only to set the tone but to instill the feeling of a totalitarianism world into the readers. Orwell takes the use of dark humor, short words and phrases, and the enhancement of imagery and themes to give evidence that connect with the works theme. Orwell’s sentences are short and very straight to the point.
In 1984 and society today, there is a casual disregard to sexual assault, ultimately leading to the dehumanization of women. Women are dehumanized in today’s world and 1984 because society dismisses sexual assault. Winston describes his physical attraction to Julia, saying, “I wanted to rape you and then murder you afterwards” Winston says this comment directly to Julia, Julia laughed, and shortly later dismissed the comment. (Orwell, 121).