The use of irony is frequently incorporated in works of literature, often to emphasize an opposite effect. The novel, 1984, by George Orwell, engages both its characters as well as groups to utilize literary devices, such as irony, to deceive others for their own benefit. One of these groups is made up of the highest ranked government officials within Eurasia (the setting of the novel), called the Inner Party. The Inner Party controls nearly everything in Eurasia, from the news to public buildings, allowing them to integrate their own ideas and ways of living. The method in which they do so, as well as the actions of characters in 1984, are shown by ironic events throughout the novel.
In 1984 by George Orwell, the theme of danger following totalitarianism appears through various literary devices, tone, and syntax. For instance, on page 267 Orwell writes, “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows”(Orwell 267). To elucidate, this citation emphasizes the importance of intellectual freedom and the ability to express thoughts and ideas freely. Specifically, the use of simple mathematical concepts highlights the basic nature of this right and how it forms the foundation of all other freedoms.
In Oceania there are four ministries, Ministry of Truth, Peace, Love, and Plenty. Winston works in the records department of the Ministry of Truth, his job involves “revising” and “fixing” records in newspapers to uphold the Party’s rendition of the past. He is agitated by this control of history, for example the Party claims that they are allies with Eastasia and at war with Eurasia, but what Winston remembers is the opposite. This contradiction is referred to in Newspeak as doublethink which is “the act of holding, simultaneously, two opposite, individually exclusive ideas or opinions and believing in both simultaneously and absolutely.” Winston does not want to live in a society with a prohibitive government.
Language: “The voice came from an oblong metal plaque like a dulled mirror which formed part of the surface of the right-hand wall.” (2) “Day and night the telescreens bruised your ears with statistics proving that people today had more food, more clothes, better houses, better recreations... Not a word of it could be proved or disproved... It was like a single equation with two unknowns” (74) L(1) George Orwell, the author of 1984, uses figurative language within this quote with a perfectly crafted simile.
George Orwell’s 1984 was published in 1949, and after 68 years, some people remark that Orwell’s novel made an accurate, terrifying prediction of society. However, ~380 BC, Plato managed to curate a dialogue about the human experience that, with utmost precision, nails the flaw of humanity that, in recent times, has been insidiously abused. This is impressive considering the strength the dialogue still has after the span of ~2,389 years. Because of how unambiguous yet concise the allegory is at portraying the faults in human perception, it it can be perfectly applied to the current issues of the agenda and ideological subscription. This could be best explained by pondering that there could be an entity in front of the fire, who had the ability to puppeteer concepts into the prisoners through the shadows of the flame.
The war whether it’s fake or real helps the party oppress the people because the people are scared and want to be safe and stay alive. So if the party says the can help keep them safe, the people no matter what will give up what they have to in order to stay alive. As Well as the party uses rations and gives out few things the people need in order to keep them oppressed. Julia and Winston are both rebellious towards the party and go against the rules to overthrow the party and there both madly in love with each other. Both Winston and Julia are different because Julia doesn’t care about what the party does.
Applying D. E. Eichholz’s interpretation of Virgil’s Aeneid to George Orwell’s 1984 would be difficult in the sense that Virgil’s language seems to imply a more significant meaning. George Orwell’s style, throughout 1984, is a collection of manipulation and small amounts of very meaningful symbols. Eichholz argues that there are passages that present varieties of interpretations throughout The Aeneid. “War is Peace Freedom is Slavery and Ignorance is Strength” (Orwell, pg. 6). This slogan is the most popular reference from 1984 and acts as the most meaningful symbolism in the novel.
In 1984, George Orwell allusion to Shakespeare is intentional. Shakespeare comprises on the complexities of feeling and the ambiguities that exist inside of the human quandary. Shakespeare composes of a world where there is finished disunity and a feeling of complexity in everything human. In 1984, it is not the same world of the Big Brother, there is less freedom and human achievements. Shakespeare depicts our current reality on which sad collisions build what it intends to be mankind.
What if one were to tell state that two plus two equals five or that war is peace? One would probably say that the speaker is wrong or completely crazy. This is the case in the world of George Orwell’s novel, 1984, here these statements are the complete truth. In 1984, Orwell presents his readers with a dystopian world that is under the tyrannical control of Big Brother and the Inner Party. The Party brainwashes the citizens of this society by completely changing the history of the world to show themselves as the greatest thing in the world.
Have you ever been manipulated into believing something that wasn't true? In the book 1984 by George Orwell, it portrays how the destruction of language can be used as tools to manipulate people into believe anything. In 1984, Winston Smith, who lives in Oceania, where he rewrites history to make people believe lies. The government controls thoughts. Also, the inner party spies through a telscreen, which is a two way television.
An important tool in understanding literature is to understand the contexts in which it was written. In the case of George Orwell’s works, much of his work was s were undoubtedly influenced by the second world war, along with Orwell’s consistent support of democratic socialism. In the case of his 1949 novel 1984, Orwell wrote the classic on his observations on the totalitarianism of the USSR. One of the major themes based on this context is the control of information and history, something that continues to hold significance today. Starting off by looking at the fictional language Newspeak, the language was created to show biased language.
What is dystopia like in the novel 1984 and how does language in particular influence dystopia? Dystopia, defined as the “not good place” was born by an artists’ curiosity for Utopian thinking. Author George Orwell was inspired by Soviet writer Yevgeny Zamyatian’s novel, ‘We’ and wrote many books including 1984 and Animal Farm. ‘1984’ directly criticized totalitarianism, media and language, describing our future in a extremely dark and depressing atmosphere.
By limiting the vocabulary, Newspeak is essentially “unintelligible” and hence controls the people’s understanding of the real world. Orwell emphasises that language is of utmost importance as it structures and limits the ideas individuals are capable of formulating and expressing. In 1984, language is used as a ‘mind control tool’. The party slogan, “war is peace, freedom is
In Orwell’s piece “Politics and the English language”, he makes it painstakingly clear what both subjects have been deteriorating for years and share a same culprit. He believes that a self-fulfilling prophecy has been ingrained into our mind to purposely give up and forgo any progression in language and policies. Orwell follows by describing it as a man who takes up drinking as he knows hill life will go nowhere and ends up a failure due to his alcoholism. Because he gave up before even trying, he set himself done downward spiraling path to his failure. Later on Orwell goes on to compare this toxic thought to the English language as its “staleness of imagery; the other is lack of precision.
In Orwell's opinion, the destruction of Language is used to dumb down the people and control the minds of the masses. This ideology is exhibited in the fictional language of Newspeak, the language created by Orwell in the book 1984. The purpose of Newspeak is to lessen the knowledge of the people under the Party and eventually make thought crime impossible. An example of this is in the
