Novelists of the 2nd period 1984, by George Orwell Main Keys 6 Themes of George Orwell’s ‘1984’ that we need to be mindful of I. Totalitarianism: Total Control, Pure Power The Party – the terrifying figure (who is) in control of the superstate – Fear is the main tool to control a mass of people. “The party seeks power entirely for its own sake. As an official admits: “We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power.”. II. Propaganda Machines A well-organized and effective propaganda machine goes a long way in ensuring total control of the Party over the superstate and its residents. The regulation and dissemination of information involves “tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your choosing.” III. Love The totalitarian knows that, in order to rule over people, he needs to appease (apaciguar, calmar) all ways of achieving happiness and fulfillment. Therefore, love and sex, two of the most enriching human experiences, are killed and depersonalised. IV. Liberty and Censorship The Ministry of Truth works tirelessly and meticulously to modify public archives and rewrite history. As a result, “the past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became the truth.” V. Language: Doublethink and Newspeak The residents of the superstate are forced to communicate in Newspeak – the government’s invented language. It plays a pertinent role in the Party’s control over the masses. VI. Technology: All-seeing Telescreens and a Watchful Eye The Party needs and develops top-notch technology to exercise ruthless control over the residents. Without telescreens, the Thought Police would fail 2 in its objective of surveillance. And, of course, overseeing all of this is Big Brother (the system) Other ideas 1984 themes ● Confusion ● Hatred and Love ● Contradictory feelings are found in the novel: Peace and War ● The concept of truth is central, and fiction is written by machines. ● The novel suggests→ what if there were a group of people manipulating the truth? How could we distinguish between reality and unreality? ● 1984→ 3rd person omniscient narrator. ● The reader has the impression that … ● War is Peace → Paradox (contradiction) as a figure of speech. Also: Freedom is Slavery, and Ignorance is Strength. ● The Ministry of Truth is concerned about the news, entertainment education, and the fine arts. ● The Ministry of Love→ is a place without windows→ it implies the idea of being inside a prison. ● Screens are everywhere and dominate the scenes. ● The central event of chapter 1 → a revolutionary thing to do → the protagonist writes a diary as a means of escaping reality. ● If you live in OCEANIA and happen to write a diary→ consequences→ twenty-five years in a force-labour camp (hyperbolic, exaggeration), or even punished by death (hyperbolic). 3 ● There seems to be an absence of laws→ The Party decides what is right and what is not, a constant imposition→ if you fail to follow the rules you either die or be forced to work. ● The protagonist→ Winston is an antihero, he puts himself at risk. ● The people in OCEANIA are not used to writing, or speaking. They do “speakwrite” → why? → Because if there is something written, then there is evidence of something. When you write something you have somehow history behind the story. The idea of “speakwrite” is something that The Party uses to control the mass of people. ● Winston’s idea behind writing a diary was that, by doing so, he would be certain about time: April 4th, 1984 (he is not totally accurate about time over the years). ● Flashbacks are present in Winston’s diary. ● Winston about Julia ● She belongs to the Anti-Sex League. Winston’s initial thought about herà indifference and dislike. He does not like women because "women in Oceania, and especially young ones, are the main supporters of the Party. ● O’Brien ● Winston’s torturer, he is a member of the Party. He has a “humorous, brutal face” appearance, and had “a certain charm of manner”. Winston felt deeply drawn to him because of his engaging personality. ● The Hate ● A moment of climax, extreme violence. Emmanuel Goldstein represents the Enemy of the People, the primal traitor → the Party uses hate as a means of controlling the mass of people. 4 ● The whole story is symbolic. “His heart was thumping like a drum” → a figure of speech, simile. CHAPTER 2 Page 22: Two children are involved in a violent atmosphere. They imitate what others do, they do not play innocently. Page 28: Mrs Parsons’ children are excited to go and see a public hanging. The implication is that these children will become future Oceanian tyrants and dictators. Page 32: The atmosphere of dreams. There seems to be an unclear distinction between reality and time. No se tiene noción del tiempo en Oceania. Page 33: Scripts written in italics represent a transcription. Page 35: The narrator is writing to someone in the future: a hopeful effort. By writing a diary to record his thoughts, he performs a revolutionary act. He is sure he will be killed for his betrayal. Misogynistic line → a woman will find my diary. WHAT is used in capital letters to emphasise what the writer is telling the reader. Halfway through the story Page 133: Winston & Julia. Julia comes across as an enemy who was ready to kill him and, at the same time, Winston seems preoccupied with Julia’s accidental fall. 5 140: An example of stream of consciousness : Cuando Winston deja de ver a Julia y se preocupa por lo que le pueda haber pasado. 152: It is not until we reach page 152 that Winston enquires about Julia’s name. “I wanted to smash your head in with a cobblestone” → THEY DO NOT KNOW HOW TO EXPRESS THEMSELVES WITHOUT VIOLENCE as they have not been shown this feeling. I want to kill you means I love you. Julia laughs and takes Winston’s word as a compliment. Chocolate is pleasurable and therefore prohibited in Oceania. Julia manages to bag herself some from the black market. They share the chocolate snack and, by doing so, start learning that love is not all about violence as they thought. 157: Metaphore of whitness→ “Her body gleamed white in the sun” Julia is a free woman and has sexual intercourses with other members in Oceania 6
