truedatt
01-15-2009, 03:15 PM
Well this is it. All the posts I've been putting up have been for this. I think I've finaly finished my report on 1984, but scence I have about a week till its due I'm sure I'll be adding to it. So be brutal guys. What do you think? And I know its LONG.
“1984”
By Gorge Orwell
Report by Kevin Trudell
George Orwell was a great when it comes to European novelists. One of his more popular works, “1984”, is a very pessimistic telling of wear a socialist world could lead. This pessimism is a well known trait of Orwell’s novels. “1984”, written in 1948 may certainly be one of the greatest novels ever written.
A reader of “1984” finds themselves in a world in which three super powers dominate, Eurasia, East Asia, and, the setting in which the events of the novel take place, Oceania. Oceania is a large country covering the span of North America and England. This country is run by an absolute dictator, Big Brother, although throughout the story one gets the scene that there is no actual single person running the government. The “inner party”, the upper most class who runs the government, blows Big Brother up and makes him appear all knowing, all seeing, and ultimately indestructible, and this may very well be true.
Amid this land of giants lives Winston Smith, our main character. Winston is part of the lower party, middle class citizens that work for the government, and we find him possessed with the urge to defy his absolute ruler even though he realizes this is a death sentence and will, without a doubt, lead to his execution or “vaporization”, the absolute destruction of a person’s vary indent and memory of that existence.
In a way Winston is set up for destruction by his very job. He works in the, so called, ministry of truth editing history, pictures, news papers, and other texts which Big Brother has deemed in need of change. It is his responsibility to forget the outdated events and accept the updated versions as if nothing had changed. This thought processes, or lack thereof, is known as double think, and everyone must be a master of it if they wish to survive in this world. Winston however has difficultly forgetting certain pieces of forbidden knowledge, such as a doctored photo which in the original had shown an inner party member at a party in New York. This had confirmed his alibi and proved he wasn’t involved in a sabotage scheme against Big Brother. This sticks with Winston because the party member was killed for this crim. This may be compared to the changing of photos in the USSR during Stalin’s reign.
This society has been totally desensitized to violence. For example Wile Winston is walking in the prole section of London a bomb hits close to him killing several proles, people who do not work for the party and are not watched. Winston simply kicks a severed hand into the gutter without thought, as if this was an everyday occurrence. Also there are regular public hangings which are a popular spectacle to take children to. These events would be horrifying to people in today’s world but in this society one was expected to never feel emotions except for anger towards the current enemy, which changed every ten years and is claimed to never have changed. This is another example of double think.
Winston is eventually betrayed by an inner party member, O’Brien, he had trusted and believed was part of a resistance. He is taken to “the Ministry of Love”, the prison, and is tortured for an unknown time. He eventually gives into the torture and submits to the brainwashing by betraying his lover, Julia.
The uncertainty of time is a constant motif in this novel. Winston is never quite sure what year it is, how old he is, how long Big Brother has ruled, or any other form of time. The importance of this is best illustrated in one of the party slogans “He who controls the past, controls the future”. This statement is absolutely profound when considering our own history and is analogous to the winner’s story being the only story told and learned. Big Brother and the party can create and destroy history simply because they have the power to do so. They always want to appear to be correct there for they will tell the people what they want them to hear, even if it’s a complete fabrication, and because there is no story to oppose it, it’s accepted without question.
Another constant motif is the corruption of power. As the old adage goes “absolute power corrupts absolutely”, and this is the extreme case. Those who are in charge of Oceania are purely concerned with remaining in charge. This is why the party keeps the proles ignorant, drunk, and lustful, but also leaves them to live their lives, basically without law. They wouldn’t want them, the majority, to revolt. This is also why they keep the educated few under a microscope. They need to be ready to snuff out even the smallest revolutionist without making a martyr, a person who dies for a cause, because this usually encourages people to take up the cause in the name of that person. This is why Winston isn’t killed, but is brainwashed into loving and worshiping Big Brother so that his cause dies. This keeps the people under control.
In "1984" there is an unbelievable amount of symbols. One such symbol is a beautiful glass paperweight that Winston buys at a prole antique store, illegally fore party members aren’t allowed to buy from proles. This glass paperweight comes to symbolize Winston’s struggle to remember his past and his resistance against the government. When the thought police, agents in charge of arresting traitors to Big Brother, finally catch up to Winston and arrest him, the paperweight is shattered, symbolizing and foreshadowing Winston’s demise.
Winston and his lover rent a room above the prole antique shop; this is where they have their frequent, and illegal, rendezvous. In this room there is a painting of St. Clement's Church. This brings a memory back to Winston. He remembers part of an old child hood song. That ends with the words “Here comes the chopper to chop off your head!” This foreshadows Winston’s end, fore behind this painting is a hidden telescreen, a device used by the government to spy on the party members, which provides proof of his and Julia’s treacherous affair.
The telescreens is the most frequent representation of the power of Big Brother. These devices have no off switch, are always blaring propaganda, and at any given point in time the thought police could’ve been peering into any ones life. With these present one was always under party control, and always received the false good news of the government.
Orwell wrought “1984”, not as a prediction, but as a warning of what a totalitarian system of government, left to flourish, would be like. He is advising us to take notice of our government and to take part when we can. Especially in a democracy such as ours, he is telling us not to allow our leaders to get out of control. Orwell has created a world we should all be on the look out for. It is our responsibility to prevent this nightmare from coming true.
“1984”
By Gorge Orwell
Report by Kevin Trudell
George Orwell was a great when it comes to European novelists. One of his more popular works, “1984”, is a very pessimistic telling of wear a socialist world could lead. This pessimism is a well known trait of Orwell’s novels. “1984”, written in 1948 may certainly be one of the greatest novels ever written.
A reader of “1984” finds themselves in a world in which three super powers dominate, Eurasia, East Asia, and, the setting in which the events of the novel take place, Oceania. Oceania is a large country covering the span of North America and England. This country is run by an absolute dictator, Big Brother, although throughout the story one gets the scene that there is no actual single person running the government. The “inner party”, the upper most class who runs the government, blows Big Brother up and makes him appear all knowing, all seeing, and ultimately indestructible, and this may very well be true.
Amid this land of giants lives Winston Smith, our main character. Winston is part of the lower party, middle class citizens that work for the government, and we find him possessed with the urge to defy his absolute ruler even though he realizes this is a death sentence and will, without a doubt, lead to his execution or “vaporization”, the absolute destruction of a person’s vary indent and memory of that existence.
In a way Winston is set up for destruction by his very job. He works in the, so called, ministry of truth editing history, pictures, news papers, and other texts which Big Brother has deemed in need of change. It is his responsibility to forget the outdated events and accept the updated versions as if nothing had changed. This thought processes, or lack thereof, is known as double think, and everyone must be a master of it if they wish to survive in this world. Winston however has difficultly forgetting certain pieces of forbidden knowledge, such as a doctored photo which in the original had shown an inner party member at a party in New York. This had confirmed his alibi and proved he wasn’t involved in a sabotage scheme against Big Brother. This sticks with Winston because the party member was killed for this crim. This may be compared to the changing of photos in the USSR during Stalin’s reign.
This society has been totally desensitized to violence. For example Wile Winston is walking in the prole section of London a bomb hits close to him killing several proles, people who do not work for the party and are not watched. Winston simply kicks a severed hand into the gutter without thought, as if this was an everyday occurrence. Also there are regular public hangings which are a popular spectacle to take children to. These events would be horrifying to people in today’s world but in this society one was expected to never feel emotions except for anger towards the current enemy, which changed every ten years and is claimed to never have changed. This is another example of double think.
Winston is eventually betrayed by an inner party member, O’Brien, he had trusted and believed was part of a resistance. He is taken to “the Ministry of Love”, the prison, and is tortured for an unknown time. He eventually gives into the torture and submits to the brainwashing by betraying his lover, Julia.
The uncertainty of time is a constant motif in this novel. Winston is never quite sure what year it is, how old he is, how long Big Brother has ruled, or any other form of time. The importance of this is best illustrated in one of the party slogans “He who controls the past, controls the future”. This statement is absolutely profound when considering our own history and is analogous to the winner’s story being the only story told and learned. Big Brother and the party can create and destroy history simply because they have the power to do so. They always want to appear to be correct there for they will tell the people what they want them to hear, even if it’s a complete fabrication, and because there is no story to oppose it, it’s accepted without question.
Another constant motif is the corruption of power. As the old adage goes “absolute power corrupts absolutely”, and this is the extreme case. Those who are in charge of Oceania are purely concerned with remaining in charge. This is why the party keeps the proles ignorant, drunk, and lustful, but also leaves them to live their lives, basically without law. They wouldn’t want them, the majority, to revolt. This is also why they keep the educated few under a microscope. They need to be ready to snuff out even the smallest revolutionist without making a martyr, a person who dies for a cause, because this usually encourages people to take up the cause in the name of that person. This is why Winston isn’t killed, but is brainwashed into loving and worshiping Big Brother so that his cause dies. This keeps the people under control.
In "1984" there is an unbelievable amount of symbols. One such symbol is a beautiful glass paperweight that Winston buys at a prole antique store, illegally fore party members aren’t allowed to buy from proles. This glass paperweight comes to symbolize Winston’s struggle to remember his past and his resistance against the government. When the thought police, agents in charge of arresting traitors to Big Brother, finally catch up to Winston and arrest him, the paperweight is shattered, symbolizing and foreshadowing Winston’s demise.
Winston and his lover rent a room above the prole antique shop; this is where they have their frequent, and illegal, rendezvous. In this room there is a painting of St. Clement's Church. This brings a memory back to Winston. He remembers part of an old child hood song. That ends with the words “Here comes the chopper to chop off your head!” This foreshadows Winston’s end, fore behind this painting is a hidden telescreen, a device used by the government to spy on the party members, which provides proof of his and Julia’s treacherous affair.
The telescreens is the most frequent representation of the power of Big Brother. These devices have no off switch, are always blaring propaganda, and at any given point in time the thought police could’ve been peering into any ones life. With these present one was always under party control, and always received the false good news of the government.
Orwell wrought “1984”, not as a prediction, but as a warning of what a totalitarian system of government, left to flourish, would be like. He is advising us to take notice of our government and to take part when we can. Especially in a democracy such as ours, he is telling us not to allow our leaders to get out of control. Orwell has created a world we should all be on the look out for. It is our responsibility to prevent this nightmare from coming true.