Anyone willing to look through.. [Archive]

echoyjeff222

12-12-2009, 04:25 PM

“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”
The first sentence of the book gives off a mood/weather of gloominess and despair. The choice of words that are used introduces the atmosphere of which everyone in the world now has to live in. Furthermore, thirteen is used instead of one to describe the time. I think that Orwell used this as a signal of abnormality, and possibly the influence of military control (the Party). Another abnormality is a “bright, cold day in April”. April’s days are usually wet and warm, as it is the time of growth and birth.

“BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU”
Winston sees the poster of Big Brother as he climbs the staircase to his apartment. He is supposedly the leader of the nation and the head of the party. He symbolizes reassurance and comfort to the public, starting right from the name. A brother is someone who cares for you and supports you. He is also a symbol of an enemy for those who break the law, as he is “watching your every move”.

“As usual, the face of Emmanuel Goldstein, the Enemy of the People, had flashed on to the screen. There were hisses here and there among the audience.”
Goldstein is the main symbol of opposition to the Party. Goldstein is in every one of the Party’s Two Minute Hates, and he is blamed with every little crime that is committed. In his opposition to the Party, he is also a rallying point to every person who defies the Party and their enslavement and oppression. The speeches that he gives act as a warning to those who see past the Party’s propaganda and lies. He is like today’s Osama Bin Laden, though not on the same degree. They are both blamed for many offenses and crimes that have affected our nation.

“It was nearly eleven hundred, and in the Records Department, where Winston worked, they were dragging the chairs out of the cubicles and grouping them in the centre of the hall opposite the big telescreen, in preparation for the Two Minutes Hate.”
The Two Minutes Hate is a sort of communion, since people come together to view the Party’s daily announcements. The Two Minutes Hate brainwashes all the party members to hate Goldstein, or the current enemy superstate. The noise that accompanies the telescreen “sets one’s teeth on edge and bristles the hair at the back of one's neck.” By doing this, the mood is set for the hate that is being instilled into the party members.

“The next moment a hideous, grinding speech, as of some monstrous machine running without oil, burst from the big telescreen at the end of the room. It was a noise that set one's teeth on edge and bristled the hair at the back of one's neck. The Hate had started.”
The weather that is set as the Two Minutes Hate begins sets up for what is to come. As soon as the Two Minutes Hate begins, there are hisses and boos heard throughout the people. Bristling of the hair on edge is usually associated to something that causes strong emotion. By alerting the people of the start of the Two Minutes Hate, the association of the machine causes everyone’s brain to start thinking “I must hate whatever comes on the screen.”

“But in the same moment, drawing a deep sigh of relief from everybody, the hostile figure melted into the face of Big Brother, black-haired, black-moustachio'd, full of power and mysterious calm, and so vast that it almost filled up the screen.”
The Party in the book 1984 most certainly alludes to the regimes of both Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Soviet Union. Both leaders are similar to the character of “Big Brother”, who everyone worships and places above themselves. Absolute loyalty is demanded from all the citizens, and violence is turned to when the order is not kept. The Party is also similar to Hitler and Stalin’s regimes because they both constantly reject opposing enemies through Two Minutes Hate and propaganda.

“A handsome, tough-looking boy of nine had popped up from behind the table and was menacing him with a toy automatic pistol, while his small sister, about two years younger, made the same gesture with a fragment of wood.”
The children of Mrs. Parsons act as vampires in several different ways. They are essentially the spies of the government, and report any illegal activity that they notice. Essentially, the children feed on those thoughts and digest it, destroying it. In the book, the digestion would be to report the person to the government, sentencing that person to their death. Also, the children take privacy and security from their own parents. They are constantly on the watch, allowing none illegal activity whatsoever, making it impossible to even complain about the government.

“The instrument (the telescreen, it was called) could be dimmed, but there was no way of shutting it off completely.”
The telescreen is both a visual symbol and a way for the Party to constantly monitor its subjects. The telescreens are able to constantly play propaganda to all citizens and also monitor all conversations being held at all times. This way, no one can rebel against the Party. I believe that the author used the telescreen to symbolize how far totalitarian governments will go to control every single person. They even control technology – not for improving living standards but to further their own ends.

“Winston's job was to rectify the original figures by making them agree with the later ones.”
Winston’s job at the Ministry of Truth requires him to mask up anything that does not agree with current events. This way, Big Brother can never be wrong, gaining him further support and loyalty from the citizens. By doing this, he is essentially creating lies, but the mask holds, as the original information is discarded via the memory holes. They are never seen again, and without proof then no one can prove their claims about past claims by Big Brother.

“Suddenly there sprang into his mind, ready made as it were, the image of a certain Comrade Ogilvy, who had recently died in battle, in heroic circumstances.”
Comrade Ogilvy was raised in a culture of violence, and when he grew older he was involved in violence as well. At age three, he was introduced to his first machine gun, at age six he joined the spies and had been a troop leader at age nine. His whole life is dedicated around the military, building hand grenades and using it to cause death. His death was even related to violence, being chased by enemy jet planes and having to sacrifice his life for the Party.

“Suddenly there sprang into his mind, ready made as it were, the image of a certain Comrade Ogilvy, who had recently died in battle, in heroic circumstances.” PART 2
Comrade Ogilvy also acts as a mask in place for Comrade Withers. Comrade Withers and his colleagues had been praised for their work, and had been awarded Order of Conspicuous Merit, Second Class. However, they had been mysteriously dissolved with no reasons given. As a result, Winston is set with the task of covering everything up and making sure no one had ever known anything about Comrade Withers. This mask will definitely hold in place because they destroy all original details of the document about Withers, replacing it with a fake document of Ogilvy in its place.

“'The proles are not human beings,' he said carelessly. 'By 2050 earlier, probably -- all real knowledge of Oldspeak will have disappeared. The whole literature of the past will have been destroyed. Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Byron -- they'll exist only in Newspeak versions, not merely changed into something different, but actually changed into something contradictory of what they used to be.”
The language of Newspeak is a symbol for the Party’s language. By implementing Newspeak and effectively narrowing down the vocabulary of the citizens, it also narrows the amount of thought as well. This shows a direct correlation to the citizen’s actions. Ultimately, people will not be able to think of the vocabulary needed to express their so called “evil” thoughts of the government, otherwise known as “thoughtcrime”.

“The aim of the Party was not merely to prevent men and women from forming loyalties which it might not be able to control.”
The Party acts like a vampire in removing the want of sex in society. Love and sex and conditioned out of the citizens at an early age, and only loyalty to the Party remains. The only reason why people would want to have sex now is simply for the Party and to strengthen them with new members. It also takes away from people’s own natural instincts, making them more under the Party’s command.

“The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself -- anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide.”
Winston is paranoid about being caught by others, and believes that everyone around him is trying to get him arrested for a crime. This is mostly true among the fellow workers. Because of this, Winston must put a mask of loyalty to the Party. He is one of the few who thinks to himself the possibility that the Party is lying, and by doing this he could give himself away during Two Minute Hates by not screaming with everyone else. Even a wrong facial expression can be fatal.

“He was somewhere in the vague, brown-coloured slums to the north and east of what had once been Saint Pancras Station. He was walking up a cobbled street of little two-storey houses with battered doorways which gave straight on the pavement and which were somehow curiously suggestive of ratholes.”
Winston begins his journey for seeking knowledge of the past by tracing his steps back to the Prole district. This journey is very important because he learns much about the past, through actual objects. By showing the rich antiques of Mr. Charrington’s shop, Orwell also emphasizes how desolate and bleak the present day world is. Orwell also shows through Winston’s observations the wide gap between social classes – the Party and the Proles. The Proles have greater freedom than the Party members, but they lack the intelligence to understand how to appreciate it. Furthermore, the Proles live in slums and poverty-ridden parts of the city as well.

“She had a young face, painted very thick. It was really the paint that appealed to me, the whiteness of it, like a mask, and the bright red lips. Party women never paint their faces.”
The prostitute wore a mask of white paint that obscured her old age. Because of the mask, Winston decided to have sex with her. Eventually, when her face came into the light, her mask was torn off and Winston was filled with disgust. This encounter, especially after the prostitute’s mask was torn off, made Winston more desperate to actually have a real and loving relationship with a woman.

“Winston had nothing to do with the running of the Lottery, which was managed by the Ministry of Plenty, but he was aware (indeed everyone in the party was aware) that the prizes were largely imaginary.”
The Lottery in 1984 serves as a mask for the Party. They use the money that is generated from the tickets for their own uses, whether it is to support their “army” that is fighting the enemies, or to further their propaganda. The Party is simply scamming the Proles, who do not have the intelligence to realize that they are being scammed. Furthermore, they cause excitement and some sort of entertainment for the Proles, to keep them happy and under control as well.

“As he turned it occurred to him that the girl had only passed him three minutes ago and that by running he could probably catch up with her. He could keep on her track till they were in some quiet place, and then smash her skull in with a cobblestone.”
Winston shows a desire to kill the dark haired girl, a definite signal of violence. He is so paranoid and believes for sure that the girl is a member of the Thought Police, sent to follow him day in and day out. He thinks about killing her, an act of violence that is rash and unwise. It would probably end with Winston being tortured and killed. He even thinks to himself later on that it would probably be easier to commit suicide than to face the wrath of the Party when they catch him. He is thinking far too much and also proves how much control the Party has over its people.

“The next moment, it was hard to say by whose act, she was in his arms. At the beginning he had no feeling except sheer incredulity.”
The act of sex is important to the book because it is a symbol for defying the Party. Sex, in the Party’s eyes, is simply for the purpose of producing children to further the Party. This is the way Katharine felt when Winston was with her, and it felt wrong and Winston hated it. By having sex without being forced to, it is symbolizes freedom and a way of remaining “human”. By simply having sex for pleasure and expressing one’s love, it brings out the real traits of what being a human is meant to be.

“The next moment, it was hard to say by whose act, she was in his arms. At the beginning he had no feeling except sheer incredulity.” Part 2
Winston and Julia first have sex in the Golden Country. The Golden Country is supposed to represent freedom and a place opposite of Oceania, where no one is able to think on their own. The weather is shown through the bird that sings right before they make love. Winston believes that the thrush’s song is an expression of beauty and freedom. Everything is so peaceful and free in the Golden Country, and this contributes to how Winston perceives Julia.

“A long line of trucks, with wooden-faced guards armed with sub-machine guns standing upright in each corner, was passing slowly down the street. In the trucks little yellow men in shabby greenish uniforms were squatting, jammed close together.”
Just like Two Minutes Hate, the Party uses political enemies to psychologically manipulate the people. It is yet another symbol of the totalistic society of Oceania. The hate is directed to the enemy, uniting all the people against a common enemy. However, this makes it impossible for the citizens to interact with any other foreign people, making it so that they think that they have the “upper” lifestyle compared to the enemies. There is no way to compare their country to others, as they are always winning battles and carrying home prisoners to show to the public.

“Whenever her mouth was not corked with clothes pegs she was singing in a powerful contralto.”
The Prole woman represents Winston’s hope for the society. As he said before, he believes that the Proles are the only hope for society, and that they are ones that can overthrow the Party. Winston recognizes the enthusiasm and joy for life in the woman, even when doing simple tasks such as doing her laundry. Music brings life to people and lifts people’s spirits, and the fact that a Prole is singing makes Winston believe that they are ones who have not been influenced by the Party and still live with the past. The Party members would never do this, as they have no sense of enjoyment. Listening to her sing brings hope to Winston that someday, in the next generation, there may be hope for society.

“She must have slipped into some shop in the proletarian quarters and bought herself a complete set of make-up materials. Her lips were deeply reddened, her cheeks rouged, her nose powdered; there was even a touch of something under the eyes to make them brighter. It was not very skilfully done, but Winston's standards in such matters were not high.”
The makeup that Julia decides to wear is a symbol for her individuality and resistance toward the Party. The only people that wear makeup are Proles, as Party members are prohibited to. By choosing to wear makeup, Julia does yet another rebellious act toward the Party. Winston enjoys this, as he thrives in resistance toward the Party. Just like when Winston was with the prostitute, he found the makeup important in describing the person who uses it.

“I don't think it's anything -- I mean, I don't think it was ever put to any use. That's what I like about it. It's a little chunk of history that they've forgotten to alter. It's a message from a hundred years ago, if one knew how to read it.”
The paperweight is a "useless" (now, since paper is not kept) item from the past. Winston buys it because it is pretty. To have something that is not practical is unorthodoxy. It also symoblizes Winston and Julia in the upstairs room--all protected by the glass. When they are discovered and the paperweight is broken, it is shattered like their life together; Winston also notices how tiny that piece of coral is--insignificant, as he and Julia are.