...George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-four tells a story about a futuristic dystopian society that is ruled by the seemingly omniscient Big Brother. Winston Smith lives within this rule of Big Brother and the Party where all he does is strictly limited. As time progresses, Winston begins to make secret relationships without the Party’s knowing and begins to do what he wants to do. George Orwell’s use of intriguing characters, a strange, utopian social setting, and a riveting yet slow plot makes Nineteen Eighty-four a great piece of literary work. George Orwell’s use of fascinating and believable characters makes the story an interesting read. The story revolves around Winston Smith, an ordinary Party employee who works for the Ministry of Truth. Under the power of the Party, Winston does not have the freedom to think his own thoughts unless they...
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...The privacy of American citizens has been a topic widely discussed for years and has only grown after the publication of George Orwell’s book, Nineteen Eighty-Four, and the controversy revolving Edward Snowden in 2013. The American government has been under scrutiny ever since Edward Snowden leaked classified information that revealed that the government runs many secret global surveillance programs. The government has stated that the programs were being used to protect citizens from terrorist attacks, though no evidence shows the rate of terrorism decreasing after said programs has been used. The violation of privacy American citizens face is similar to the privacy violations explored in Nineteen Eighty-Four and should not be protected under...
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...The best weapon for an enduring dictatorship is the manufacturing of an enemy. In George Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four" Emmanuel Goldstein is the government's most monumental adversary. Foremost, in history, a scapegoat is often crucial in order to focus the blame on a person or minority group, regardless of whether or not they are responsible for the state of the society. Although Emmanuel Goldstein is not directly to blame for the issues in Oceania, Big Brother makes sure that everyone knows "[Emmanuel Goldstein] was the primal traitor, the earliest defiler of the Party's purity. All subsequent crimes against the Party, all treacheries, acts of sabotage, heresies, deviations, sprang directly out of his teaching". (pg. 14) Goldstein being a scapegoat ensures that all impending blame and anger is towards...
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...This passage, taken from George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, describes the work that typically befalls the protagonist, Winston Smith, in his profession of tampering with documents and news bulletins in order to convince the masses that everything is well within this society and that Big Brother, the ruling dictator, is always seen as inerrant and infallible. Much of the passage reflecting the worries of the time such as the rising influence of the Soviet Union and the memory of Nazi Germany as well as featuring many tropes of dystopian fiction (some originating from the novel itself). An element of the world of Nineteen Eighty-Four that is built upon in this passage is the language of Newspeak. Language and created languages are a common theme amongst dystopian novels because they represent the abolition of the old world and the complete control of society by the dictatorial government. Winston receives his orders for the day in ‘abbreviated jargon’ which consists ‘largely of Newspeak words’. This shows that although Newspeak hasn’t been adopted fully by the population yet, the government...
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...1984 is a book written by George Orwell in 1949. At first it seems like just another ordinary book until you read it and realize how similar the society in which Winston lives in is to our society now. The society in this book is one that lacks amenities just like North Korea. Winston is the main character in the book 1984. Winston is special because right from the start you can feel that he has some kind of different feeling towards the party, he isn’t deeply in love with the Party and Big Brother. I feel that Winston knows he is disgusted by the way the Party controls everyone due to the fact that he blames the Party for the death of his parents and sister. We know this because in Book 2 chapter 7 Winston wakes up crying and explains to Julia that he was dreaming about his mother and father and sister. He...
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...The totalitarianistic control that the Ingsoc government exercises over its citizens relies on the alteration of historical documents, terror, and brainwashing. In 1984, by George Orwell, the entire plot revolves around Winston and Julia’s actions to defy the Ingsoc government and attempt to enlighten the citizens and retake their freedom. The main opposition they face is is Big Brother’s influence over the citizens and themselves. Big Brother employs brainwashing tactics such as constantly stating altered and fake information over telescreens throughout the day, Hate Week, and limiting the amount of words people know to prevent them from any sort of free thought. These actions continuously oppress the citizens with just words. The Party...
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...George Orwell, the author of Nineteen Eighty Four, uses various motifs to help him convey his message. Orwell gives one particular simple household article symbolic significance, in order to develop a theme which is important to him. The specific object which Orwell uses as a motif, is a beautiful glass paperweight. For the novel’s protagonist, Winston Smith, this paperweight represents both beauty without purpose, as well as ongoing hope for the reclamation of his happier, liberated past, and a future without submission to totalitarianism.Through the use of the paperweight as a motif, Orwell is able to convey his grave concerns about life under authoritarian rule. Despite it violating the rules of the Party, Winston purchases a paperweight...
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...The media is use the primary means of mass communication regarded collectively. At best they are means to figure out the errors of society and the government. At their worst, they are tools used to dumb down society. George Orwell novel Nineteen Eighty-Four and Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games present an iconic vision of a dystopian future, where the media has an unprecedented amount of control of the masses. Those who control the media, controlled what the citizens know about history and current events. In George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-four, the media was seen as a tool of oppressor, spreading the propaganda necessary to keep the totalitarian state alive and the party in power. The media worked by withholding information from its citizens....
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...More times then not a dystopian society shows a rather gruesome future hoping to warn us of our impending world. Nineteen Eighty-four portrays this rather well, he created a filthy place with torn down buildings and rats everywhere. Rats are often portrayed as dingy disgusting creatures aligned with fear as well as betrayal and it is no different in George Orwell’s nineteen eighty-four. Winston’s fear of rats is constantly overwhelming for him, not to mention that rats appear almost foreshadowing betrayal and lastly rats represent the extent of the control the party possesses over the population of Oceania. Orwell explores then many diverse ways rats can influence the characters in the novel. Betrayal: The expression that someone is a 'rat,' is often used to illustrate the meaning that he or she is...
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...In the book Nineteen-Eighty Four by George Orwell he talks about how the government watches them. How they doesn’t have privacy to do anything they want. Winston is the main character of the book, then there is big brother he is like the government. Big brother is always watching everyone, they have something that's like a television, which is called a telescreen where they can see you, however you can't see them and you also can't turn it off only turn down the volume. The privacy of American citizens is being violated similar to the privacy violations in 1984 now that big brother is always watching everyone with the telescreen, they don’t freedom and they also have thought police. In Nineteen-Eighty Four Winston talks about how BIg Brother...
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...Firstly, Winston can be looked at as a potential hero in the world of Nineteen Eighty Four, he regularly disagrees with the principals presented by the party and often struggles with mutability the past. To start off, Winston despises Big Brother and does not adhere to the laws set by the Party. Winston begins by obtaining a diary from a local shop, and also in the process Winston obtains an ink pen. Furthermore he illustrates his hate for Big Brother and the Party by writing “Down with Big brother” in his diary. The Party is run by Big Brother and George Orwell describes Winston’s hate toward the party and his desire for freedom. In addition to this, Winston feels the need to join the brotherhood. O’Brien, a person who Winston believes to...
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...George Orwell’s use of language in Nineteen Eighty-Four Eric Arthur Blair, better known as George Orwell, has been called one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. In his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, Orwell provides readers with a look into what would happen if the government controlled every aspect of people’s lives, even their own thoughts. Orwell uses language to influence the mindset of the citizens of Oceania. Orwell’s use of language shows how people can be manipulated and deceived and led to obey their government and accepting all of its propaganda to be true. Orwell was a very productive writer. He wrote six novels, and hundreds of essays as well as four documentary studies in less than twenty years. “Orwell’s greatest influence beyond his two classic novels was as a prose stylist...he probably influenced the writing of prose more than anyone else in the first half of the 20th century.” (Rossi 1) Orwell’s use of language has inspired many other writers as well. “Sylvia Ramsey’s novel, An Underground Jewel, is set in the future and centers on a terrorist organization that wants to alter language, it’s based on George Orwell’s 1984.” (Martin)...
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...The Novel Project Your name: Giselle Gonzalez Your Novel: 1984 – George Orwell 1. Explain how the novel represents two or more concerns of its historical time period; these concerns may be economic, political, cultural, social, or moral concerns. Clarify the author’s view on one of the following as s/he presents the concerns: right vs wrong; conservative vs radical, or elite vs commonplace. Orwell published “1984” in 1948 just after the end of World War II. Although at this time, Hitler’s reign was brought to an end, Joseph Stalin, another ruthless leader was still in power. Though they were adversaries during WW II, both men shared acute similarities in their success towards creating a totalitarian government much like the one seen in “Nineteen Eighty-Four.” The ghastly, but impressive ease with which each ruler rose and remained in power is possibly what caused Orwell to focus so heavily on political concerns in his novel. While there are no direct allusions to the Adolf Hitler or Stalin, the political devices used by the Party to control Party members in Oceania are undeniably parallel to the manipulation and brutality that each ruler used to control government. Big Brother for instance, is a fearless leader who is loved by all of the Party members. Though it is never confirmed whether or not he is a real person or just an idea, citizens praise him almost instinctively, posters of him are found in every building, and badmouthing him is not only an act of audacity, but punishable...
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...The Works of George Orwell The Literary Canon is an authoritive list, as of the works of an author. To enter or actually be entered into the canon is to gain certain obvious privileges; it is governed by influential critics, museum directors, and their board of trustee’s as well as scholars and teachers. To appear in the Norton or Oxford anthology is not a sign of greatness but a status of accessibility to a public reading. Belonging to the Literary Canon confers status; social, political, economic, and aesthetic, belonging to the canon is a guarantee of quality. George Orwell was born Eric Arthur Blair, to English parents Richard Walmesley (a civil servant) and Ida Mabel (Limouzine) Blair in Motihari, Bengal (now Bihar) India in 1903 and died a year after writing Nineteen Eighty Four in 1950. He graduated from Eton College in 1921. His political beliefs follow those of a democratic socialist. His interests include fishing, carpentry, gardening, and raising animals. He served in the Spanish civil war as well as World War II where he held the rank of sergeant. George held many jobs during his career as a writer he was a police officer in Burma, a dishwasher in Paris, a teacher in England, as well as a shopkeeper, he also produced educational radio programs for the BBC. Among his writing accomplishments he wrote fiction as well as nonfiction novels his two most famous being “Nineteen Eighty Four” and “Animal farm” both of which have been adapted for film. In “Animal Farm” and...
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...Huang English 103 Professor Joseph 5/7/2013 The Major Themes of Orwellian Imagine living in an environment under the surveillance of a big power, imagine being manipulated and controlled for every thought and action. The act of obeying orders from the big power leads to survival, and the rebellion for freedom leads to the most devastating punishment. Would you give in to the big power or would you fight? The novel Nineteen-Eighty Four written by George Orwell portraying through the view of the protagonist, Winston Smith, describing a nation called Oceania being under the ruling of the antagonist, a totalitarian Party or the Big Brother. In addition, it presented various methods such as constant surveillance, unending propaganda, distortion of language, historical revisionism, fear, torture, perpetual war, and lack of habeas corpus to characterize an oppressive and authoritarian government. The Party utilizes these methods to keep its citizens living in a state of fear, making them developing a feeling of dependency of the party. The novel Nineteen-Eighty Four has its significance today because all of the methods that characterize a totalitarian government are still presence, especially being currently utilized by the government of the United States. Once upon a time, the U.S used to be a land of unparalleled freedom. However, ever since the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, the U.S government, primarily under the management of the bush administration, has been taking...
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