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Book analysis: 1984

Data of the text

Author: Date:
George Orwell 1949

Title: Work:
1984 Sociological science fiction, political fiction, dystopian novel

Reference

Title: Setting in time and place:

The title immediately indicates year, it is meaningful because it is a dystopian novel, so It is set in 1984-ish in London, one of the biggest city of the Super-country Oceania.
Orwell wants to describe the world of this pessimistic future and the year is the

Characters involved:
Winston Smith: a middle class man, member of the External Party
Julia: a middle class woman, member of the External Party and apparently big fan of the Socing

O'Brien: a high class man, member of the Internal Party

Situation: Plot
The story of a 1984. The Earth is divided into three huge continents: Oceania, Eurasia and Estasia. Citizens of Oceania must abide by the principles of Socing, the dominant
middle-class man in ideology in the super state founded on rigid and incontrovertible laws. The supreme commander is Big Brother, a mysterious dictator that no one has ever seen.
a world ruled by an However, he is known to all thanks to the photos of his serious face that cover the walls of all the buildings. Winston Smith is an ordinary citizen, resident in
oppressive regime London and one of the members of the external party: they are required to wear a numbered blue suit, which distinguishes them from the members of the internal
who embarks on a party, i.e. the most privileged segment of the population and with duties simpler to complete, and by the prolet, the most numerous band and used for the heaviest
path of clandestine jobs. Winston works at the Ministry of Truth, charged with modifying texts and essays from the past in order to make the promises and plans of the Inner party true
resistance together and indisputable. Winston, however, does not share the thoughts of his "comrades" (as the citizens call each other) and decides to write down all his thoughts in a
with the woman he notebook with a critical look at the present regime. In particular, he does not adhere to the double-thinking technique, or the need to adapt quickly to the changes
loves. imposed by Big Brother such as moving from one faction to another during a war. Winston's life changes definitively with the meeting of Julia, also a member of
the external party, with whom he has a secret relationship. Winston and Julia later join the "Brotherhood", a group of rebels aligned against the government, and
Turning point receive from O'Brien, an important member of the internal party, a book written by the most important of the rebels, Emmanuel Goldstein, which exposes various
and climax: theories against the regime. However, Winston and Julia are discovered and captured by the Psychopolice which, after having led them separately to the Ministry
The main twist lies in of Love, subjects them to a long program of physical and psychological torture. Winston's ordeal in particular is followed by O'Brien himself who turns out to be
O'Brien's betrayal actually a member of the Psychopolice. However, Winston resists the torture he is subjected to, managing not to betray Julia. In the last phase of his torture, the
poor man is led into the mysterious room 101 where he has to overcome his greatest fear by wearing an iron mask with hungry mice inside. Failing the pressure,
Winston betrays Julia and disavows her anti-government feelings. After a real brainwashing, Smith takes the side of the Regime. The novel ends with the man
looking with admiration at a Big Brother poster, thus making them understand the change in his political orientation.

Narrative technique

Mode: Narrator:
Orwell describes the company a lot especially in the first part, but there are also The narrator is in the third person, but follows Winston’s events and thoughts. It isn’t obtrusive: Orwell
many dialogues by Winston and Giulia, and Winston and O'Brien and many spokes using comments or intromissions but those feels to the reader like Winston’s thoughts.
chapters of the Book of Goldstein.

Points of view: Presentation of character:

The point of view of the narrative is blocked in the condition in which Winston is and evolves with him. The characters are presented with a lots of short description both physical and
There are some flashbacks and memories of the past (always blurred) psychological

Description of characters:

Book analysis: 1984 1

 Winston Smith: Winston Smith is a short, blond-haired 39-year-old man, a member of the outside party and an employee of the ministry of truth. His task is to modify texts and essays
from the past in order to make the promises and projects of the Internal party true and indisputable. Separated from his wife and without children, he has only vague memories of the family
who disappeared in the period before the revolution and to avoid being able to forget other important facts in his life he begins to write down his events in a secret notebook. He is the only
character in the story besides Julia who opposes the system and takes sides against Big Brother.
Even the choice of his name is not accidental. Smith is in fact a very common English surname and indicates the author's desire to present Winston as an ordinary person.

Julia: Julia, whose surname is never expressed, is a woman with thick, dark hair, a freckled face and an athletic physique. To disguise her hatred of the party, she assiduously participates
in the two minutes of hatred against the rebel Emmanuel Goldstein and the anti-sex league. Julia meets Winston, who considered her a member of the Psychopolice, through a note she
sent herself with "I love you" written on it. From that moment she begins a secret relationship with Winston which is subsequently cut short by O'Brien and the Psychopolice who arrest
them and take them to the Ministry of Love.
O'Brien: O'Brien is the negative character in this novel. He is a member of the internal party and therefore enjoys many privileges. It is during the 2 minutes of hatred that he first sees
Winston, who notices in O'Brien something different from the others and almost begins to worship him. O'Brien introduces Winston to the revolutionary group of the Brotherhood, however it
is he who appears in Winston's cell to torture him and subject him to a brainwashing
Indications of the main issues and personal judgment. The reader realizes that O'Brien only pretended to be part of the Brotherhood to gain Winston's trust and denounce him at the
appropriate time.

Analysis of the language

Syntax:
The syntax is clear and very technical in some
passages. It is not a book that everyone can understand
in its entirety since it has a very deep prose
Language devices:
metaphors, allegories, satire, similes
Vocabulary:
Same thing goes for the vocabulary. Usually it is technical, clear and hypothetical. There are long digressions on the state of
things and of society that use elevated terminology and sometimes constructs.
Language of sense impressions
The senses are not very present and often support reflections or initiate them. They are mainly sight, hearing (the Party songs
and the ditty of the churches) and smell (smell of the blocks of the proles)

Tone: Style:
The tone is critical about the Big Brother society The style used by Orwell helps the reader to understand his satirical intention. The use of paradoxes shocks the reader and
causes the words of the novel to remain in his mind and are remembered when something happens in the story that is linked
to that particular sentence. The long reflections of Winston makes the reader empathize with him and somehow makes him
Winston himself by sharing his ideas.

Message

Themes: Author’s aim:

satire of people that call each other brother, in a society that destroy fraternity Orwell wants to
describe his vision of
repression of free thinking
totalitarianism and
Constant controll the dangers it
Power of manipulation of history entails.

identity arise from interaction

Desolation of one single opponent

Power of hate

Conditions of people of different social classes

Ignorance

Control of language

From text to context

The author: The literary context:

George Orwell, pseudonym of Eric Arthur Blair (Motihari, June 25, 1903 - London, January 21, 1950), was a British Dystopia, political fiction
writer, journalist, essayist, activist and literary critic. He was known during his lifetime as a political and cultural
journalist and commentator, as well as a prolific essayist and political-social activist. Orwell is generally regarded The historical and social context:
as one of the greatest English-language prose authors of the 20th century. His great fame is also due in particular Early years of the Cold War, Russian totalitarian regime imposed by
to two novels, written towards the end of his life in the forties: the political allegory of Animal Farm and the dystopia Stalin and pro-American thinking in the West
of 1984, which describes such a vivid totalitarian political and science fiction reality. from having given rise to the
adjective "Orwellian", now widely used to describe totalitarian mechanisms of thought control. Lucid polemicist and Linked works:
nonconformist, Orwell did not spare criticisms even of the English socialist intelligentsia, to which he felt profoundly
Animal Farm
alien. [2] He was and remained until the end a convinced socialist, but the realization, also by virtue of the tragic
personal experiences, contradictions and fatal errors of the political line implemented in the Soviet Union under the
leadership of Iosif Stalin, led him to embrace a virulent anti-Sovietism, thus clashing with a substantial part of the
European left of the time

Personal response

Orwell leaves the ending open even though many come to fast conclusions. The way I see it, it is not known whether O'Brien betrayed Winston so
as not to be discovered as a member of the fraternity or if it was all staged to trap Winston and Julia. In the first case, why not tell him, even though
Winston had been well informed that he should expect anything and accept whatever the fraternity asked of him (maybe he would confess in the
Minister of Love). In the second, why wait so long before capturing it. Perhaps to let the subversive cell express itself to its fullest before
evaporating it. So at the end of a book that looks like a political fictional treatise Orwell leaves a free choice and perhaps a light hope for those who
have not been frightened and subdued by the Big Brother

Book analysis: 1984 2