M562 EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY AND MODERNISM - British Fiction Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell Do governments and commercial organisations know too much about us? Are we living in an era of Big ow I you received a phone call from a company which was doing market research on tourism, which | OF the followin pieces of information would you not give? | Age Level of education | 1 Family members @ Holiday destinations | 1 Family income 1 Amount of money spent on holidays | lumber of cars in family 1 Preferred mode of transport on holidays '& How many times you have flown 1m Bad experiences on holidays | For each piece of information you would not give, explain why. INTRODUCTION @ The phrase ‘Big Brother’ has entered the English and other lan; organisations and systems that exert control over large numbers of people and inva The term was first coined by George Orwell in his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, which was written in 1948, On the basis of his observation of both Fascist and Communist totalitarian regimes he tried to look into the future and imagined what the world would be like if totalitarianism were to develop unchecked (> Visual Links G18 and G20). The year 1984 has passed and the nightmare situation envisaged by Orwell has not materialised, but the issues which he raises are still of enormous interest and relevance today. BUAKES to describe ide their privacy, CHARACTERS ey Fite sonn | Winston Smite work a the Ministry of Truth in Oceania, one of three empires tat ene + O'Brien, a the planet earth in 1984. As long as anyone can remember, Oceania has been at war wth ae ‘Party either Eurasia or Eastasia, ‘Big Brother isthe all-powerful dictator of Oceania, His face i to be seen everywhere: in ples | homes, on the streets and at work. His regime has total control over people’ lives an his Thought Police try to eradicate any form offre thinking or expression (b Text G1). Hist | 1 constantly revised to fall into line with current government policy, while anew ang (Newspeak) is being invented to limit the number and type of idea that can be expres. Winston comes into contac with people fiom what he believes to be a secret organisation {hat is working against the regime. They are, in fact, government party members who have tricked him into revealing his anti-government views. One of them, O'Brien, subjects him 0 torture to make lake him admit that he is wrong and that the party is right (> Text G18). He eventually gives in and claims he loves Big Brother. (UGH Big Brother Is Watching You These are the first pages from the novel. ) Chapter 1 sxossan It was a bright cold Winston Smith, his cl vile wind, slipped q day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen ‘hin nuzzled! into his breast in an effort to escape the juickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, 1. nuzzted: pressedineteen Eighty-Four - George Orwell though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust” from entering along with him. Te hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats’. At one end of ita coloured poster, too large for indoor display, had been tacked* to the wall ‘kdepcted simply an enormous face, more than a metre wide: the face ofa ran of about forty-five, with a heavy black moustache and ruggedly® ‘handsome features. Winston made for® the stairs. It was no use trying the lit, Even at the best of times it was seldom working, and at present the clectric current was cut off during daylight hours. It was part of the economy drive’ in preparation for Hate Week. The flat was seven flights* up and Winston, who was thirty-nine and had a varicose ulcer above his tight ankle, went slowly, resting several times on the way. On each landing’, opposite the lift-shaft!®, the poster with the enormous face gazed from the wall. It was one of those pictures which are so Contrived!? that the eyes follow you about when you move. BIG BROTHER ISWATCHING YOU, the caption"? beneath it ran. Inside the flat a fruity'* voice was reading out a list of figures which had Something to do with the production of pig-iron'. The voice came from an oblong metal plaque like a dulled'® mirror which formed part of the Surface of the right-hand wall. Winston turned a switch and the voice Sank” somewhat, though the words were still distinguishable. The instrument (the telescreen, it was called) could be dimmed", but there "2 no way of shutting it off completely. He moved over to the window: a “<= 2% A sscene from the ae toe tl vo ry Cod eg tier po_| 2, swirl of gritty dust: Little tornado (sit) ot hard gritty) dust 3. rag mats: small cloth carpets 4. tacked: fixed 5. ruggedly: strong and simple 6. made for: went towards 7. drive: campaign 8. flights: sets of stats between floors 9, landing: are at the top ofa set of stairs 1.liftshaft: passage in which hit travels gazed: looked steally 12,50 contrived: made in such a way 13.caption: words accompanying an ilutration 14. fruity: deep and pleasant 15,pigiron: impure form of lon 16.dulled: unclear 17-samk: became quieter 18.dimmed: made less bright a @19.overalls working clothes 22.eddies: circular ‘movements 23.whirling: moving {uickly round and round 24.harsh: too bright 25.black-moustachio'd: with a black moustache 26.flapped: moved noisily 22-fitfully:iregulaly 28.INGSOC: English Socialism 29.skimmed: moved ‘quickly 30. hovered: remained still 31.bluebottle: very big fly with a bluish body 32.darted: left quickly 33.snooping: spying 34.babbling away: talking incoherently 35.overfulfilment: suceess beyond what was planned 36.plugged in on: watched 37.wire: connection 38. guesswork: supposition + — COMPREHENSION 1 Find the following information in the first paragraph i EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY AND MODERNISM - British Fiction smallish, frail figure, the meagreness of his body merely emphasised by the biue overall! which were the uniform of the Party. His hair was very fair, his face naturally sanguine, his skin roughened by coarse”” soap ang blunt! razor blades and the cold of the winter that had just ended, Outside, even through the shut window-pane, the world looked coi Down in the street little eddies” of wind were whirling”* dust and torn paper into spirals, and though the sun was shining and the sky a harsh? blue, there seemed to be no colour in anything, except the posters that were plastered everywhere. The black-moustachio’d’® face gazed down from every commanding corner. There was one on the house-front immediately opposite. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption said, while the dark eyes looked deep into Winston's own. Down at street level another poster, torn at one corner, flapped”® fitfully”” in the wind, alternately covering and uncovering the single word INGSOC”. In the far distance a helicopter skimmed” down between the roofs, hovered”? for an instant like a bluebottle’", and darted** away again with a curving flight. It was the police patrol, snooping® into people’s windows. The patrols did not matter, however. Only the Thought Police mattered. Behind Winston's back the voice from the telescreen was still babbling away* about pig-iron and the overfulfilment’® of the Ninth Three-Year Plan, The telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously. Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it; moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as heard. There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on® any individual wire” was guesswork". It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time. But at any rate they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to. You had to live — did live, from habit that became instinct - in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinised. 6 Find the following information about Winston's physical appearance in the third paragraph: ~ Month: height: ~Time of day: ~ build = Weather conditions: ~ hair colour: 2 \Whatis the name of the building Winston enters? - complexion: ‘What makes the building seem unattractive and run- ~ general health: down? 3 What does the poster in the hallway depict? What is written beneath it? 4 Why is the electricity cut off during daylight hours? ‘5 Whats the voice from the telescreen talking about? 7 How are the police patrols carrying out their surveillance mission? 8 What is the function of the telescreen? my Does Winston know when he is being observed the Thought Police? » % 6 » sNineteen Eighty-Four - George orwell é a ANALYSIS = ison the description of the weather conditions 6 What effect does Orwell achieve through the use of rt vie ulding where Winston lives (first and second this style? parr). what deta rete 2 Bleak an ‘a He makes the world he describes seer real and sing atmosphere? In what senses the name of makes the reader think that what he is reading the building ironic could actually happen. 3 wat makes the Big Brother posters menacing? sn He add to the atmosphere of resignation and 2 ee sie, where the relocated andthe despair. caption beneath them. He eae the fact that his writing is the niet all the detals that are provided about product of pure imagination. 3 on smi’ appearance in Tapes nwiat —— Setigilhts how arte ave been suppressed | vay ishe dflerent from the typical hero of novel? nper the totalitarian regime. | 4 one a gmetercena Tha automaticaly ase tate Week ie 13) for example, is casually sth the reat police ade and champion of iso! a et tet Se oy ames nooo find ee Peete that Winston Ives hat did Orwell wish to convey about the protagonist eed 2 regime. of the novel by giving him this name? '§ How would you define Orwel's style? | m Poetic & Conversational EMatterotfact Dramatic | 1 Unemotional Abstract jm Concrete B Realistic Other: “How Many Fingers, Winston?’ IS aH O'Brien is using electric shocks to torture Winston. He wants him to admit that the arty has a monopoly on the truth. Chapter 20 “(«) Its impossible to see realty except by looking through the eyes of the Party. That is the fact that you have got to re-learn, Winston. It needs an act of self-destruction, an effort ofthe will. You must humble yourself before you can become sane.’ He paused for a few moments, as though to allow ‘what he had been saying 5 to sink in! Do you remember,’ he went on, ‘writing in your diary, “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four’?’ “Yes, said Winston, O’Brien held up his left hand, its back towards V hidden and the four fingers extended. ‘How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?’ Four, = if the Party says that it i not four but five - then how many? four! nston, with the thumb 10 GLOSSARY 18 1, sink ins be absorbedERNIS! MED. 66 EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY AND MOD “Anything you tke. Only | stp sop the pan! O'Brien (Richard Burton) and Wieston Smit ina torture scene fom the fn 1984, 2. dial: instrument that electric shock is being applied painfully 6. groans: de Sounds of 7. clenching ‘ogether 8. stern: sex Pillars: 10.blurry: un sprung out: come out tore: entered “pl pain Pressing lear ‘How many fingers, ‘How many fingers, ‘Five! Five! Five!” ion M - British The word ended in a gasp of ~. pain. The needle of the dia?’ hay shot up to fifty-five. The sweat had sprung out’ all oye, Winston's body. The air tores into his lungs and issued’ again in deep groans’ which even by clenching’ his teeth he could not stop. O'Brien watched him, the four fingers still extended. He drew back the lever. This time nN the pain was only slightly eased, -* ‘How many fingers, Winston?’ “Four.” ‘The needle went up to sixty. ‘How many fingers, Winston?” ‘Four! Four! What else can I say? : Four!” The needle must have risen again, but he did not look at it. The heavy, stern® face and the four fingers filled his vision. The fingers stood up before his eyes like pillars’, enormous, blurry", i and seeming to vibrate, but unmistakably four, Winston?” ‘Four! Stop it, stop it! How can you go on? Four! Four!” Winston?’ ‘No, Winston, that is no use. You are lying. You still think there are four How many fingers, please?’ ‘Four! Five! Four! An The pain flowed in seventy-five. He had thing you like. Only stop it, stop the pain!’ (..) ‘Again,’ said O’Brien, to Winston's body. The needle must be at seventy, shut his eyes this time. He knew that the fingers were Still there, and still four. All that mattered was somehow to stay alive until the spasm was over, He had ceased to notice whether he was crying out oF | Unt The pain lessened again, He opened his eyes. O’Brien had drawn back the lever. ‘How many fingers, Winston? our.I suppose there are four, I would see five if I could. Lam trying to see five.’ ‘Which do you wish them?’ ‘Really to see them,’ vs to persuade me that you see five, or really to see » % » 6 FyNineteen Eighty-Four - George Orwell 67 Gl «again, said O'Brien. perhaps the needle was eighty-ninety. Winston could onk it remember why the Pain Was happening, Behind his seemed ee forest of fingers seemed to be moving in asortof dance, wenrag cout, disappearing behind one another and reappesg ene nan trying to count them, he Could not remember why, vas impossible to count them, and that this was mysterious identity between five and four. The p When he opened his eyes it was to find that he w, thing, Inumerable fingers, like moving trees, were stil streaming past in either direction, crossing and recrossing, He shut his eyes again, | | ‘appearing again. He was He knew only that it somehow due to the ain died down again, | as still seeing the same 70 | | ‘How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?" ‘1 don't know. I don’t know. You will kill me if five, six-in all honesty I don’t know.” ‘Better’ said O'Brien, COMPREHENSION 11 What is the only possible way to see reality, according to O'Brien? 2 What must Winston do before he can become sane? 3 What comment about freedom did Winston write in is diary? 4 What information is given about the apparatus that istorturing Winston? ANALYSIS —— 1 How would you define the tone* of O'Brien's voice in the dialogue? (Consider the fact that he addresses his victim by his first name, line 2.) © Calm lm Menacing Angry Hysterical 2 Does Winston maintain the same tone throughout the text? How would you define his tone: ~in the first half of the dialogue? in the second half of the dialogue? Controlled mi Persuasive Defiant Submissive MlIntimidated Angry Arrogant m Pleading "Resigned Other: you do that again. Four, T.screwed-up: tightly 55 closed 12. weaving: moving in lfferent directions ‘5 Winston eventually succumbs and says that there are five fingers (ines 57-58). Why is O'Brien stil dissatisfied with his response? 6 As the needle reached eighty-ninety what could Winston see? 7 How does Winston finally respond to O'Brien’s ‘question? Is O'Brien happy with this reply? 3 In the passage, tension is built up through repetition. Underline the elements that are repeated. 4 The pain he is enduring distorts Winston’s vision of the fingers. What does he compare them to in line 39 and line 71. In the first comparison, Winston i stil able to count the fingers, What makes the fingers uncountable in the second comparison?68 EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY AND MODERNISM - British Fiction WRITER: WORKSHOP a derives from the Greek words utopia (no Place and ext a epia Se reel wo eter to iterature which desctbesa etter world or may gH The term dystopia (bad place) is used to describe fiction which depicts an img 88 world where the negative aspects of society have been carried to unpleasant eye” By forecasting an unpleasant or catastrophic future, the writer of a dystopian hopes to draw attention to problems in his contemporary society, ny George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four is an example of a dystopian novel, i have read from Nineteen Eighty-Four, which alarmin, On the basis of the texts you J - Western society in the 1940s did Orwell wish to draw attention to? SPECI of Choose an aspect of contemporary society that concerns you. Write a short passage in whch ‘you project it to an alarming extreme. For exampl ‘A: Excuse me, I need to talk to somebody about my FRG9877 document. B: Yes, what seems to be the problem? ‘A: Well, I've just been to the Bureau of Detailed Information and they told me to come here and ask for my FRG9877. B: Okay, have you got your SPT76502 A: Yes, Ihave. Here it is. 3: No sir, this is your SPT7640, ‘A: Oh sorry, Is this it? B: Yes, that’s it, Let me see, can I see your RTT432? ‘A: RTT432? I don't have one. B: Well, 'm afraid sir, we can’t give you a FRG9877 if you haven't got your RTT432, A; And where do I go to get one? 5: Well, you should go to the Bureau of Detailed Information. A But, I've just been there and they sent me here, 5: I'm sorry sir, but there's nothing we can do until we see your RTT432, Electric shock torture has unfortunateh ly been used since Orwell i A forms of Physical and psychological torture have been used in human Wistoy?. ® Nineteen Eighty-Four, What otherNineteen Eighty-Four - George Orwell - a | to the world of music ‘is song is taken from the soundtrack of the 1984 film version of George Orwell's novel. The title isa reference to the fact that making love, if not purely for the purposes of propagation, was considered a crime by the suthostes, who frowned on any display of pasion or strong emotions. Read the ics and ty to find similarities with the texts you have read sexcrime (Nineteen Tighty-Four) by The Bucs an take this for 3 With your eyes over me? In this place This wintery home 1 now there's always someone in Sexcrime Sexcrime Nineteen eighty-four And so face the wall ‘Turn my back against it all How I wish Fd been unborn ‘Wish I was unliving here Sexcrime Sexcrime Nineteen eighty-four 1 pull the bricks down ‘One by one Leave a big hole in the wall Just where you are looking in. The Eurythmics (Dave Stewart and Annie Leno). sid 11 From whose point of view is the song written’? 2 Which expression recalls the bleak and depressing setting of the novel? '3 Underline the sentences that suggest Big Brother is constantly watching. 4 What s the singer's state of mind? '5 Whereis the singer's rebellious, non-conformist attitude conveyed? 6 In the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four the official language Newspeak is so limited in lexis that people find it dificult to express their ideas. Find evidence in the second verse ofthe song that the word ‘dead! has been deleted from the language. oe Ga70 EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY AND MODERNISM ~ British Fiction CT hat ek 2 Iy years and edue ratio Ss George Orwell, pen name of Eric Arthur Blair, was born in India in 1903, where his father y, a civil servant. He was sent to a boarding school in Eng where, horrified at the harsh, senseless rules, he stares developing a sense of rejection ‘of every form of man’s ilo, over man’. He completed his education at Eton. 7 Imperial Indian Police In 1922 he entered the Imperial ing Police in Burma, Being an active part of the oppressive force the British Empire forged views that would later surface in nog, such as Burmese Days (1934) and in his essays. GrorGE ORWELL (1903-1950) Life as a tramp and early works Determined to becomes writer, he moved to Paris, where he held a series of menial, i}, paid jobs. He then moved to London, where he lived in ‘ily severe poverty’ experiencing, first hand, the difficulties facing the poor and underprivileged, His first work, an account of his destitute life, Down and Out in Paris and London, was published in 1933 ‘The spare elegance of his prose in the works that followed, the novels A Clergyman’s Daughter (1935) and Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1936), started to earn him a reputation on the English literary scene. Marriage and political writings In 1936 he married and began writing essays on a wide variety of subjects, which he sold to literary and political journals. Spanish Civil War When the Spanish Civil War broke out, Orwell joined the left-wing Republican forces. On his return to England he documented his experiences in Spain in Homage to Catalonia (1938) (» Visual Link G18). BBC broadcaster and Animal Farm In the 1940s Orwell worked for the BBC, producing radio shows for broadcast to Southeast Asia, and was the editor of a left-wing newspaper. He also wrote Animal Farm, a powerful allegorical attack on Stalin’s totalitarian regime. As the Soviet Union was one of Britain’s wartime allies, publication of the novel was delayed until the war had ended. Mt-health and death In June 1945 Orwell’s wife suddenly died and he was increasingly affected by tuberculosis. Despite his ill-health, he found the energy to write a last novel, Nineteen Eighty-Fout, Published in 1949 to universal acclaim. He died in October 1950, at the early age of forty-seven. P Woms | Social and political idealist Orwell was a writer inspited bY intense social and political passion, and used his writings! “xPose the negative effects that political systems can have on people's lives. In an article entitled Why I Write he stated that ‘Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has bee? written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism’, Animal Farm In Animal Farm (1945) satirical work, Gulliver's Travels, Orwell a farm where the anit ruthless as the form ), which many compare favourably with Jonathan Swift's re || attacks Stalin's totalitarian regime. The setting of the novel : 'mals take control after a revolt. The pigs take charge and eventually becom ® fer human owner. The egalitarian rules on which the farm is initially run"Writers’ Gallery - George Orwell eventually reduced! {0 a single commandments ‘AI animals are equal but some animals aré more taqual than otlters. When the pigs invite the neighbouring farmer to dinner, the other animals with horror that they can no longer tell the pigs from men. dictment of the animals’ point of view and is a condemning in hen realise The story is told entirely from th srous bloodshed and inequality on which totalitarian regimes are built. ton Smith, the protagonist, an ominous form of murde Nineteen Kighty-Four Nineteen Eighty-Four isa dystopian novel”, Wins Jives in what he thinks is the year 1984 in a totalitarian state ruled by government known as “The Party’. Winston’s world is 2 squalid and menacing futuristic London, where people are constantly under surveillance and individual identity has been lost. ‘Throughout the work, Orwell explores the mechanisms that build up a totalitarian regime, most notably the control of information, erasure of the collective memory, distortion of truth, repetition of rituals, use of slogans, mass brainwashing and idealisation of the leader (P Visual Link G20). The impact of the novel is heightened by the journalistic style, the attention to precise detail and the effective use of satire. Nineteen Eighty-Four was received favourably when it was first published and has been widely read ever since. There have been several successful film versions of the novel | The front caver of Animal Farm: George Onvel’s satirical condomaton of totalitarianism. TASK 7 Se Support this statement referring to ‘Politics played an important part in George Orwell’ life and works’ What you have read. n @