1984

George Orwell
“If liberty means anything at all, it means the
right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”
- George Orwell

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 1984
BY GEORGE ORWELL

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Biography of George Orwell ......................................................................................................4

Genre Analysis - 1984 and Anti-Utopian Fiction .......................................................................6
Genre Analysis - What is Satire? ................................................................................................8
Interrogating History ................................................................................................................9
Four Corners: Sharing Your Opinion ...................................................................................... 10
Censorship: Debating Hot Topics .......................................................................................... 11
Setting Up The Story ............................................................................................................... 12
Creating Character Posters ...................................................................................................... 13
Motif and Symbolism in 1984 .................................................................................................. 15
Your Task: Symbolism - One Page Primers ........................................................................................................ 16
Scenes and Themes ................................................................................................................. 17

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 BIOGRAPHY OF GEORGE ORWELL
FROM BIOGRAPHY.COM

“For a creative writer possession of the truth is less important

than emotional sincerity.”

- George Orwell

Born Eric Arthur Blair, George Orwell created some of the

sharpest satirical fiction of the 20th century with such works
as Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. He was a man of
strong opinions who addressed some of the major political
movements of his times, including imperialism, fascism and
communism.

The son of a British civil servant, George Orwell spent his

first days in India, where his father was stationed. His
mother brought him and his older sister, Marjorie, to
England about a year after his birth and settled in Henley-on-Thames. His father stayed behind in India and
rarely visited. (His younger sister, Avril, was born in 1908.) Orwell didn't really know his father until he
retired from the service in 1912. And even after that, the pair never formed a strong bond. He found his
father to be dull and conservative.

According to one biography, Orwell's first word was "beastly." He was a sick child, often battling bronchitis
and the flu. Orwell was bit by the writing bug at an early age, reportedly composing his first poem around the
age of four. He later wrote, "I had the lonely child's habit of making up stories and holding conversations
with imaginary persons, and I think from the very start my literary ambitions were mixed up with the feeling
of being isolated and undervalued." One of his first literary successes came at the age of 11 when he had a
poem published in the local newspaper.

Like many other boys in England, Orwell was sent to boarding school. In 1911 he went to St. Cyprian's in the
coastal town of Eastbourne, where he got his first taste of England's class system. On a partial scholarship,
Orwell noticed that the school treated the richer students better than the poorer ones. He wasn't popular with
his peers, and in books he found comfort from his difficult situation. He read works by Rudyard Kipling and
H. G. Wells, among others. What he lacked in personality, he made up for in smarts. Orwell won scholarships
to Wellington College and Eton College to continue his studies.

After completing his schooling at Eton, Orwell found himself at a dead end. His family did not have the
money to pay for a university education. Instead he joined the India Imperial Police Force in 1922. After five
years in Burma, Orwell resigned his post and returned to England. He was intent on making it as a writer.

Early Career

After leaving the India Imperial Force, Orwell struggled to get his writing career off the ground. His first
major work, Down and Out in Paris and London, (1933) explored his time eking out a living in these two cities.
Orwell took all sorts of jobs to make ends meet, including being a dishwasher. The book provided a brutal

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look at the lives of the working poor and of those living a transient existence. Not wishing to embarrass his
family, the author published the book under the pseudonym George Orwell.

Sometimes called the conscience of a generation, Orwell next explored his overseas experiences in Burmese
Days, published in 1934. The novel offered a dark look at British colonialism in Burma, then part of the
country's Indian empire. Orwell's interest in political matters grew rapidly after this novel was published. Also
around this time, he met Eileen O'Shaughnessy. The pair married in June 1936, and Eileen supported and
assisted Orwell in his career.

In December 1936, Orwell traveled to Spain, where he joined one of the groups fighting against General
Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War. Orwell was badly injured during his time with a militia, getting
shot in the throat and arm. For several weeks, he was unable to speak. Orwell and his wife, Eileen, were
indicted on treason charges in Spain. Fortunately, the charges were brought after the couple had left the
country.

Other health problems plagued the talented writer not long after his return to England. For years, Orwell had
periods of sickness, and he was officially diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1938. He spent several months at the
Preston Hall Sanatorium trying to recover, but he would continue to battle with tuberculosis for the rest of
his life. At the time he was initially diagnosed, there was no effective treatment for the disease.

To support himself, Orwell took on various writing assignments. He wrote numerous essays and reviews over
the years, developing a reputation for producing well-crafted literary criticism. In 1941, Orwell landed a job
with the BBC as a producer. He developed news commentary and shows for audiences in the eastern part of
the British Empire. Orwell drew such literary greats as T. S. Eliot and E. M. Forster to appear on his
programs. With World War II raging on, Orwell found himself acting as a propagandist to advance the
country's national interest. He loathed this part of his job, describing the company's atmosphere in his diary
as "something halfway between a girls’ school and a lunatic asylum, and all we are doing at present is useless,
or slightly worse than useless.' Orwell resigned in 1943 saying “I was wasting my own time and the public
money on doing work that produces no result. I believe that in the present political situation the broadcasting
of British propaganda to India is an almost hopeless task.” Around this time, Orwell became the literary
editor for a socialist newspaper.

Later Works: Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four

Orwell is best known for two novels, Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, both of which were published
toward the end of his life. Animal Farm (1945) was an anti-Soviet satire in a pastoral setting featuring two pigs
as its main protagonists. These pigs were said to represent Josef Stalin and Leon Trotsky. The novel brought
Orwell great acclaim and financial rewards.

In 1949, Orwell published another masterwork, Nineteen Eighty-Four (or 1984 in later editions). This bleak
vision of the world divided into three oppressive nations stirred up controversy among reviewers, who found
this fictional future too despairing. In the novel, Orwell gave readers a glimpse into what would happen if the
government controlled every detail of a person's life, down to their own private thoughts.

Nineteen Eighty-Four proved to be another huge success for the author, but he had little time to enjoy it. By this
time, Orwell was in the late stages of his battle with tuberculosis. He died on January 21, 1950, in a London
hospital. He may have passed away all too soon, but his ideas and opinions have lived on through his work.
Both Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four have been turned into films and have enjoyed tremendous
popularity over the years.

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 GENRE ANALYSIS - 1984 AND ANTI-UTOPIAN FICTION

The tradition of utopian fiction - fiction predicated on the possibility of a perfect existence for
humanity - is very old, as old as the story of the Garden of Eden in Genesis, at least for the Western
world. It embodies both nostalgia for a legendary Golden Age and hope for the way people might
live in some distant future.

Although The Republic of Plato is older, the name for this kind of fiction comes from Sir Thomas
More's Utopia, published in Latin in 1516. In it a character discovers a land called Utopia, or
Nowhere Land. A popular work, it was translated into English in 1551, and has since served as a
model for writers who share More's purpose. Francis Bacon's The New Atlantis (1626) and Jonathan
Swift's Gulliver's Travels (1726) are further examples of utopian novels.

The nineteenth century was particularly interested in the idea of utopia, both in literature and in
social experiments. In English literature, there are books like Samuel Butler's Erehwon – nowhere
spelled backward- (1872) and William Morris's News from Nowhere (1891). Tennyson in “Locksley
Hall" 1842), writes of seeing a "Vision of the world" in which finally humanity learns to live at peace
with itself in a "Federation of the world."

In American literature, Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward (1888) and Herman Melville's Typee
(1846) and Omoo (1847) are examples of the same impulse to see humanity in an uncorrupted state.
This desire is related to the phenomenon of the frontier in American history. The West allowed the
possibility of establishing an ideal society or community free of the historical evils that people had
always suffered in Europe. When the peaceful community that Huckleberry Finn and his companion
Jim establish on the raft is disrupted by the world, Huck eventually decides to "light out for the
Territory." Mark Twain accurately reflects, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), the impulse to
flee to the frontier and away from civilization.

This is echoed in our own time in Holden Caulfield's desire to establish a community of the
innocent somewhere in the West, in J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye.

People in the nineteenth century believed in the perfectibility of humankind and in the real
possibility of an ultimate utopia, a time when all people would be able to live together in a united
world in a state of peace.

But the events of history in the twentieth century have undermined that belief: both cold and hot
wars have followed each other in quick succession; revolutions and civil wars have clouded the
orderly progress of civilization toward some better future. Totalitarianism has become a fact that can
hardly be ignored, from Hitler's Germany to Stalin’s Russia and later Soviet leaders. The doctrine

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that human beings can be directed for purposes other than that of developing the best in their
nature is, of course, directly opposed to the belief in human perfectibility.

In our time has arisen what some critics call the anti-utopian novel - that kind of fiction which
shows society at the mercy of a purpose over which it can have no control. Not humanity ‘per-
fected’ but humanity ‘per-verted’ -this is the way the anti-utopian novel views the future. The motive
for this new kind of novel may arise from the certainty that people can now destroy not only
themselves as individuals but all of humankind, that governments can bend their citizens to any kind
of purpose whatsoever. Usually such anti-utopian novels are intended as a criticism of the times in
which the author lives, much as was the case with nineteenth-century utopian novels.

Shortly after Animal Farm, itself an anti-utopian novel, Orwell published a brief essay on the Russian
writer Eugene Zamiatin's We, which, although it appeared in 1924, was little known to English-
speaking readers. It is said by some critics that there are similarities between 1984 and We. Certainly,
Orwell was much impressed by the novel, and he read it during the time when he was thinking
about his own 1984. In his essay on We, Orwell himself says that it bears some resemblances to
Aldous Huxley's Brave New World (1932), but, in his opinion, is a better novel.

That three writers in the same time, all interested in the idea of anti-utopia, should produce books
with some similarities is hardly a surprise. Of the three, only Orwell's depicts a society whose
purpose is solely that of power. For this reason, 1984 has caused more discussion and has made
more readers uneasy than either of the other two, although Zamiatin's novel is still not well known
to the Western world.

The anti-utopian novel is a specialized branch of fiction, like the novel of ideas. And it is true that
the author of such a novel is mainly concerned with depicting a certain kind of society. But since
they are writing a novel, by necessity they must use the means available to any novelist: plot, setting,
characterization, point of view, structure, and the like. To say that they bend these formal aspects to
their purpose is only to describe what any good novelist does. The success with which they make the
reader accept the reality they have created is the only meaningful test of their ability as a writer.
Orwell, after all, had written several novels before he produced either Animal Farm or 1984. By the
time of these later books he was no longer satisfied with the novel as he had written it and turned to
the anti-utopian novel as the most effective means to embody his urgent purposes.

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 GENRE ANALYSIS - WHAT IS SATIRE?

FROM WIKIPEDIA

Satire is a genre of literature, and sometimes graphic and performing arts, in which vices, follies,
abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals,
corporations, government, or society itself into improvement. Although satire is usually meant to be
humorous, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism, using wit to draw attention to
both particular and wider issues in society.

A feature of satire is strong irony or sarcasm—"in satire, irony is militant"—but parody, burlesque,
exaggeration, juxtaposition, comparison, analogy, and double entendre are all frequently used in
satirical speech and writing. This "militant" irony or sarcasm often professes to approve of (or at
least accept as natural) the very things the satirist wishes to attack.

Satire is nowadays found in many artistic forms of expression, including internet memes, literature,
plays, commentary, television shows, and media such as lyrics.

SATIRE AND HUMOUR

Laughter is not an essential

component of satire; in fact, there are
types of satire that are not meant to be
"funny" at all. Conversely, not all
humour, even on such topics as
politics, religion or art is necessarily
"satirical", even when it uses the
satirical tools of irony, parody, and
burlesque.

Even light-hearted satire has a serious

"after-taste": the organizers of the Ig
Nobel Prize describe this as "first
make people laugh, and then make
them think"

SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS

Historically, satire has satisfied the popular need to debunk and ridicule the leading figures in
politics, economy, religion and other prominent realms of power. Satire confronts public discourse
and the collective imaginary, playing as a public opinion counterweight to power (be it political,
economic, religious, symbolic, or otherwise), by challenging leaders and authorities. For instance, it
forces administrations to clarify, amend or establish their policies. Satire's job is to expose problems
and contradictions, and it's not obligated to solve them.

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 INTERROGATING HISTORY
THE LIFE, TIMES, AND INFLUENCES OF GEORGE ORWELL

After reading the notes provided

on the life of George Orwell, his
influences, and preferred forms of
creative output, answer the
questions below in a series of
thoughtful paragraphs. You must
support all your ideas and
assertions with evidence taken
from the notes provided as well as
any relevant and reliable material
you may find online or in the
library.

*May not have actually been said by Orwell

Orwell’s Life and Career

- Summarize Orwell’s biography into a concise paragraph; what, in your opinion, are the key
forces that shaped him as an individual?

- What events from his life might have influenced or inspired him in the writing of his final
novel 1984? Explain your analysis with reference to both his biography and the novel.

1984 and Anti-Utopian Fiction

- What is “Anti-Utopian” fiction and how does it differ from “dystopian” fiction? From
whence did it arise and why, in your opinion, is it so popular today?

- What were George Orwell’s “urgent purposes” for writing his classic novel 1984?

Satire

- What is the definition of satire and what are its uses; why might someone choose this
method to share their ideas?

- How is 1984 a satire? What does it satirize and why?

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 FOUR CORNERS: SHARING YOUR OPINION

AGREE or DISAGREE with the following

Be prepared to justify your answer!

1. Bad thoughts are equal to bad deeds.

2. Security is more important than freedom.

3. Leaders seek power for power's sake.

4. For everyone there is something unendurable.

5. Government surveillance is paramount to public safety.

6. Everyone would break the rules if they thought it safe to do so.

7. A government can control what you say but not what you really believe or feel.

8. Literature can be a threat to the government.

9. History is a record of real past events that cannot be altered or re-written.

10. There are natural human instincts, like the desire for love and drive to reproduce, that cannot be

destroyed.

11. Torturing a person who is a threat to a country’s freedom is acceptable as long the person does

not die.

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 CENSORSHIP: DEBATING HOT TOPICS
In a group, come up with as many arguments as you can for and against two of the following statements:

(1) Books with swearing and sexuality should not be taught in schools.

(2) It should be illegal for any person under the age of sixteen to purchase or play violent video
games like ‘Grand Theft Auto.’

(3) Songs with profane lyrics should not be censored on the radio.

(4) People who watch movies about drugs and crime are more likely to end up as addicts and
criminals.

(5) Images of scantily clad pop stars are damaging to young women and should not be included in
magazines or on television.

(6) Censorship is the first step towards the creation of an oppressive, fascist society.

(7) We should not read older books that contain racist attitudes, even if they are considered classics.

(8) No book, movie, song or image should be deliberately offensive to any minority.

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 SETTING UP THE STORY

The setting (place, time, atmosphere) often contributes to the mood or feeling of a story. Settings
usually vary within a novel, just as the mood does from scene to scene.

The following is a topic from a previous paper two exam. As we explore important settings in 1984
refer back to this question as a focus for your efforts.

Question: “Setting is a powerful vehicle of thematic concerns; in fact, it is one of the most
powerful.” How far has setting served to carry or underscore thematic concerns in fiction you
have studied?

1. Identify two or three prominent kinds of setting in 1984. Consider each of them and then
look at the relationship between them because that might be very important as well.

o Refer to the setting section in your “Understanding Novels” package for these.
“Kinds of setting” refers to settings as a group such as temporal or natural rather
than singular, specific settings like “Victory Mansions”.

2. Examine the dramatic value of each setting below (roles the setting can play in the novel)
and complete a chart.

Setting Description, pages Dramatic Value

Victory Mansions

The Ministry of
Truth

The room over

Mr. Charington’s

The Ministry of
Love

Room 101

The Chestnut Reference to WW2 Rebellion

Tree Cafe

3. Now that you have spent some time getting to know key settings in the novel, discuss their
meaning and implications in regards to our previously chosen exam question. Formulate a
concise, precise answer to the question and demonstrate how you would go about
supporting and elaborating on your argument in its defense.

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 CREATING CHARACTER POSTERS

When analyzing characters the main question to consider is what role or purpose they play in the
novel. What does the author want to convey through his/her main characters: an important moral
standpoint, a criticism of unacceptable values or behavior, a focus on the evolution of the
characters’ understanding, a representation of an aspect of society, or something else? What part do
minor characters play? Do they affect the plot, reveal important information, develop the conflict,
contrast or pair with one of the main characters, illuminating differences in character or attitude or
values?

Your Assignment:

In small groups, you will prepare a poster on

your chosen character to present to the class.
This poster should include a physical,
symbolic representation of the character(s) as
well as an analysis of a selection of the
following aspects:

• Narrator’s attitude toward them

(sympathetic, critical, etc.)
• Description (appearance, moral and
social qualities, behavior, etc.)
• Dialogue (their own or others)
• A particular style of speech; What
they talk about; how they express
themselves
• Thoughts and feelings
• Actions and reactions, situations
when he/she faces a decision
• Through contrast with another
character or characters
• Imagery and symbols

The Format of the Poster:

• Headline: A succinct, focusing statement that summarizes your character and their role in
the novel.
• Overview Paragraph: Introduce your character and describe their purpose in the novel.
• Central Image: this is your physical, symbolic representation of your character. It should be
representative of their role within the novel and their symbolic purpose. It can be a literal
representation or something more abstract.
• In depth analysis: Choose two pivotal scenes, points, aspects of your character and explore
them in detail. Support your assertions with evidence (quotations) from the text. A short

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 reading will help create a suitable tone either for the emotions or personality you wish to
convey to the audience.

Success Criteria:

Poster is well organized and with a clear layout and coherent presentation of information. Content is
reflective and demonstrates links between ideas and depth of insight.

Characters:

1. Big Brother
2. Goldstein
3. The Party (Inner and Outer) and The Proles
4. Winston (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)
5. Julia
6. The Parsons
7. Syme, Withers, Ampleforth
8. O’Brien
9. Jones, Aaronson, Rutherford

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 MOTIF AND SYMBOLISM IN 1984
Winston, the protagonist in the novel 1984, becomes aware of a reality beyond that dictated by the State, a
reality free of Big Brother. He attempts to carve out this independent reality for himself through connections
to the past and hopes for the future. His efforts are represented in several physical and abstract symbols
throughout the text. Yet, these symbols also contain the keys to his downfall, predicting and drawing him
towards an inevitable conclusion in which those in power shatter and remold his reality to fit their will. As the
symbols develop through the book's three parts, their representation of Winston's hope for a reality of the
free individual twists into a representation of his complete surrender of humanity to fit within the State's
reality, a self-fulfilling prophecy that he could never have broken.

For this assignment, you explore one of the following groups of symbols in detail

1st group 2nd group 3d group 4th group

a) animals a) body a) smells a) food

b) paperweight b) nightmares/dreams b) games b) newspeak

c) history c) water c) clothing c) rats

5th group 6th group

a) propaganda a) diary

b) 2+2=5 b) dust

c) songs c) solitude

Start collecting information about your image/symbol right away. Prepare a chart with page numbers and
brief notes on the situation where they appear and their significance.

Sample

1. Image page situation significance

2. Image page situation significance

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 YOUR TASK: SYMBOLISM - ONE PAGE PRIMERS

To aid your understanding of the complex symbolism Orwell incorporates in 1984 you will create
concise, one page primers for each of the significant symbols. These will introduce the reader to the
symbol as well as give some specific points of reference and analysis that will be useful upon later
reference.

STRUCTURE OF THE PRIMER

Introduction

Begin your handout with a general statement about Orwell’s use of an assigned image/symbol in the
novel. The main question you need to respond to is ‘What role do these motifs/symbols play in
the novel’.

The following questions will help you to organize your introduction:

▪ What does the symbol represent or what is the significance of the image?

▪ How does Orwell use them in connection with events or characters?

▪ How do they reveal or reflect their fears, the past, or a better life for these characters?

Specific Evidence and Analysis

Your handout should include a detailed chart featuring specific quotes from the novel that describe
your chosen symbol. It should also include your analysis of the meaning of the extract with example
and explanation of the symbol’s meaning and function. See the sample chart for reference.

Visual Representation of the Symbol/Motif

Your handout should also include an accurate image representative of the symbol to aid in
quick reference. Also, it will make it look cool.

* Remember: Imagery performs several

functions in a work of literature *

▪ creates atmosphere (setting)

▪ reinforces certain themes or motifs

(theme)

▪ characterizes and contrasts

personalities (character revelation)

▪ foreshadows upcoming events (plot)

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 SCENES AND THEMES
SUPPORTING PAPER TWO TOPICS WITH GEORGE ORWELL’S 1984

One of the most important skills you must develop as a writer is the ability to support your
arguments with detailed, well-chosen evidence. This activity will help you experiment with and hone
your ability to respond to compare and contrast prompts using key scenes from the novel 1984.

Today, we will be working with the 2017 Paper Two topics to develop your ability to create well
crafted, and well supported responses.

Paper Two Prose Topics

1. Compare the presentation and function of villains or anti-heroes in at least two works of
prose fiction you have studied.

2. In at least two works of prose fiction you have studied, discuss the presentation of
competing ideas, hopes or visions and consider the effects created.

3. Compare the use and function of seemingly insignificant detail in at least two works of prose
fiction you have studied.

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Step One: Theme Statement Battle Royale!

1. Answer each of the questions above using 1984 as your text. Remember, a good answer will
respond to the prompt with specific, compelling arguments and details taken from the text.
Your answer should propose some kind of universal theme statement as part of your
response.

2. Hone your language until it is sharp like a knife! Be concise, be bold, and be prepared to
battle!

Step Two: Expand Your Response into an Oral Presentation

1. Pair up with a classmate and decide on a theme statement to work with.

2. With reference to at least two key scenes from the novel support your statement with an
analytical oral commentary. Be sure to show how specific literary elements from the scenes
prove your points.

3. Practice your presentation and prepare to perform for the class. As support for your
presentation you may have a copy of the scene and up to five concise bullet points to expand
from.

Step Three: Present

1. Present your concise, well-formed analysis to the class in a 5-minute commentary format.

2. Prepare to answer any audience questions immediately afterward.

3. Take a bow!

Follow Up

The experience and notes gained from this activity should be extremely beneficial to you in your
final preparation for your paper two exam in May if you do the following:

• Work diligently to create a well formed and well supported argument and analysis of your
chosen topic.

• Take copious notes during other group’s presentations. Ask questions if something needs
clarification.

• Reflect on other’s conclusions and come up with your own. Do you agree with your
classmates’ interpretations? How can you apply their scenes to different questions?

• Share! Your class is your team and, working together, you can accomplish more than you can
alone. Share notes and ideas, talk about the text, and help one another to succeed.

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