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    1984 Essay

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    Brandon Adair
    This essay analyzes how George Orwell uses literary devices to effectively convey his theme in 1984. Specifically, it discusses how character development of figures like Syme, Parsons, and Winston; the setting of Airstrip One in London; point of view from Winston; and symbols like "War is Peace" demonstrate Orwell's belief that people would gradually become dehumanized under totalitarian rule. While critics have questioned the literary aspects, the essay argues the devices are perfectly integrated with the theme to warn readers against totalitarianism.

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    1984 Essay

    Uploaded by

    Brandon Adair
    634 views3 pages
    This essay analyzes how George Orwell uses literary devices to effectively convey his theme in 1984. Specifically, it discusses how character development of figures like Syme, Parsons, and Winston; the setting of Airstrip One in London; point of view from Winston; and symbols like "War is Peace" demonstrate Orwell's belief that people would gradually become dehumanized under totalitarian rule. While critics have questioned the literary aspects, the essay argues the devices are perfectly integrated with the theme to warn readers against totalitarianism.

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    This essay analyzes how George Orwell uses literary devices to effectively convey his theme in 1984. Specifically, it discusses how character development of figures like Syme, Parsons, and Winston; the setting of Airstrip One in London; point of view from Winston; and symbols like "War is Peace" demonstrate Orwell's belief that people would gradually become dehumanized under totalitarian rule. While critics have questioned the literary aspects, the essay argues the devices are perfectly integrated with the theme to warn readers against totalitarianism.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    634 views3 pages

    1984 Essay

    Uploaded by

    Brandon Adair
    This essay analyzes how George Orwell uses literary devices to effectively convey his theme in 1984. Specifically, it discusses how character development of figures like Syme, Parsons, and Winston; the setting of Airstrip One in London; point of view from Winston; and symbols like "War is Peace" demonstrate Orwell's belief that people would gradually become dehumanized under totalitarian rule. While critics have questioned the literary aspects, the essay argues the devices are perfectly integrated with the theme to warn readers against totalitarianism.

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    George Orwell believed that people would gradually become soulless robots through brainwashing and terror techniques. He used 1984 to warn about the dangers of communism, weapons of mass destruction, and apathy.

    Orwell develops characters like Syme, Parsons, Julia, and Winston to show how even intelligent people can be corrupted and how lack of information allows the party to take control.

    Orwell sets the story in London in the future to make the warnings more relevant to British readers. Using Winston's point of view, the reader sees how indoctrination has consequences and how no one is safe from the party's control.

    Brandon Adair

    Nelson 3rd block


    AP English 3-19-03

    1984 Essay
    Up with your hands! yelled a savage voice. A handsome, tough looking boy of nine
    had popped up from behind the table In one of his greatest works, 1984, George Orwell
    conveyed his thoughts of the future to a world being swarmed with communism, atomic
    weaponry, and the aftermath of World War II. He attempted to give a warning so that future
    generations would not live up to his dire expectations. Fifty-four years later, the book is still
    considered one of the great Negative Utopias but has come under fire for its literary aspects.
    These accusations are baseless when a proper investigation of its stylistics is completed. By
    doing this, it becomes clear that Orwell tied his literary devices into his theme perfectly. They
    add to the impact of his negative conclusions for what the future holds.
    To understand how the stylistics are connected to the theme of the book, it is first vital to
    know that theme. In essence, George Orwell believed in the gradual dehumanization of people.
    He thought that they would become soulless robots and would not even notice the change.
    Orwell felt that this would be accomplished by brainwashing and extreme terror techniques.
    This basic idea is the very soul of 1984. It is illustrated many times throughout the novel,
    supported by numerous literary devices.
    One of the stylistics that supports Orwells theme the best is character development. He
    describes their personalities so intimately that, through their varying viewpoints, it is easy to see
    how the destruction of man comes about. Syme, the vocabulary specialist, is a prime example of
    how a major force can corrupt even a brilliant mind. He is thoroughly enamored with his job as
    a Newspeak specialist in the eleventh edition. Syme seems to be an extremely intelligent man,
    yet the brainwashing that he has undergone makes him love the Party. He is too smart for his
    own good, however, and the Party does away with him, showing how they eliminate a potential

    Brandon Adair
    Nelson 3rd block
    AP English 3-19-03
    threat. Parsons, Winstons neighbor, is perhaps the best case for Party loyalty. Orwell seems to
    make Parsons the symbol of the common man, who accepts things blindly. This is a cry against
    apathy, lest that emotion be used to take over entire nations. Parsons even accepts his arrest as
    for his own good, because of the lack of information he has. Winstons lover, Julia is the
    illustration of how even someone who hates the Party can be under subjection. She despites Big
    Brother as much as Winston does but not for the same reasons. She does not care about the
    political injustices and the lies in Party doctrine. Julia only hates the fact that she is denied
    physical pleasure. Because of her shallowness, the Party has a hold on Julia. Winston, himself,
    is the final example of Orwells use of character development. He is the one character in the
    book who understands the situation and attempts to combat it for the right reasons.
    Unfortunately George Orwell gives a tragic end for this lone freedom fighter, illustrating his
    point of too little too late.
    Orwells use of setting and point of view are also key parts in his theme in 1984. The
    location for the novel was chosen specifically to impact his largest audience (the British). He
    makes his setting in Oceania, an area consisting of the islands off of mainland Europe. To
    further make his point hit home, Orwell makes it in Airstrip One (formerly England) and
    specifically in London. He hoped to make his fellow countrymen think harder when they
    realized that the book was not in some mythological land but in their own neighborhoods and
    homes. The point of view in the book is very important. The reader is allowed to look through
    the eyes of a man who has known nothing but hate and indoctrination. He is unique, for only he
    realizes the consequences that apathy and atomic weaponry have reaped. The reader is able to
    clearly see the folly of the other characters and in the end, be crushed when not even Winston
    can hold against the Party.

    Brandon Adair
    Nelson 3rd block
    AP English 3-19-03
    Two more of Orwells stylistics that underline the message of the book are specific details
    and motifs/symbols. The specific things that he points out in the novel, illustrate his theme
    perfectly. For example, the book supposedly written by Emmanuel Goldstein is an ideal
    platform for Orwell to vent his feelings towards Society, war, and Socialism. The book describes
    the Societal struggles between classes and seems to indicate that Orwell thought these fights
    helped to increase the lust for power in groups like the Party. It also shows that Orwell believed
    that Communists used military build-up to subjugate their populace (thus we were moving
    towards the world of 1984). He also said, through the book, that every Socialist and Utopian
    movement from the beginning of history was leading up to the situation in 1984. Another
    illustration of specific detail in the novel is the description of the torture chambers in the
    Ministry of Love. These horrifying tales show perfectly how people can be beaten or
    brainwashed into true submission and loyalty. Also Orwells symbols and motifs tied into his
    theme. Phrases like War is Peace and Ignorance is Strength seem to pound into the brain the
    idea of total mindlessness that Orwell described for humankind. The telescreen is the ever
    present threat that is the symbol of ultimate control in the book. It implies that no one is safe to
    think or act outside of blind Party loyalty. His description of the coral paperweight is the escape
    to a freer time before the Party has taken over.
    When he first published the book in 1949, George Orwell hoped to convince a world to
    regain its human qualities before it was too late. In the time that has passed, 1984 has been
    lumped into the category of a classic, but its dire warnings are not taken as seriously as was
    intended. Instead critics have decided to focus on complaining about the literary quality of the
    book. This is off focus and is completely wrong anyway. They have not taken the time to see
    how the stylistics tie into the theme of the novel and add to its impact in todays world.

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