1984 Essay, Research Paper

1.) List the title and author of the work you read?

1984 written by George Orwell which is a pen name for Eric Blair, his real name.

2.) Briefly describe the plot (action) of the work. What happens?

1984 a story of dictators who are in complete control of a large part of the world after the allies lost in

World War II. The government in this novel gives no freedoms to its citizens. They live in fear because

they are afraid of having corrupt thoughts about the governments of Oceania, a crime punishable by death.

Winston, the main character, is a man of 39 who is not high in either intelligence or character, but is

disgusted with the world in which he lives in. Winston represents Orwell?s view on totalitarianism. He

works in the Ministry of Truth, which is a place where history and facts- significant or not are rewritten

to reflect the party?s idealistic beliefs. They destroy the records of the past; and print up new revised

editions, which is being constantly redone. Winston is aware of the untruths, because he makes them true.

This makes him very upset with the government of Oceania, where Big Brother, a larger than life figure,

controls the people. Big brother is the figurehead of a government that has total control. The Big brother

political system uses propaganda and puts fear in its citizens to keep the general population in line. His

dissatisfaction increases to a point where he rebels against the government in small ways. Winston’s first

act of rebellion is buying and writting in a diary in which he buys from a antique shop run by a prole. This

act is known as a though crime and is punishable by death. A though crime is any bad thought against the

government, Winston commits many thought crimes and becomes paranoid about being caught, which he

knows is inevitable. He becomes paranoid because he is followed by a young woman who is activly

involved in many community groups. Winston is obsessed with the past, a time before Oceania was under

strict dictatorship. He goes into the same antique shop and forms a relationship with the shop keeper in

which he shows Winston a room upstairs which he can rent. While there he sees the same woman

following him, as this happens many thoughts race through his mind about killing her. He decideds

against it since she would probly fight back. The girl who was following him slipped him a note while in

work saying “I love you.” They make plans to meet each other and carry on an illegal love affair that lasts

for a long period of time and is commited in many secret places. Winston rents the room where him and

the girl, Julia, can be secluded from the outside world. Julia is considered a sexual deviant in the

oppressed world of 1984. In the normal world sex is free, in 1984 it?s a forbidden act only allowed for

reproduction prposes to keep the partys numbers constant. Julia has been sexually active since her teenage

years. ?She has had her first love affair when she was sixteen, with a party member of sixty.? Love and

sex is not allowed in this totalitarian state so Julia has to look as pure as possible so that she does not show

any guilt.

Winston had been fascinated about a man named O’Brien who he see’s and he contacts Winston

who indicates that he is a member of a secret brotherhood. They go to his house and he gives them a

book to read said to be written by Emannuel Goldstein. Soon after that, Winston and Julia are caught at

there rented room which was actually all fake and the though police knew everything that was happening

from the begging. O’Brien, becomes his rehabilitator and torturer for the next 9 months. O’Brien tortures

Winston in stages. The first two stages are to force the party’s beliefes on him then learn and understand

what is exspected of him. In the third stage, Winston is made to face what he secretly fears the most, rats

eating his face. O’Brien knows this because earlier in the novel while they were in the rented room a rat

comes out of a hole and Winston is petrified of it and shows his fear of rats. then Winston yells: ?Do it to

Julia, dont do it to me, do it to her!? This was the ultamite betrayal of her and himself and he is

immeditately released from his imprisonment. After being rehabilitated by O’Brien, Winston now loves

the establishment and the government. He is set free and lives a rather dull life playing chess, drinking,

and sitting in a cafe. Later, back in the Chestnut Tree cafe, he realises that he loves Big Brother.

3.) How would you describe the authors style? Examine the way the author writes, considering word

choice, point of view, structure, special techniques (ie. symbolism).

1984, in spite of its setting in the future, is not primarily a utopian fantasy prophesying what the world

would be like in thirty of forty years but a novel about what the world is like now. Orwell relates all the

characters in his books to points of view in real people. In 1984, Orwell represents his point of view in

Winston. He shows a totalitarian leader, in O’Brien and Big Brother, while Julia is the desire and lust in

every human being. Orwell had deep resentment against totalitanism in his existing world. He also

understood how the problem could fester and become larger due to instability in Europe’s economy after

World War II. He purposely makes the story, 1984, unrealistic and blown out of proportion to capture

people’s attention and make them think maybe it would’nt be unrealistic in the near future. With his deep

resentment toward totalitarianism it became the focal point of the novel. Orwell’s novel was directed

against totalitarianism and for socialism and what it stood for. Orwell was a proficient master of

symbolism. The leader of the Soviet Union, Stalin, closley resembles Big Brother. They were both larger

than life figures in there respective countries. In the Soviet Union you could easily have found large

posters with Stalins face on them. The same holds true in 1984; Big Brother’s face is everywhere in the

story. Orwell extracted what he saw in the world while writing 1984 which was his special technique in

this perticular story.

4.) Was this an easy work to read? Why or why not?

The book seemed to lack something in the begging that I could not put my finger on. Since the

ending of the book was rather exemplary it made up for the begging. Some thing in the book did seem

obscure because of his misconspetions of the future as it is now.

5.) In two or more sentences, explain your overall understanding of the theme of this work?

Remember that a theme is a interpretive statement that describes what you consider the central

meaning of the novel.

The authors purpose of writting this book is to warn of danger certain types of government can have. He is

saying those Dictatorships are very controlling and that they can do as they please just to control the

people within their country. The book says that the Inner Party, which is like a Dicatorship, did what ever

it took the control of the people. The major theme of the book is that totalitarianism is a very sinister and

corrupt form of government and that it should be banned in some way or another. I believe that it is bad

because the government has the complete power to do what they want and they could possibly change

history. An additional theme in the book is to keep track of your history because at any given time it could

change right in front of you.