Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell (1984): Difference between revisions

From A+ Club Lesson Planner & Study Guide
No edit summary
No edit summary
 
Line 34: Line 34:
* Orwell was dying of tuberculosis while he wrote it, and will himself to complete it
* Orwell was dying of tuberculosis while he wrote it, and will himself to complete it


== Warnings & phrophesies ==
== Warnings & prophesies ==


* excesses and dangers of democracy
* excesses and dangers of democracy
Line 58: Line 58:


* Thought Police
* Thought Police
== Terms & vocabulary of 1984 ==
== Plot ==
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
unperson
> to remove all information that a person even existed
Winston: = job to rewrite historical records
> memory holes
ex. his family member... and he doesn't remember much about them, or his sister
constant need to revise bc one lie is needed to cover the other
proles
> from "proletariat" = working class
>> socialist revs were supposed give power to the proletariat
<< orwell's
> not monitored, can do what they want
> easy to manipulate, don't have any power
> kept in ignorance
> entertainment:
>> lottery (fake)
>>> ppl hope for it, live for it.. knowing it's a lie.. it represents and escape that they don't control
>>> = a state of helplessness
<< lotto = emotional escape
>> aclohol, pornography
<<< physical escape from reality
> no religion << state doesn't want competition from God
<< the state acts like a religion (confessions, etc.)
Winston
> gets diary from the proles section
> realizes using is treason
O'Brien
> winston thinks he also hates Big Brother
Ch 1: we get Winston's
> doubts
> act of rebellion (diary)
> sees similar attitude in O'Brien
>> not alone
the Two Min Hate
Ch 2
> Winston paranoid from writing in the Diaory ... thinks the Thought Police are coming for him
> Mrs. Parson's kids are Junior Spies
>> theme
> later he just accepts that he's going be caught
Ch 3
> dream of his mother on a sinking ship
>> she was purged 20 yrs ago
>> so he's having doubts about the truth... thinking of his mother is treason
> Winston's attitude towards women
>> lustful, also hates  (has issues)
<< the girl in the office
> "shakespeare" on his lips
>>> remnant of the past (hasn't fully disappared)
>> whistle sounds = control
>> Physical Jerks >> mandatory grotesque exercise
> has thoughts of his childhood
> thinks about the history... the other states, why they're at war
> realized that no one had heard of BB until 1960s, but the published history of him goes to the 1930s
> surveillance: he's repreminand
Ch 4
= the mechanics of the control of information  
> at work
> BB is never wrong
>> W's job to match party records w/ new orders
> uses "speakwrite" machine
> examples of the lies >> less food but told they have more food than ever
> Winston invents Comrade Ogilvy to switch him out for another purged person
Ch V
> lunch w Syme ... who's working on Newspeak
> explains it's to limit thought to make thoughtcrime impossible
<< words and thought
> meets Parsons, father of the kids, who apologizes for them but is proud of them
<< Parsons thereby knows it's all wrong but goes w/ it
>> W sees him as someone who will live throught it.. the idea person the party wants
Ministry of Plenty
> lies about production increases
> W paranoid about dark haired girl
Ch 6
> writes in diary about sex w/a prole prostitite
> thinks about how the party hates sex and wants to remove pleasure from it
>> thereby sex would be a duty not a pleasure or natural process
> W's ex, Katherine, hated sex and left him when they reazlied they wouldn't have children
<< Katherin is also part of his problems w/ women
Ch 7:
> W writes in diary that proles are the only hope for revolution
<< where'd that thought come from?
> The Brotherhood = an oposing revolutionary group << W thinks they can't win
>> only the proles can 85% of the pop
<< but proles dont' have any interest
looks at children's book ... realizes the lies, city a mess, ppl in poverty
> W is starting to doubt the lies
> if party says 2+2 =5 you have to believe it
> W recalls in 1960s having seen original Rev leaders at a Cafe for out-of-favor emembers... and one, Rutherford cries...
W find a photo that proves they were actually in new york and not in the Cafe.. so the memory was wrong
the Winston destroys the photo of them
<< realizes this is clear evidence of a party lie
> he's struggling w/ truth and lies
> writes in Diary about O'Brien
>> thinkinga bout rebellion
> thinks that freeedom = ability to interpret reality on one's own, so 2+2 could be 4
Ch 8:
> goes to prole area
> tries to learn about what had really happened, speaks to an old man at pub who doesn't remember, or avoids it
<< W wanted to know if the rev was really about proles being exploited by capitalists... wants to know if the man was better off before or not
> goes to book store
> Mr. Charrington, the owner
>> takes him upstairs to where there's no telescreen
>> picture of a church on the wall
>> evokes an old rhyme of church bells
<<< the prole has a pict of a churc (religions are banned)
> on way home thinks he's being followed by the dark haired girl.. thinks she will turn him ib
> considers suicide
> calms himself by thinkin ab out O'Brien and a place w/ no darkness (escape) ... but this is disconcerting... thinks instead about BB by looking at coin and remembering the party slogan< W is peece, etc.
Themes:
> reality v perception
> ppls' interactions w/ the state
  >> we see different ppl and the way
> W's questioning growing
<< even though his job is to re-write history ... and he starts questioning the actual
[[Category:Literature]]
[[Category:Literature]]
[[Category:Modern literature]]
[[Category:Modern literature]]

Latest revision as of 22:24, 17 October 2022

a dystopian novel and "cautionary tale" by British socialist writer George Orwell

  • "dystopian" = "bad place"
  • cautionary tale = a story with a moral purpose, esp. to warn against bad behavior
    • ex. Aesop's Fables are "cautionary tales"
  • Orwell saw the book as a warning
  • critics have called it a prophetic (predictive of the future) as well as a warning

we will refer to it as "1948" here

Background[edit | edit source]

  • the book was written a few years after the end of World War II
  • and the creation of the United Nations (UN)
    • Orwell had called for the UN's "Universal Declaration of Human Rights"
    • 1984 shows a world in which these rights are violated by a government

Orwell's background[edit | edit source]

  • journalist, novelist and socialist reformer
  • became famous with the novel Animal Farm that was a cautionary tale against and analogy of the failures of the Russian communist revolution

Novel's background[edit | edit source]

  • whereas Animal Farm cautioned against totalitarian communism, 1984 also cautions against the fascism of Hitler and Mussolini (Italian fascist)
  • the book was in part a response to Aldous Huxley's "A Brave New World"
    • Huxley's dystopia is of a people controlled/ enslaved by drugs and pleasure
    • Orwell's dystopia was violent

Writing of the novel[edit | edit source]

  • completed in 1948, thus the inversion of the year
  • Orwell was dying of tuberculosis while he wrote it, and will himself to complete it

Warnings & prophesies[edit | edit source]

  • excesses and dangers of democracy
  • surveillance state
    • whereas Orwell's warning was against state (government) surveillance
    • we have in the West a pervasive corporate surveillance
      • internet and cell phone tracking
      • "personalized" advertising
  • propaganda
  • cancel culture
  • disinformation
  • "bread and circuses"

Cultural influence[edit | edit source]

  • "1984"
  • Big Brother
  • New Speak
  • mind control
  • Thought Police

Terms & vocabulary of 1984[edit | edit source]

Plot[edit | edit source]

WAR IS PEACE

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

unperson

> to remove all information that a person even existed

Winston: = job to rewrite historical records

> memory holes

ex. his family member... and he doesn't remember much about them, or his sister

constant need to revise bc one lie is needed to cover the other

proles

> from "proletariat" = working class

>> socialist revs were supposed give power to the proletariat

<< orwell's

> not monitored, can do what they want

> easy to manipulate, don't have any power

> kept in ignorance

> entertainment:

>> lottery (fake)

>>> ppl hope for it, live for it.. knowing it's a lie.. it represents and escape that they don't control

>>> = a state of helplessness

<< lotto = emotional escape

>> aclohol, pornography

<<< physical escape from reality

> no religion << state doesn't want competition from God

<< the state acts like a religion (confessions, etc.)

Winston

> gets diary from the proles section

> realizes using is treason

O'Brien

> winston thinks he also hates Big Brother

Ch 1: we get Winston's

> doubts

> act of rebellion (diary)

> sees similar attitude in O'Brien

>> not alone

the Two Min Hate

Ch 2

> Winston paranoid from writing in the Diaory ... thinks the Thought Police are coming for him

> Mrs. Parson's kids are Junior Spies

>> theme

> later he just accepts that he's going be caught

Ch 3

> dream of his mother on a sinking ship

>> she was purged 20 yrs ago

>> so he's having doubts about the truth... thinking of his mother is treason

> Winston's attitude towards women

>> lustful, also hates  (has issues)

<< the girl in the office

> "shakespeare" on his lips

>>> remnant of the past (hasn't fully disappared)

>> whistle sounds = control

>> Physical Jerks >> mandatory grotesque exercise

> has thoughts of his childhood

> thinks about the history... the other states, why they're at war

> realized that no one had heard of BB until 1960s, but the published history of him goes to the 1930s

> surveillance: he's repreminand

Ch 4

= the mechanics of the control of information  

> at work

> BB is never wrong

>> W's job to match party records w/ new orders

> uses "speakwrite" machine

> examples of the lies >> less food but told they have more food than ever

> Winston invents Comrade Ogilvy to switch him out for another purged person

Ch V

> lunch w Syme ... who's working on Newspeak

> explains it's to limit thought to make thoughtcrime impossible

<< words and thought

> meets Parsons, father of the kids, who apologizes for them but is proud of them

<< Parsons thereby knows it's all wrong but goes w/ it

>> W sees him as someone who will live throught it.. the idea person the party wants

Ministry of Plenty

> lies about production increases

> W paranoid about dark haired girl

Ch 6

> writes in diary about sex w/a prole prostitite

> thinks about how the party hates sex and wants to remove pleasure from it

>> thereby sex would be a duty not a pleasure or natural process

> W's ex, Katherine, hated sex and left him when they reazlied they wouldn't have children

<< Katherin is also part of his problems w/ women

Ch 7:

> W writes in diary that proles are the only hope for revolution

<< where'd that thought come from?

> The Brotherhood = an oposing revolutionary group << W thinks they can't win

>> only the proles can 85% of the pop

<< but proles dont' have any interest

looks at children's book ... realizes the lies, city a mess, ppl in poverty

> W is starting to doubt the lies

> if party says 2+2 =5 you have to believe it

> W recalls in 1960s having seen original Rev leaders at a Cafe for out-of-favor emembers... and one, Rutherford cries...

W find a photo that proves they were actually in new york and not in the Cafe.. so the memory was wrong

the Winston destroys the photo of them

<< realizes this is clear evidence of a party lie

> he's struggling w/ truth and lies

> writes in Diary about O'Brien

>> thinkinga bout rebellion

> thinks that freeedom = ability to interpret reality on one's own, so 2+2 could be 4

Ch 8:

> goes to prole area

> tries to learn about what had really happened, speaks to an old man at pub who doesn't remember, or avoids it

<< W wanted to know if the rev was really about proles being exploited by capitalists... wants to know if the man was better off before or not

> goes to book store

> Mr. Charrington, the owner

>> takes him upstairs to where there's no telescreen

>> picture of a church on the wall

>> evokes an old rhyme of church bells

<<< the prole has a pict of a churc (religions are banned)

> on way home thinks he's being followed by the dark haired girl.. thinks she will turn him ib

> considers suicide

> calms himself by thinkin ab out O'Brien and a place w/ no darkness (escape) ... but this is disconcerting... thinks instead about BB by looking at coin and remembering the party slogan< W is peece, etc.

Themes:

> reality v perception

> ppls' interactions w/ the state

  >> we see different ppl and the way

> W's questioning growing

<< even though his job is to re-write history ... and he starts questioning the actual