1984 Literature Analysis

1. Summary

1984 by George Orwell takes place in the year 1984 although no one is truly certain about that. The world is divided by three super-powers: Oceana, consisting of the Americas and Britain; Eurasia, primarily made up of Russia, the rest of Europe, and the Middle-East; and finally Eastasia, which includes China, Mongolia, Siberia, Australia and some of the Pacific islands. All three nations are in a perpetual state of war against one of the other two and are controlled by a wealthy class that completely rules with tyranny over the middle and lower classes. This is where our protagonist comes in. Winston Smith is what people would call an average human being nowadays, meaning he has a decent memory and has a vague sense of right and wrong. Unfortunately for him though is that the police, or known in the book as the thought police, watch his every move like every other citizen in Oceana through the use of telescreens. These screens can hear every decibel of sound for a good twenty or so feet, can even watch what people are doing for up to ten feet and are literally everywhere in Oceana. There is no private space. Although there are no rules in Oceana, any hint of uprising against the wealthy class or “inner party” as the book puts it and any slightly suspicious activity gets you put on trial and then executed. Winston works in the Ministry of Truth which falsifies all documentation to fit the Inner Party’s definition of truth. This bugs him quite a bit, and when he finds another defector in the party, they go on to break as many party rules as they can without being found out by the thought police which mainly takes the form of adultery seeing how they are neither married nor having sex by Inner Party approval. They get by for a while but then are caught by the thought police. While Winston is in jail, his defective thoughts are exposed and then cured by methodical torture and starvation in the first stage. Terrorization by using his worst fears against him which takes the form of surrounding him by sewer rats completes the process. At the end of the book, when Winston finally loves the party’s iconic hero, Big Brother and truly believes the Inner Party when they say 2+2=5 does he finally gets executed. It is only by this method does the Inner Party leave no opportunity for rebellion because by changing Winston’s beliefs and mind, they leave no martyrs behind.

2. Theme

The theme of the novel is a warning. If people and the government do not change their act, then this fictional novel will take some form of reality.

3.Tone

The tone can be read as of bitter optimism. “But if there was hope, it lay in the proles.” (Page 73) The proles are the low class. I am stating this for clarification purposes.

4. Literary Elements.

Setting: Setting plays a crucial role in the book because it took place in the future of which it was originally written in 1949 and creates the basis of the warning.

Allusion: Allusion plays a big role in the story with how dates are continually being changed and how the Party is different from past tyrannies by referring to Communism and the Catholic Church’s Inquisition.

Imagery: By referring to the current state of Oceana, the reader gets a feel about how wealthy the Inner Party is compared to the middle and lower classes.

Theme: The warning that is the extended metaphor throughout the book really makes the events connect with current events going on in the lives of the readers’.

Diction: The word usage in the novel is critical because of the emphasis of the many lies the Inner Party creates and how they “bend” reality to their liking. The perfect example of this is in the second to the last page when the Thought Police truly makes Winston believe that 2+2=5.