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George Orwell s Nineteen Eighty-Four Orwell's 1984 portrays a sense of injustice, a tormented view of a society in which political systems suppress individual thought and emotions. He explores the inability of the human spirit to be oppressed, and its need to control. Within the characters, Orwell explores the extremes of human characteristics. We see mankind s need for individuality and freedom in the central character of Winston Smith.
He is the unlikely hero of this a scientific romance; the single plot places emphasis on the workings of his mind, and so focuses on the reaction of the individual to totalitarianism, love, and cruelty. Likewise, we see less admirable qualities in the character of O Brien. He portrays mans need to control, and to conform. In illustrating the extremes of human characteristics, both characters are personified, and therefore the notion of such a society in 1984 becomes a somewhat human possibility. The society of Airstrip One is all the more striking to the reader by the atmosphere created by Orwell.
We are introduced to a dark, cold world of ruin. By intensifying the despair of the world of Winston Smith, we the reader not only sympathizes with the inhabitants, but also understand the destruction such a regime like that in 1984 has on society. We learn of such a society through the narration of Winston Smith, where the language is on the whole simple, direct and concrete. The world of Airstrip One is given in great exactness so that the imagined world in 1984 is given a sensuous reality. Through use of not only language but also striking atmosphere, and characters to which we can relate to, Orwell shapes our understanding of their imagined worlds. The novel can be deemed a scientific romance, as the story of 1984 is set in an external-disturbing world, whereby a romance is created.
The central character to this futuristic romance is Winston Smith. He is the hero outside of the society, who finds its values repugnant. Winston can be considered outside as he, in comparison to the world of Airstrip One, is the person we the reader would deem most normal. He is however, a highly improbable hero; weak, frail, and vulnerable. A smallish, frail figure, his hair very fair, his face naturally sanguine, his skin roughed. His unlikeness to be a hero of a scientific romance is what makes he and the society in 1984 more realistic.
Winston is the protagonist by whom Orwell's ideas of are projected through. By emphasising the plot around the life of a seemingly normal individual, Orwell successfully illustrates the workings of the individual mind, as its reaction to totalitarianism, forbidden love, and cruelty. Winston also serves a second purpose within the novel. That is to show that the human spirit can not be suppressed. Orwell achieves this by Winston s need to come to understand his own past, his own history. He revolts the world of 1984, scattered with rotting houses, held up with great banks of timber, their roofs patched with corrugated iron.
Mute protest in your bones (Pg. 62) Winston s disgust for the world in which he lives evokes memories of his past life. In doing so, Orwell illustrates that the human spirit and imagination can not be suppressed. Winston knows that life has not always been as it is in Airstrip One, that there was once a time when it was not a never-ending round of work, and tele screens. Was it not a sign that this was not the natural order of things, if one s heart sickened at the discomfort and dirt and scarcity, the interminable winters, the stickiness of one s socks, the lifts that never worked, the cold water, the gritty soap Why should one feel it to be intolerable unless one had some kind of ancestral memory that things had once been different? (Pg. 51) In Winston s search for a better world; his need for individuality and freedom, we not only see ourselves, but our understanding of the anti-utopian society Orwell portrays is in heightened. That is, the notion that albeit the suffering of the human body, the human spirit and imagination can not be oppressed.
Throughout the novel, Orwell uses Winston's personal thoughts to illustrate the power of the imagination to suppress the truth, conjuring dreams of worlds much different to that of 1984. We see this in Winston's dreams of the Golden Country, which not only acts as a device to show mankind s ability to escape chaos, but to secondly provide a contrasting environment to that of Airstrip One. The beauty of the Country is in direct opposite to the reality of 1984, with its dinginess and drabness, to say nothing of its cruelty. By use of personal ancestral memories, we gain a sense that Winston is a realistic character, whom we not only share compassion for, but also hold hope for in his search to lead a life of freedom, beauty and individuality. In the novel, Winston attempts to recapture fragments of his ancestral memory in his love affair with Julia.
In doing so, he tries to come to live in a way that is more natural than is possible, given the Party and general atmosphere of life in 1984. As their love deepens, they recover feelings of the past. The fulfilment of their relationship, with its association to the past, is symbolized in a paperweight Winston buys in London. It s a little chunk of history that they ve forgotten to alter (Pg. 119) That is, it has remained constant despite the instability of the past, and is reflective of the small world of love Winston and Julia create for themselves. In displaying Winston's search for a more fuller, completed life, we not only gain a better understanding of his character, and the similarities he holds with the reader, but a better understanding of Orwell's ideas behind his imagined world. Again displayed is Orwell's notion that the human spirit can not be suppressed, rather it s continuation to recall humanity, the good and the bad, and to recapture freedom and emotions such as love and hope.
In Orwell's portrayal of mankind, he explores mans need to control and live in a just society. Such attributes are symbolic in the character of O Brien. Like Winston is in search for freedom, O Brien sought to uphold the regime found in Airstrip One. It is not only his eagerness to control, but also his befriend ment of Winston, that leads to the demise of his central character of the novel. We see Winston undertake degradation and torture at the hands of the Party. His search for self-realisation is what brought him to the torture chambers at the Ministry of Love.
In this sense, Orwell is commenting of the consequences that some individuals withstand in their fight for a better existence. Likewise, Winston's acceptance of Big Brother is evidence of the power of such totalitarian societies, and mankind s inability to complete immerse itself from reality. Again, through emphasis on the workings of Winston s mind, Orwell illustrates the effects the cruelty of the world of 1984 have on the individual. The intensity and sheer horror of Winston treatment evokes emotions of the readers behalf, and we once again feel compassion for Winston; as his dream of escaping the present have lead to his ultimate downfall. Intern we hold hatred for the character of O Brien, and the concept of such a society. Orwell by personifying characters by having them represent the extremes of human characteristics, we the reader can relate to them.
We see our own reactions in the two characters, and therefore our understanding of Orwell's ideas towards such a imagined society are pungent. To intensify the effect of a totalitarian society, exploration of the setting in 1984 must be given. We are introduced to a world of ruin, despair and misery. Outside...
the world looked cold. Down the street little eddies of wind were whirling dust and torn paper into spirals. The posters were plastered everywhere BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU. The Ministry of Truth, ... towered vast and white above the grimy landscape.
rotting nineteenth-century houses, their windows patched with cardboard crazy garden walls sagging in all directions (Pg. 3 - 5) Orwell portrays the world of 1984 as one of misery, and is in contrast to that dreams of the Golden Country had by Winston. Secondly, we are told Airstrip One is the new London. Orwell by indication of the settings of both past and present, the reader gains an understanding of what the novel stands for. Like Winston ancestral memories of a past life, we too evoke memories of the old London. To the reader, London is a city central to Western tradition, and arguable one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
Such a world now only exists in the imagination of Winston. Orwell successfully by creating such contrasting environments allows us to once again see that the human imagination cannot be suppressed, but it also deems as a way for us to notably see the destruction of a city through the revolution from capitalism to totalitarianism. Orwell s manipulation of the setting allows us to carry his ideas and feelings about totalitarianism into the life of Winston. Therefore our understanding of Orwell's ideas are shaped into the persona of Winston Smith, whom we relate to. To convey his ideas of totalitarianism and political oppression, on the whole uses simple, direct and concrete language. It presents the details of life in England in 1984 with great exactness and a careful attention to telling detail, so that the imagined world is given a sensuous reality.
This is evident when he speaks of Parsons playing table tennis by the dampness of the bat handle... Orwell by his length description is attempting to make his imagined world as concrete as possible, by finding appropriate images and the language in which to express them. In Winston's love affair with Julia, Orwell adopts a more poetic style to enhance the imagery and fusion between the two characters. This is particularly evident on his mention of the paperweight, or proles; a lower class of 1984 whom Winston believes holds symbolic hope. The mystical reverence that he felt for her was somewhat mixed up with the aspects of the pale, cloudless sky, stretching away behind the chimney-pots into interminable distance... (Pg. 175) In O Brien we see the application of religious language.
We see him display strict rulings, many alike the Roman Catholic Church in the middle ages. It can be argued there is a touch of Roman Catholic prelate about him, just as there is Lutheran Protestant in Winston. In O Brien s admission that the Party only being collective and immortal can perceive the truth, we can see religious language at use. Likewise, the Party s war against love and sex for purposes other than reproduction is evidence of religious influence into the novel. As a result of such oppression, Winston psychologically and emotionally becomes crippled. Whatever the Party holds to be truth, is the truth.
It is impossible to see reality except by looking through the eyes of the Party. You must humble yourself before you can become sane (Pg. 200) Apart from the different kinds of Orwell adopts into 1984; language itself is one of the book s main themes. The society portrayed in the novel is the society of Newspeak, the language of Ingsoc. By Symes account, Newspeak is still being invented. The Revolution will be complete when the language is perfect.
Newspeak is Ingsoc and Ingsoc is Newspeak. Orwell includes an ironic twist to the novel through the language of the society. We see Winston revolting against the regime in place, its totalitarian ways, yet we concede that it is he who at the Ministry is responsible for falsifying records. Regardless though, Orwell's uses of direct language to intensify the political oppression found in the novel, allow us a greater understanding of the ideas by which 1984 is based upon. Orwell by exploration of his imagined world through the characters of Winston's, and lesser Julia and O Brien, he successfully shapes our understanding of the society found in 1984. We deem him a normal character, and therefore sympathise with his life.
In exposing of the ruined values of the society, along with the ruins of a once beautiful city, we gain a sense of the inhumanity of political oppression. The hope for Winston is what we hold onto, but as the structure of the novel indicates, we see him evolve in his personal search for hope and freedom to an ultimately devastating end. Orwell, not only by the striking atmosphere created in the novel, but his direct language, is evidence of the abrupt and destructive nature of the regime found in Oceania. We gain an understanding of Orwell's ideas, and therefore our awareness is shaped.
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