Alex+Weston+1894

George Orwell: Notes part 1


 * Alex Notes:** I'm not quite finished with the character bios, but ill go back and finish them later. Sorry if they make no sense. Also. Sorry for the Title. it should be 1984, not 1894. I blame the keyboard....

· He doesn’t use extravagant diction. Very concrete diction. · V. Political View. · He does strip his writing down, believes in very very straight forward, active writing. · Lived in the slums for a while in order to accentuate his writing o often has the downtrodden man · Animal Farm and the Politics of the English Language o Changing of everything o Some people are more educated than others à freewill/equality
 * Writing Style and His Life**

· Newspeak o Fundamental aspect is control à newspeak lies in control and manipulation o The simplification and dulling down of people is reflected in Newspeak as well as the environment that they live in, living quarters, jobs, food, drink, colors, etc.  o Make all other forms of thought impossible, except for the ones that the party wants to create o Shows the power of the party, especially the inner party’s progress and the historical strategies. § Emphasizes the power and total manipulation and control of party o Society as a large monogamous mass-society lacks distinctive features, which is why things like the paperweight and the picture are very important o Very clever way of controlling language, and therefore they control thoughts and people. Eventaully the control everything. Winston starts achiving a sense of freedom when he //thinks// he has the freedom to write. He is wrong. § Keeping of some verbs · Really changes the adjectives and adverbs (ful and wise) · Goodwise § Elimination of other words · Free à from weeds · Free à from flees · Free à No such thing as //free will// or //freedom// § New words § A Vocabulary, B Vocabulary and C Vocabulary · All ambiguities as been purged · //A Vocabulary// o Any word in the language can be used as any part of language. Verbs are almost entirely active. o Words for everyday life · //B Vocabulary// o Constructed for political purposes. o All compound words § Noun-verb · Goodthink à orthodoxy § Democracy, Internationalness, Liberty, Equality à contained under the word //crimethink// o Short, clipped words which required the minimum amount of thought · //C Vocabulary// o Scientific words § Yet no word for science · Doublethink o Use of oldspeak and the dichotomy of newspeak. The etymology of words change over the generations.
 * Language**


 * Common Themes:**

· //Dystopia:// usually extrapolates elements of contemporary society and functions as a warning against some modern trends—often the threat of oppressive regimes (Often a society characterized by poverty, squalor or oppression) · //Utopia:// An ideally perfect place, especially in its social, political and moral aspects. · //Control//: The control that the state has over the population à physical control vs. mind control o These things give people away and they get taken away. § Physical control comes into effect in part II  o People are scared, but they cannot express it (//thoughtcrime//) à signs of a dystopian society § Undermine the structure of families/oppression

//Chartified:// · //Utopia/Repression/// //Manipulation//: An ideally perfect place, especially in its social, political and moral aspects. · //Control//: The control that the state has over the population à physical control vs. mind control o These things give people away and they get taken away. § Physical control comes into effect in part II  o People are scared, but they cannot express it (//thoughtcrime//) à signs of a dystopian society § Undermine the structure of families/oppression § //Language as a form of mind control// § Rewriting of… · Memory · History § Psychological · //Technology and Modernization// o Improvement of tech changes everything eventually o Alters peoples perception o Enables control · //Violence/Warfare// o Constant appearance of control o War is always changing o Censure · //Shifting Loyalties// o The Party/The Brotherhood o Woman o Familial · //Natural vs. Unnatural// o Setting (City vs. Countryside) § ‘Victory Mansions’ o Unnatural Society o Development of Language. It is inorganically created o Unnatural Relationships (onces that are controlled by the party) § Parsons o Natural § Winston sees the Prole woman and develops a sort of fallacy around her § Mother § Dreams and Flashbacks · //Light vs. Darkness// o Prison o Apartment Complex o Work (blacking out books, reprinting etc.) o Outside (sun) || · //The paperweight// o Symbolizes freedom and how freedom is lost when it breaks · //Diary// o A thing from the past, something that the party cannot manipulate o Symbol for his rebellion § Sort of weak rebellion o Mental rebellion · //Newspeak// o Complete control of the party, destruction/eradication of the past o Sublime manifestation of the Party’s control · //Telescreens// o The visible manifestation that there is no escape from the Party/ technological advancements/ application à portrayed as a negative (to manipulate, as a weapon) o Irony of the technological development as a negative influence. o Development is fine until it reaches a point where it overwhelms humanity · //A place where there is no darkness// o Winston always imagines meeting O’Brien in a place with no darkness, and the irony is that this does happen in a prison cell where the lights never turn off o The telescreen never turns off · //Characters// o //Big Brother// à The eyes are always following you, no escape from the party. He seems omnipresent/ omniscient o //Winston// à Mental Rebellion. Afraid of being influenced by the Party. o //O’Brien// à Wolf in sheep’s clothing pretends to be his friend. Hypocrisy and Betrayl o //Julia// à physical rebellion, lies, against the party, but also agrees with it to an extent. o //Parsons// à psycho kids, destruction of familial structure. Mr. P is a sad character, represents ignorance and beign a model citizen. o //Prole Woman// à Potential for Freedom/ Irony of W’s hope for a future. Fertility, and natural order of things. She is almost like the paperweight · || · //Relatively simplistic Structure// o Reflects the attituede of the party, how they stripped down the society to the bare minimum o A reflection of the simplistic style of wrtitng which Winston has · //Calm tone used to describe horrific images// o To illustrate the control of the party over society they now accept willingly the horrific realities of their lives o Sociopathic? · //Relatively simplistic Vocabulary// o The party wanted their messages accessible to the public therefore they simplified the language o Orwell wanted to convey his message to a similarly broad range of people · There are more intense tonal and vocabularial structure, particularly in regard to literary devices. · Tone o Pace and Change in the Tone and the language in the novel (when he feels //emotions// his language and tone becomes more complicated) § When he is  § with Julia, especially when he meets her and when he falls in love with her § When he is writing in his diary § The 2 minute Hate · Sense of sexuality · Let things loose § When he is arrested § Reading the Brotherhood Book ||
 * **Themes** || **Symbols** || **Written Style** ||
 * · //Dystopia/ The Dangers of Totalitarianism:// usually extrapolates elements of contemporary society and functions as a warning against some modern trends—often the threat of oppressive regimes (Often a society characterized by poverty, squalor or oppression)

**Woman in 1984:** · Mother: shows his ignorance of the past and a symbol for something lost · Katherine: separated wife à root of his feelings towards women (can’t have children à they become separated because it is illogical to room together if there are no children) · Julia: naivety · Mrs. Parsons: not an ideal mother in any sense of the word. The children are little monsters. Dichotomy between his mother and Mrs. Parsons. (Past vs. Present) · Proletariat Woman: misguided sense of faith (proles are expected to rise up, but they don’t and they won’t)

**Narrative Style:** 3rd person narrative focusing on Winston. Winston occasionally interjects his thoughts, as does the narrator. The narrator expresses thoughts that Winston cannot either articulate or have, as it would be considered //thoughtcrime//. At the turning point in the


 * Characters:**

__Primary Characters:__ · //Winston:// misguided protagonist · //Julia:// initially a source of irriation initially and eventually becomes his girlfriend · //Big Brother:// the omnipresent, omniscient embodiment of the government. · //The Parsons:// The family who lives across the hall from Winston · //O’Brien:// An inner party member, Main antagonist of the story. · //Emmanuel Goldstien:// The writer of The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism. Always the subject of the 2-minute hate. The 'head' of the Brotherhood. It is possible that he is a fictional character created as the enemy of the Party, aside from the other two nations, by the Party.

__Secondary Characters:__ · //Aaronson, Jones and Rutherford//: dsf · //Ampleforth//: ds  · //Charrington//: sd   · //Katharine//: ds   · //Martin//: ds   · //Syme//: Newspeak enthusiast. He writes it and knows a lot about oldspeak, however he whole-heartedly believes in newspeak. He becomes an //unperson//. Meaning he mysteriously disappears to ensure that he never betrays the party · //Proletariat//: commentary on the social structure of the time and in the novel. The ignorance of the proletariat. They will never become what Winston wants them to become, they will not rebel against the party because they are not capable of it.

__Chapter 1__ · Smell of cabbage à motif throughout the novel, strong imagery · Big Brother in the stairway à omnipresent · Setting à ominous, impoverished, oppression, controlling. Attention to detail. · Winston has a varios ulcer above his right ankle à physical and mental weakness. He is controlled by the people. · Voice of the narrator: Differentiated from Winston and his opinions. Very subtly point that tells a bit about Winston’s mindset and his character · The telescreen is always playing. · First color aside from dull is a “harsh blue” · Get pulled into the themes of emotional vs. physical control o Police runs vs. the thought police § “the patrols did not matter, however. Only the Thought Police mattered” § Everything is always there. The thought police, the telescreen, the police, and the big brother posters · The slogans of the party: o Doublethink à thinking of two contradictory ideas. The ministry of truth (minitrue) § “War is Peace, Freedom is slavery, Ignorance is strength” · The narrative voice is cynical when he is describing. It also describes thoughts that he can’t articulate, but express things that he would have wanted to think § “He had set his features into the expression of quiet optimism which it was advisable to wear when facing the telescreen” · All names are highly ironic o Victory Gin § Iz gross o Victory Mansions § Slum apartment housing. The members of the outer party live in poor conditions o Victory Cigarettes · Dramatic irony à the alcove. Winston thinks that he can’t be seen, but he can’t. o Attention to detail à emphasizes how difficult it is to evade Big Brother · The book is positively described. Big contrast to the drabness of the streets o The book as an image is knowledge, its an almost symbol of how everything was before the regime o It seems positively optimistic and the diary is essentially a metaphor for his freedom. Mental freedom can even free oneself physically, to a certain extent. § Especially as Winston’s health is involved § Irony is that he is not really mentally free
 * Notes:**