George Orwell
Presented by
Ibtehal Ramadan & Maysa Muhessin
Outline:
•About the Author, About 1984.
•Historical Background.
•Plot Summary.
•Characters, Setting, Narrative style.
•Themes, Motifs & Symbolism.
•Aim of Orwell.
•Irony & Imp. quotations explained.
About the Author:
•Eric Blair was born in 1903 in Bengal ,a British colony
•His father worked for the Opium Department of Civil
Service.
•Distinct during his school days.
•He managed to get scholarships
toWellington and Eton colleges.
•Joined the Indian Imperial Police
in Burma.
•He resigned with a hatred to
imperialism.
•He adopted his pen name in 1933.
•Orwell lived for several years in
poverty, sometimes homeless.
•Orwell volunteered to fight for the
Republicans against Franco’s Nationalist
uprising, and was shot on 1937.
• Orwell began supporting himself by writing
in 1940.
• Orwell died at the age of 46 from
tuberculosis.
Orwell’s Political Views:
•He considered himself a democratic
socialist and was critical of communism.
•He hated intellectuals, lying, cruelty,
political authority, and totalitarianism.
•He strongly opposed Stalin and Hitler –
he was very outspoken during WWII.
About
The title :
•The Last Man in Europe
•Originally the title was going to be 1948
may be an allusion to the centenary of the
Fabian Society, a socialist organization
founded in 1884.
A vision of the future but also a comment on
the present.
•
The influence of his Life on 1984:
•His life in the Indian Burma Police and his
experiences with censorship in the BBC
for models of authoritarian power.
•His work for the overseas service of the
BBC, which at the time was under the
control of the Ministry of Information, also
played a significant role as the basis for
his Ministry of Truth
•Danger of totalitarianism.
• A study of psychological control and
thought manipulation.
•The novel is about a dystopian society in
which every movement is tracked.
•A grey soulless society, where people are
unemotional.
•Behavioural and physical manipulation,
even unauthorised mannerism
could lead to an arrest.
How it may be prophetical?
•The use of technology and language to
suppress free thought and monitor people's
actions.
•Language acts as a powerful force in society.
•It structures human thought and allows those
thoughts to be communicated.
•It can be means to achieve control over
people. (Newspeak). (my emphasis .4)
•The radical statement of Orwell in 1984 is :
How progress in technology is not always a
force for good
Orwell presents the hardships of the proles' (
M. Illustr.)
The high party official breaking the roles.
like O'Brien lives in luxury and have the ultimate privilege of being able to turn off the
telesceen
Historical Background:
• It was written at the end of WWII.
•As a warning from the future of the novel,
to be avoided.
•During his time, tyranny was a reality in
Spain, Germany, the Soviet Union.
•Economical & social situation: no freedom,
Hunger, force labour,& mass execution.
•A vision of “Democratic Socialism”
•The Oceania is a semi exact reflection,
though fictional , of a society similar to Hitler’s
& Stalin.
•Complete repression of the human spirit,
absolute governmental control of daily life,
constant hunger.
•Systematic “vaporization” of individuals who
do not, or will not, comply with the
government’s values.
•Big Brother is recognizable (he is physically
similar to both Hitler and Stalin,
The Plot
The plot consists of three main parts:
-The first part: deals with the world of 1984
as seen through the eyes of Winston.
-The second part: deals with Winston
forbidden relationship with Julia and his
eagerness to rebel against the party.
-The third part: deals with Winston’s capture
and torture.
The Characters: Winston Smith
- He is the protagonist and main character
and narrator of the story.
- He is 39 years old .
- He secretly hates the Big Brother
The Characters: Julia
- Winston’s 25 year old secret lover.
- She is optimistic and her rebellion is small
and personal.
The Characters: O'Brien
- He is a member of the Inner-Party.
- He learns that Winston has a rebellious
tendencies , therefore, he destroys him.
The Characters: Big Brother
- He is the Mysterious omnipresent
figurehead who is the embodiment of all
the ideals of the party.
The Minor Characters
- Emmanuel Goldstein :
* he is the leader of the rebels and
designated enemy of the citizens.
The Minor Characters
Mr. Charring ton :
- He is a secret member of the thought
police.
- He owns and operate an antique store.
- He rents Winston and Julia a room as a
trap for O'Brien.
The Political Geography
The Political Geography
The world was controlled by three
functionally similar totalitarian super
states:
- Oceania.
- Eurasia.
- Eastasia .
The Settings
- Oceania.
- Mr. Charring ton’s rented room.
- Ministry of Love.
The Narrative
- The novel is written in the first person
narrator.
- It is futuristic narration.
The Style
- It is very descriptive and informative style.
- It portrays terrifying images and conveys
horrifying truth.
- Foreshadowing and suspense is used to
heighten this exciting novel.
Themes:
•Nationalism
•The Dangers of Totalitarianism
•Psychological Manipulation
•Physical Control
•Control of Information and History
•Technology
Motifs:
•Doublethink
•Urban Decay
•Symbols
•Big Brother
•The Glass Paperweight and St. Clement’s Church
•The Place Where There Is No Darkness
•The Telescreens
Irony
- Irony in 1984 by George Orwell abounds.
-The novel itself, on the surface a satire on
negative Utopian novels.
- The ironic names of ministries.
- The ironic use of doublethink.
Ironic Quotes
“War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery;
Ignorance is Strength”
“ It is a warfare of limited aims between
combatants who are unable to destroy
one another, have no material cause for
fighting , and are not divided by any
genuine ideological differences”
The Aspect of Time
“Who controls the past controls the
future. Who controls the future controls
the past”
The Aspect of Time
“And when memory failed and written
records were falsified—when that
happened, the claim of the Party to
have improved the conditions of human
life had got to be accepted, because
there did not exist, and never again
could exist, any standard against which
it could be tested”
Quotes about 1984:
Walter Cronkite, 1983
“What Orwell had done was not to foresee the future but to
see the implications of the present -- his present and ours - and he touched a common chord. He had given words
and shapes to common but unarticulated fears running
deep through all industrial societies.”
“While here he is a novelist, he is also a sharp political
essayist and a satirist with a bite not felt in the English
language since Jonathan Swift “
“1984 is an anguished lament and a warning that vibrates
powerfully when we may not be strong enough nor wise
enough nor moral enough to cope with the kind of power
we have learned to amass “
That’s all!
Thanks for your tolerance
Hope You’d enjoyed it.