George Orwell and 1984
The Dreamer and
the Nightmare
George Orwell 1903-1950
• British novelists and essayist.
• He was born Eric Arthur Blair the
son of a British civil servant in
India—a part of the elite.
• His mother, of French extraction,
was the daughter of an
unsuccessful teak merchant in
Burma. The family moved back to
England just after his birth
• His mother, although not a
marcher, was involved in the
women’s suffragette movement.
• Their attitudes were those of the "landless gentry,"
as Orwell later called lower-middle-class people
whose pretensions to social status had little relation
to their income.
• Orwell was thus brought up in an atmosphere of
impoverished snobbery.
• He declared very
early that he wanted to
be a writer.
• He was accepted to
Eton, one of the most
prestigious schools in
England
• Did not graduate and
instead joined the
Burmese police.
• He wrote the novel Burmese Days and two brilliant
autobiographical sketches, "Shooting an Elephant" and
"A Hanging," classics of expository prose
• Strong sense of the oppressive role of the British
Empire although a clear understanding of the short
comings local power strife as well.
• He returned home, gave up his commission and wrote.
• Then came a general strike in Britain in which the
conservative government sided with the business.
• Then he began to write professional both in England and in
Paris. (Many of the expatriates of the season were there;
Himgway Fitzgerald and Joyce). Down and out in Paris and
London.
• He experienced poverty first hand—the truth of things posing
as a tramp in England.
• Writing did not pay enough and eventually became a school
master. He worked on Down and Out and began to use his
name “George Orwell” after the river he had crossed regularly
to work.
• The change in name corresponded to a profound shift in
Orwell's life-style, in which he changed from a pillar of the
British imperial establishment into a literary and political rebel.
• The Road to Wigan Pier An important project suggested by his
publisher Victor Gollancz led t to Orwell spending time
investigating social conditions in economically depressed
northern England.
• The world depression provided a major victims of social
injustice and the demise of the capitalist system.
• New government systems: fascism and later communism.
The Spanish Civil War
• In general there was the rise of totalitarian
governments in Europe.
• A left leaning but democratically elected
government in Spain, the Popular Front, faced a
military coup d'état by General Francisco Franco.
• Orwell joined many other volunteers to fight for
the the Popular Front.
• During the war because his group did not follow
the party line they were labeled as Fascist
betrayers.
• Homage to Catalina is his autobiographical
experience in the war.
World War II and the 1940s
• During the War worked with the BBC
• Had a literary radio show included TS Eliot as a reader.
Married
• Left the BBC and became a literary editor (adopted
son) may have served as inspiration for Winston's
position at the Ministry of Truth, and perhaps for
Newspeak.
• Worked on Animal Farm but no one wanted to admit
that “Uncle Joe Stalin” was the villain that Orwell
knew he was.
• After the war published Animal Farm brought him
independent wealth. Wife died unexpectedly
• His health waned from a long history of lung problems.
• 1984 was a huge success but his health failed and ended
up in a Sanitarium. Died of Tuberculosis in 1950.
Extraordinary skill as an Essayist: "Politics
and the English Language" (1946)
• The essay criticized "ugly and inaccurate"
contemporary written English.
• Orwell said that political prose was formed "to
make lies sound truthful and murder respectable,
and to give an appearance of solidity to pure
wind.“
• This unclear prose was a "contagion" which had
spread even to those who had no intent to hide the
truth, and it concealed a writer's thoughts from
himself and others.
• Orwell advocates instead Plain English
• The great enemy of clear language is
insincerity. When there is a gap between one's
real and one's declared aims, one turns as it
were instinctively to long words and exhausted
idioms, like a cuttlefish spurting out ink.
• Orwell points to several sources of debased
writing:
– Dying Metaphors
– Operators, or Verbal False Limbs
– Pretentious Diction
– Meaningless Words
1984: Origins of the Text
• “To make political writing an art.”
• “My starting point is always a feeling of partisanship,
an sense of injustice”
• “. . .There is some lie I want to expose, some fact to
which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern
is to get a hearing.”
• The novel was written in 1948—too close so he flipped
the last two numbers.
• Like many others, Orwell was dismayed as Stalin’s
brutality became known to the outside world.
• The novel is an overt criticism of Stalin and especially
his rearranging of the truth.
Origins
• 1984 stems from literary traditions reaching back to the
earliest of storytellers. Among the literary traditions
that Orwell uses is the concept of utopia, which he
distorts effectively for his own purposes.
• Utopia, or Nowhere Land, is an ideal place or society in
which human beings realize a perfect existence, a place
without suffering or human malady. Examples go as
far back as Plato’s Republic right through to the El
Dorado chapters in Voltaire's Candid.
• Orwell did not originate this genre. In fact, the word
utopia is taken from Sir Thomas More's Utopia, written
in 1516. The word is now used to describe any place
considered to be perfect.
Science Fiction
• Only the Industrial Revolution does a new
kind of story telling arise that uses the
speculation of science to create fascinating
possibilities—scientific romances.
• Dystopia—a modern vision (adds technology).
According to science fiction writer Robert
A. Heinlein, " realistic speculation about
possible future events, based solidly on
adequate knowledge of the real world,
past and present, and on a thorough
understanding of the nature and
significance of the scientific method."
Verne and Wells
• The European brand of science fiction proper
began later in the 19th century with the scientific
romances of Jules Verne (1828-1905) and the
science-oriented novels of social criticism of H.
G. Wells (1866-1946).
• The differences between Verne and Wells
highlight a tension that would exist in science
fiction throughout its history.
The question of whether to present
realistic technology or to focus on
characters and ideas has been everpresent, as has the question of whether to
tell an exciting story or make a didactic
point. Orwell does both.
• 1984 describes technologies which did not
exist when Orwell was writing. But the idea is
vital, general warning that the humanity of
mankind could be removed and yet life would
continue on.
Orwell’s primary goal
in 1984 is to
demonstrate the
terrifying possibilities
of totalitarianism.
What 1984 is not
In his 16 June 1949 letter to Francis Henson of the United
Automobile Workers about the excerpts published in Life
(25 July 1949) magazine and The New York Times Book
Review (31 July 1949), Orwell said:
My recent novel [Nineteen Eighty-Four] is NOT intended
as an attack on Socialism or on the British Labour Party
(of which I am a supporter), but as a show-up of the
perversions . . . which have already been partly realized in
Communism and Fascism. . . . The scene of the book is laid
in Britain in order to emphasize that the English-speaking
races are not innately better than anyone else, and that
totalitarianism, if not fought against, could triumph
anywhere.
Characters of 1984
• Winston Smith-- The reader experiences the nightmarish world that
Orwell envisions through the eyes of the protagonist, Winston Smith,
a quiet 39-year-old man living in Oceania in the year 1984. A Party
member, Winston works at the Ministry of Truth correcting "errors" in
past publications.
• His personal tendency to resist the stifling of his individuality, and his
intellectual ability to reason about his resistance, enables the reader to
observe and understand the harsh oppression that the Party, Big
Brother, the Thought Police institute and NewSpeak.
• He is restless, fatalistic, and concerned about large-scale social issues.
• Winston is also curious, desperate to understand how and why the
Party exercises such absolute power in Oceania. Winston’s long
reflections give Orwell a chance to explore the novel’s important
themes, including language as mind control, psychological and
physical intimidation and manipulation, and the importance of
knowledge of the past.
• Julia -- Unlike Winston, Julia is neither overly
speculative about, nor troubled by, the Party. Rather,
she possesses a mix of sensuality and practicality that
enables her to plan their affair with ruthless efficiency
and then enjoy it with abandon. Julia also lacks
Winston’s fatalism. When he tells her, “We are the
dead,” she replies calmly, “We’re not dead yet.”
• Julia is untroubled and somewhat selfish, interested in
rebelling only for the pleasures to be gained,
• Although not involved for ideological reasons, she
produces some of the most astute analysis of the Party
in the novel. Her understanding of sexual repression as
a mechanism to incite “war fever” and “leader worship”
renders her sexual activity a political act
• O’Brian-- A prominent Inner Party member
with whom Winston feels a strange bond. Winston
feels that even if O'Brien is an enemy, it wouldn't
matter because he knows O'Brien will understand
him without explanation.
• O'Brien is a large, graceful, and clearly intelligent
man who leads Winston to believe he is part of
“The Brotherhood” an underground movement
against the Party, but in fact helps turn Winston in
for thoughtcrime and tortures him in the Ministry
of Love. (Room 101)
• O'Brien is full of strange contradictions. He can
be fatherly - and even tender - even while
fanatically expressing his devotion to the Party by
torturing Winston.
Some Minor Characters
• Big Brother Leader of the revolution “is watching you” (exist?)
• Ampleforth A coworker of Winston's, and a poet who works in the
Records Department rewriting politically or ideologically objectionable
Oldspeak poems. By the end of the novel, Ampleforth is in prison along
with Winston, for, he believes having left the word "God" in one of his
poems.
• Syme A "friend" of Winston's and a philologist working on the Eleventh
Edition of the Newspeak Dictionary. Although Winston dislikes Syme, he
enjoys having somewhat interesting conversations with him. Winston
notices that Syme, although a devoted Party member, is too smart and too
vocal for his own good.
• Tom Parsons a heavy, sweaty, simple man whom Winston despises
for his unquestioning acceptance of everything the Party tells him.
his daughter eventually denounces him to the Thought Police,
claiming he was saying "Down with Big Brother" in his sleep.
Winston sees Tom while imprisoned in the Ministry of Love, and
Tom is ironically proud of his seven-year-old daughter for having
done her duty.
• Katharine Winston's wife, who never appears
directly in the book but is discussed at some
length. Winston describes her as "unthinkful"
and claims she was absurdly devoted to the
Party, to the point where she referred to
sleeping with Winston to produce offspring as
her "duty to the Party.“
• Mr. Charrington The owner of the antique
shop where Winston first buys his diary, pen,
and later on a glass paperweight. Actually a
member of the thoughtpolice.
• Jones, Aaronson and Rutherford Three
Inner Party members wrongly arrested in 1965
and forced to incriminate themselves of
various crimes,
• Starving Man A man briefly placed in
Winston's holding cell who is clearly being
starved to death. When told to go to Room 101
he tells them to take the man who offered him
food (Bumstead) instead - anything but 101.
• Bumstead A prisoner in the Ministry of Love
who offers the starving man a piece of old
bread.
Major Themes
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Totalitarianism
Propaganda
Love/Sexuality
Independence/Identity
Music
Loyalty
Poverty vs. Wealth
Technology
Language
Newspeak
• Some Newspeak words highlighted in the text include:
– Ingsoc - English Socialism
– Doublethink - The ability to simultaneously think two
opposing thoughts.
– Thoughtcrime - Anti-Party thoughts
– Facecrime - Occurs when the face reveals the existence of
thoughtcrime (either lacking in anti-Party vigor, or
expressing distaste for Party actions).
– Goodthinkful - Describes a person who thinks just as the
Party wishes. Winston describes his wife Katharine this
way.
– Speakwrite - A machine that transposes spoken word into
written word.
– Unperson - Someone the Party has vaporized; someone
that no longer exists.
– Doubleplusungood - Extremely bad.
Sites Cited
• “About 1984” Cliffnotes
http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/1
984-About-1984.id-90,pageNum-2.html
• BBC version of 1984
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hATC_2I1wZE
• George Orwell page from United Architects Writers
http://danliterature.wordpress.com/nineteen-eightyfour-by-george-orwell/
• Orwell, George. “Politics and the English Language.”
(1946) Dr. Rearick’s Reading Corner.
http://nzr.mvnu.edu/faculty/trearick/english/rearick/read
ings/manuscri/short_wo/essaypol/polang.htm
• Taylor, D. J. “The Real George Orwell” The South
Bank Show (2003). YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Db3-svhC4k
• Hossick Malcom. “George Orwell: Author and
Essayist” Famous Writers YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHaAB7VCWvw