1984
Important Literary Terms
Book Details
• Point of view
• 1984 is told from the 3rd person limited
POV
• Conveys the thoughts/perspective of 1
character
• We depend on Winston for our
understanding
• His experience is our experience
Dystopia
• Dystopia: A futuristic, imagined universe of
oppressive societal control
• The illusion of a perfect society is maintained
through totalitarian control using corporate,
bureaucratic, technological, philosophical, or
religious means.
• Dystopias are an exaggerated worst-case scenario
that makes a criticism about a current trend,
societal norm, or political system.
• Opposite of Utopia— “No place”
Protagonist
• The lead or central character; hero, or heroine
• Winston is a “dystopian protagonist”
Narrator
• The one who tells the story
• The “voice” of the story. Winston
Totalitarianism
• The ruling governmental style of Oceania
• The government, usually under the control of a
single political person or group recognizes no
limits to its authority and strives to regulate
every aspect of public and private life
wherever possible
•
• Historic Examples Used By:
• 1. Stalin in Russia
3. Mussolini in
Italy
• 2. Hitler in Germany 4. Franco in Spain
Paradox
•
A statement that is self-contradictory
on the surface and seems to defy logic
or reasoning.
• Example: Nothingness
• Example: The following sentence is true.
•
The previous sentence is false.
•War is Peace
•Freedom is Slavery
•Ignorance is Strength
Euphemism
• The substitution of a more pleasant sounding
term in place of a more offensive word.
• Winston says Syme will be “vaporized” he will
“disappear.”
• Translation: he will be kidnapped and killed by
the Thought Police
• Put to sleep – to euthanize or kill, typically a pet
• Heavy casualties—many soldiers being killed
• Stretching the truth—lying
Foreshadowing
• Clues and hints about what’s to come.
• Winton dreams offer glimpses of his past
and clues about his future.
• O’Brien tells him “We will meet in the
place where there is no darkness”
• He dreams of the dark-haired girl
stripping naked in the Golden Country
Parable
• A story that’s meant to illustrate a moral
or life lesson.
• One trait of dystopian literature is that it
serves to criticize a current societal or
political trend.
• What will be the lesson that 1984
attempts to impart on its readers?
Science Fiction
• A genre (style) of literature or film that
deals with the combination of scientific
knowledge and imagination.
• 1984
• War of the Worlds
• Star Wars
• Avatar
Juxtaposition
• An act or instance of placing two things
close together or side by side,
especially for comparison or contrast.
• In writing, this might occur if an author
writes about contrasting events one
paragraph after another.
Fatalism
• A submissive, apathetic mental attitude resulting
from the acceptance of the belief that everything that
happens is predetermined and inevitable and will
ultimately result in death.
• Winston expresses deep guilt in his dreams of his
childhood and the relationship with his mother and sister.
• Those past events have impacted his current life-view as
much as anything else in his society.
• Winston feels his life is meaningless and has a fatalistic
attitude.
Anti-Hero
1.A character, often the protagonist, who
unwittingly challenges those in power
2.Typically lacks the prowess and bravery of
a standard hero
3.Can be inept at the task
4.Starts off as a conforming member of
society
5.Makes unwise decisions
6.If s/he is successful it is with a lot of luck
Objective correlative
• The external appearance of a person’s state
of mind, which serves to re-emphasize their
internal anguish.
• Allows the reader to view their suffering from
more than one perspective
• Winston Smith has an itchy, bothersome
varicose ulcer on his ankle, which is an
external representation of his internal suffering
(depression, hopelessness, etc.)
INGSOC
•INGSOC is the Newspeak word for English
Socialism, the political ideology (systems of
beliefs) of the ruling Party of Oceania
•INGSOC's 3 Keys to Keeping Control
1.Newspeak
2.Doublethink
3.The Mutability of the Past
Newspeak
• Oceania’s official language created by
shortening words
• Newspeak was devised by the Party to serve
Party ideology. The purpose of Newspeak is
to express the Party’s worldview and to
“make all other modes of thought
impossible.”
• Newspeak achieves its goals by:
a.Inventing new words
b.Eliminating “unnecessary” words
Kind of Like Newspeak
Linguistic Relativity
• The idea of linguistic relativity says that the
structure of a language affects the ways in which its
speakers are able to view their world
• Known as the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis
• Two versions:
•
(i) the strong version -- language determines
thoughts and that words create ways of thinking
•
(ii) the weak version -- word usage influences
thoughts and certain kinds of behavior
Linguistic Relativity
• Some believe language was merely labels
applied to already existing concepts or
things
• Some believe language was but a veil
covering up the eternal truths hiding them
from real human experience
• Today, most believe language influences
certain kinds of thought processes in
“non-trivial” ways.
Linguistic Relativity
• In the 1820s it was thought that languages
like German and English had a more perfect
grammar, inflection, and structure.
• This produced more perfect inner dialogue
• This produced more perfect thoughts
• This explained the “dominance of their
speakers over the speakers of less perfect
languages”
• This was used by Hitler as a rationale for his
fascism, genocide, and Aryan Race.
How Many Colors Can you Name?
• Women typically apply names
• to many more colors than men.
• Does "having words" for things
• affect the way in which you
• view the world?
Doublethink
• The ability to believe two contradictory opinions or
facts even though you know one is false.
• 5 easy Steps
1. Know that 2+2=4
2. Be told that 2+2=5
3. Know that they can't both be true
4. Force yourself to forget that 2+2=4
5. Accept as a fact that 2+2=5 and always has
•
Eurasia is the sworn enemy of Oceania yet
only a few years ago they were allies.
Donald Rumsfeld, then special envoy of President Ronald Reagan, in
Baghdad on December 20, 1983. America helped Iraq fight Iran from 19801988.
Doublethink
• Peace-keeping Forces are those troops
left in a country to help enforce a particular
regime.
• The very fact that a military presence is
required would suggest that there is no
peace there to 'keep'.
Doublethink
• Giving up our rights in the name of
freedom.
• With Orwellian surveillance on every corner
and acts such as 'The Patriot Act', we are
being asked to give up the very freedoms
that 'The War on Terror' is alleged to
protect, and all in the name of freedom.
Doublethink
• Ministry of Defense –United Kingdom
(Britain)
• Resemblances Orwell's 'Ministry of Peace'
in both name and action.
• Both are primarily concerned with warfare
and seem to spend the majority of their
time and efforts dealing in attack and
invasion as opposed to the implied
defense or peace.
Political Geography in the world of 1984
Political Geography in the world of
Nineteen Eighty-Four
Oceania--Britain and U.S.
Eurasia--Russia
Eastasia--China
The Three “super states” Constantly at War
Eurasia
Oceania
Eastasia
Oceania
Thoughtcrime
• Any thought or idea that went against the
party doctrine or questioned Big Brother’s
infallibility.
• Winston’s diary is an example of
thoughtcrime.
• In today’s society, this would trample on
freedom of speech, religion, and basic human
individuality
Thought Police
• Responsible for arresting people guilty of
crimes and enforcing the policies of the
Party.
Hate Week
• The Two Minutes Hate
• An organized demonstration of hate, anger, and
rage directed at the enemies of Oceania:
•
Eurasia and Goldstein
• An outlet for pent up emotional energy.
• A tool of uniting the Party against a common
enemy.
• Winston says, the most horrifying part of it was
that “it was impossible to avoid joining in.”
Proles
• Short for “proletariat” or the lowest and
poorest class of people.
• Considered unimportant to the Party because
they lack the ability to organize any
revolution
• In Oceania 85% of the population
• Controlled through alcohol and the lottery.
• Uneducated
The Social Hierarchy of Oceania
Winston is an
Outer Party
Member
Telescreen
• A two way television screen that allows
the government to monitor the actions
and words of every party member.
• They can watch you, but you can’t see
them.
Unperson
• A person who has been purged of antiParty ideas. The person has been
removed from the Party and perhaps
even vaporized and removed from
history through changes in written records.
• Comrade Ogilvy, a made-up person, was
created to fill the gaps created when the
unperson, Comrade Withers, disappears