1984Book One Review

• Setting– April 4, 1984

• Regardless of when read the setting is the near future

– London - Airstrip One – Oceania– War torn– Food and necessities hard to find– Dusty – dirty – dark– Posters of Big Brother everywhere– Telescreens everywhere– Thought Police constant threat– Children are spies

• Narrator– 3rd Person– Limited

• Protagonist– Winston Smith

• Antagonist– Big Brother

• Tone– Dark– Pessimistic

• Mood– Fearful– Hateful– painful

Characters

• Winston Smith• Big Brother• Julia• Mrs. Parsons• The Parsons Children• Mr. Parsons

• Ogilvy• O’Brien• Mr. Charrington• Goldstein• Syme

• Themes – Totalitarianism– Psychological

Manipulation– Control• People• History• Information• Language

• Themes– Loneliness– Isolation– Appearance vs. Reality– Destruction of human

values– Individuality

• Motifs– Double Think– Thought Police

• Symbols–Big Brother– Journal– Telescreens– The Golden

Country

• Irony– War is Peace– Freedom is Slavery– Ignorance is Strength– Setting

• April should be springtime, but the setting is …

– Ministry of Truth• news

– Ministry of Love• Law and order

– Ministry of Peace• war

– Ministry of Plenty• economy

Sample Test Question

•Why does the author introduce all of the

characters in Book One?

Sample Answer The author of I984, George Orwell, introduces all of the characters in Book One in order to support the theme of loneliness and isolation. Winston, the main character, is alone even when he is in the company of other people because constant suspicion supersedes all interchanges between characters. For example in his cubicle at the Ministry of Truth, Winston “raised his head for a moment: again the hostile spectacle flash. Winston wondered whether Comrade Tillotson was engaged on the same job as himself. It was perfectly possible.” Even at work, with others near him, Winston must remain on guard. No one is to be trusted.

Mrs. Parsons is also isolated when with her children because she must shield herself from the possibility of her son and daughter turning her over to the Thought Police. “With those children, he thought, that wretched woman must lead a life of terror. Another year, two years, and they would be watching her night and day for symptoms of unorthodoxy.”

Another reason the author presents all the characters in Book One is so the reader can experience the sudden loss of a comrade just as the characters do. “Syme will be vaporized. He is too intelligent. He sees too clearly and speaks too plainly. The Party does not like such people. One day he will disappear.” If the reader was not introduced to Syme in Book One, his disappearance in Book Two would not be significant; the reader would, therefore, miss the impact of the “here today; gone tomorrow” principle in which Big Brother functions. By introducing all of the characters in Book One, Orwell allows the reader to fully understand the themes and seriousness of the setting of 1984.