Book 1 and Book 2 Analysis Key Concepts, Themes, Symbols, Motifs Friday, March 4

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

• 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.

Paradox

A statement that is self-contradictory on the surface and seems to defy logic or reasoning.

Examples:

• War is Peace

• Freedom is Slavery

• Ignorance is Strength

Euphemism

A substitution of a more pleasant sounding term in place of a more offensive word.

Examples:

• When Winston speaks of people being “vaporized,” the translation is that someone was kidnapped and killed by the Thought Police.

Foreshadowing

Clues and hints about what’s to come. Winston dreams offer glimpses of his past and clues about his future.

Examples:

• 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

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

INGSOC

INGSOC is Newspeak word for English Socialism, the political ideology (systems of beliefs) of the ruling Party of Oceania.

Maintains Control Through:

• Newspeak

• Doublethink

• The Mutability of the Past

Newspeak

• Oceania’s official language created by shortening words

• 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.”

• It achieves its goals by inventing new words and eliminating “unnecessary” words

Three levels:

A. Describe concrete objects and actions

B. Compound words used for political purposes (facecrime), as euphuisms (joycamp), and abbreviations (Minitrue)

C. Scientific and technical terms that science workers need in order to do their jobs

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 (Sapir-Whorf hypothesis)

• Strong version: language determines thoughts, and words create ways of thinking

• Weak version: word usage influences thoughts and certain kinds of behaviour

• Some believe words are like a veil covering up eternal truths that are hidden without the right words to “bring them into existence”

• In the 1820s it was thought that languages like German and English had a more perfect grammar, inflection, and structure. It was used to explain the dominant of their speakers over the speakers of less perfect languages

• It was later used by Hitler as a rationale for his fascism, genocide, and Aryan Race

• Does “having words” for things affect the way in which you view the world?

Doublethink

The ability to believe contradictory opinions or facts even though you know one is false

5 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 Eurasia has always been the sworn enemy of Oceania yet only a few years ago they were allies.

• Peacekeeping 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.

• Giving up our rights in the name of freedom. With tele screens and microphone surveillance on every corner and acts such as ‘The Patriot Act’, we are being asked to give up the freedoms that the wars are supposed to be protecting.

Media Manipulation• Opinions and emotions can be controlled by what the media chooses to show us. Therefore, we must seek

out the

whole story and decide for ourselves.

Telescreen• A two-way television screen that allows the government to monitor the actions

and words of every party member

• They can watch you and speak to you, but you cannot see them

Unperson• A person who has been purged of anti-Party 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 when the unperson, Comrade Withers, disappears

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

• 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 Emmanuel Goldstein

• Outlet for pent of emotional energy

• A tool of uniting the Party against a common enemy

• Winston says, the most horrifying part of it was “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

• 85% of the government

• Controlled through alcohol and lottery, and lack of education

Characters

Character Names

Winston

Character Names

Julia

O’Brien

Katherine

Mrs. Parsons

Tom Parsons

Syme

Mr. Charrington

Emmanuel Goldstein

Big Brother

Thought Police

Ministries

Ministry of… Newspeak Name About

Ministry of Love Miniluv Law and orderMinistry of Plenty Miniplenty Economic affairsMinistry of Peace Minipaux WarMinistry of Truth Minitrue News, entertainment, education, fine arts

Themes

Themes

Isolation and Relationships

• Romantic partnership• Party divisions and class• Family structure

Power and Control • Government monitors and has control over citizens’ personal and physical lives

• Control the mind through Newspeak and altered history• Psychological manipulation

Conformity

Freedom

History and Memory

Truth

Technology

Motifs & Symbols

MotifsWar

The Party

The Proles

Privacy

Song

Sexuality

“Doublethink” • Blackwhite: the word has two mutually contradicting meanings• Claiming that black is white, in contradiction of the plain facts• Ability of the Party to control how people see and think about things• Ability to hold two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind

simultaneously, and accepting both of them

SymbolsBig Brother • Posters of a man with the words “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU”

• Face of the Party• Told he is the leader of the nation and head of the Party• Winston cannot determine whether or not he actually exists• Symbolizes the Party in its public manifestation: a reassurance to

most people but an open threat that one cannot escape his gaze• Vagueness of which the higher ranks of the Party present

themselvesRed Sash

Paperweight

Diary

Prole women

Forbidden food • Wine, coffee, tea, sugarDreams

St. Clement’s Church

Telecreens