George Orwell and 1984

Life

• 1903: George Orwell was born in Bengal, India.
• 1922-27: He served in Britain's imperial police, but he resigns from the force because of his hostility to imperialism
• 1936: He fights for the spanish Republicans against the Fascist in the Civil War
• 1943-45: He is editor of Tribune
• 1948: He publishes 1984
• 1950: Orwell dies in London

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Production

His first novel was published in 1934, Burmese Days. Then he published Down and Out in Paris and London in 1933, A Clergyman's Daughter and Aspidistra Flying around 1935-36, Homage to Catalonia in the period when he was in Spain, Animal Farm in 1945 and his masterpiece, 1984, in 1948.

The story is set in 1984, in a dystopian reality and the world is dominated by 3 totalitarian states: Oceania (composed by the British Isles called "Airstrip One" in the novel, and others), East-Asia (China and Taiwan, Japan, and Korea.) and Eurasia. The main character is Winston Smith, a humble man who works in London (which is now located in Oceania).

Plot 1

He is an ordinary guy whose job is to rewrite history in order to bring it in line with political thinking. Every single person is brainwashed into obedience, worshipping "The Big Brother"

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The Brotherhood is a secret organization whose purpose is to defeat the current government. Smith is not sure whether this group exists or not, but he eventually decides to rebel against Big Brother. He has a forbidden affair with a girl, Julia, who works with him in the Ministry of Truth and they join The Brotherhood together.

Plot 2

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Plot 3

They are soon found out and punished in Room 101, the torture chamber inside the Ministry of Love. They both are tortured, brainwashed and then forced into cheating on their partners. The torture is meant to completely destroy their humanity and dignity. The novel sadly ends with an indifferent Smith, who feels "happy" and satisfied worshipping The Big Brother.

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The society of 1984 is completely dominated by mass-media propaganda. Not only it brainwashes the population distorting and redefining reality, but it also keeps everyone under a constant and invasive surveillance. Everywhere there are images of the omnipresent leader of Oceania, along with the singns saying: "Big brother is watching you".

1

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All of this is reinforced by an all-powerful police state and a two-way telescreen installed in every room. The manipulation of the language ('newspeak' and 'doublethink') and of the population's way of thinking assures the few with economic power to maintain their lead, secretly taking advantage of the poor people, influencing their minds to serve "The Big Brother".

2

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3

Though he sets his story in a totalitarism of the future, Orwell is also describing the terrible and similar conditions that characterized the Nazism and Stalinist government. Contemporary critics has also underlined the prophetic quality of the novel, that, in fact, anticipates inventions that nowadays are being used.

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The "doublethink" is a process of indoctrination in which the subject has two contradictory opinions at the same time about the same issue, or the brain mechanism which leads to consider both a concept and his opposite true. Winston knows that the information he receives is false, but while in his thought he disagrees with it, he must accept it because of the constant surveillance of the Thought Police.

1

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Language plays a crucial role in this. Orwell invents the 'newspeak', the Party language that bans words such as "freedom" and "equality", and minimizes words to not let others have improper thoughts. This is an extreme version of the political use of language to distort the truth.

2

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