One of the themes and
messages that I noticed in 1984 is
the separation between the people living in the society of Oceania and our need
for human interaction. Oceania is which is a nation that spans from London
across North and South America, Australia and the southern half of Africa. The citizens
of Airstrip One, what used to be England, all live in separation and lonely,
empty, joyless lives. The citizens who are neither inner party nor outer party,
otherwise known as Proles, are exploited by working in manual labor for almost
no payment. They are hardly able to support themselves on the small amount pay
they get from their labor work let alone a family. Lack of education keeps the
exploited people from realizing the injustice and revolting and the exploitation
of people keeps survival a constant worry for people which keeps bonds between
people from forming; also keeping anti-party ideas and rebellions from arising.
Separation is more prevalent among outer-party members; people who work in a
government type job such as working in the Ministry of Truth or the Ministry of
Love. Outer party members are better educated and better payed than Proles.
Because of their higher education, outer party members are more able and
probable to make observations about the Oceania society and government and
forming ideas and create rebellious factions that are dangerous to the tight
grip on power and control Big Brother and the Party have on Oceania. Because of
this probability, outer party members are constantly monitored on telescreens
and are always under the threat of the Thought Police. The constant threat of
the thought police also keep people separated from each other which isolates
any dissenters and keeps ideas from spreading. The party then manipulates and
directs the emotions of its citizens toward Big Brother, who is supposedly the
leader of the entirety of Oceania. The manipulation of the people’s love
towards Big Brother provides them with a false satisfaction of human
interaction.
Winston Smith, the protagonist in the
story, is an outer party member who lives a very lonely life. Winston is
described as a somewhat sickly looking man who spends his time alone and by
himself. Winston’s life does not seem to be out of ordinary and actually seems
quite the norm. There is a restaurant that Winston regularly goes to called the
Chestnut Tree Café. Most of the people in the café are alone and trying to
drown their depression in alcohol. People who do have a family are alienated and
live in a family void of any love or caring. Neighbors of Winston’s have
children that are so severely manipulated by the culture of Big Brother that
they constantly accuse and suspect anyone, including their mother and father of
committing thought crime and being traitors. Their children are so heartless
that they eventually turn their father over to the thought police where, like
all criminals, he is tortured until he submits his love to Big Brother and,
sometime after being released, is taken again and killed. Winston is one of the
few who sees the lack of relationships and human emotion and love in society
and sees through the Party’s ruses to distract the populous. Winston does not
express or act on any of his thoughts due to the fear of the repercussions
until he meets Julia. During his relationship with Julia, Winston finds love
and gains confidence and joy while losing the fear of what he is doing. Their
relationship is very much forbidden and Julia reckless and carefree attitude
influences Winston into becoming more reckless and carefree. As Winston falls
more and more in love with Julia, he cares less and less about the
repercussions he is going encounter when they are eventually caught. Winston
states many times that he no longer cares about what is going to happen to him
and that all he cares about is being with her and their love. Since his love is
now directed at Julia, it causes him to hate Big Brother, which causes more
extreme versions of his anti-party thoughts. Before Julia, Winston simply
observed and pondered what was going on around him. He did nothing besides keep
a diary to danger the party or society in anyway. After Julia, Winston has been
so influenced by her that he takes the initiative to approach a person who he
suspects is a revolutionary and eventually try to join a revolutionary group.
Because of his forward actions, he and Julia are caught and arrested. The party
forces them to love big brother by breaking their love for one another and
forcing that love toward Big Brother. When they are released, their love has
been broken so that both are uncomfortable in the others presence and wish to
stay separate from each other.
I highly recommend this book. It is a compelling story that causes you to
think about our society today and the parallels to the society in 1984. I would say that I did a good job
with the close reading. I probably stayed closest in my reading approach to
Nabokov. I reread passages and
found many symbols that can be traced throughout the story. I did, however,
miss some motifs that I found later and I think my analyzation of character
could be better. The story holds many truths that are relevant to our world
today and holds messages that we should not lose in our society.
I find it interesting how you describe Winston’s demeanor as calm, and how Orwell’s writing reflects this. The writing also changes with Winston’s disposition, as you say, which makes the language itself a symbol of sorts, which sounds like it would make the book fun to read. Usually, language is used to reflect a character’s mood or feelings accurately, but in this case it sounds like there is an added level to this effect.
ReplyDeleteYou describe the oppression that Winston and other characters had to deal with in this society. It is clear that Winston is unique in that he is the only one who sees through the ploys of Oceania. However, I am wondering a few things about the meaning of this. Could the oppression be symbolic of anything in our own world? You talk about how there are parallels to today’s society. What are these parallels? Should we be worried if our society is so similar to that of Oceania in 1984? I feel like these questions, if answered, would provide valuable insight into the universal message that Orwell is attempting to convey.
In your book, there is also the instance of love between Julia and Winston, which eventually falls under the turmoil of the society. Having just written a response to Marty’s blog about Farewell to Arms, this situation is ringing a few bells. In Marty’s book, Catherine, Frederic’s lover, dies at the same time that Frederic is dealing with physical loss due to World War I. This juxtaposition seems to be paralleled in 1984, because just at the moment that Oceania is becoming simply too overbearing for Winston to handle, Winston allows Julia to be tortured instead of himself, therefore destroying their love in the process.
Julian,
ReplyDeleteHave you ever read or seen the (book or) movie V for Vendetta? I'm only wondering because this book seems to draw a lot of parallels to that story. For example, the telescreens and elements of torture are essentially the same as in V for Vendetta. The themes seem to be relatively similar to me as well. You describe the theme as the need for legitimate human interaction. I think this is an excellent description, but I wonder if this lack of interaction is facilitated by the corruption of government? It seems to me that everything civic and moral about 1984 is undermined by this overbearing and dominating government. Even this "Big Brother" seems to be more representative of the entity and idea of government rather than an individual figure. Also, when was the story written? I ask this because I wonder if Orwell is hinting at the increasing power government has attained throughout the course of history, which would speak volumes to the plot. For example, it is the government that eventually breaks Winston's will and causes the loss of everything he loves (including his own "soul" and Julia). I like the notion that there is a lack of necessary human interaction, but I wonder if Orwell is trying to go beyond that and make the story more evocative of modern government. The pivot point is equally fascinating. I wonder if Winston truly is "calm," or if he is just more of a wandering soul with secluded thoughts and wishes (which would also explain why the lack of human interaction has deprived him of a legitimate human experience).