"WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH." Author Biography
George Orwell was a pen name for the author Eric Blair. He was born in Bengal, India, then a British Colony, in 1903. He moved to England at the age of one. He had two sisters, one older and one younger. He describes his family's economic situation as "lower-upper-middle class. He was educated at some prestigious preparatory schools, and Started college at Wellington, but later moved to Eton. Some say he was a bad student here, but some deny that, so it is not known how well he was accepted at Eton.
After College, he returned to India and joined the Indian Imperial Police of Burma. He grew to hate imperialism, however, so he returned to England. He lived in poverty for a fair amount of time, finding inconsistent work here and there. This all continued until the Spanish Civil War.
Eric Blair volunteered to fight in the Spanish Civil War. He took the The side of the Republicans against Franco's Nationalist Uprising. He fought in the militia of the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification, A far left group. He was later shot in the neck and forced to leave the war. For a while, he worked on pro-World War II propaganda, attempting to gain the support of the British colonies for the war, and was a member of the Home Guard. A short while later, he finished the novella "Animal Farm". This was his first major success and he lived out of poverty for the first time in his adult life. Later he wrote this novel, 1984. Eric Blair died in 1950, from Tuberculosis. He was in and out of hospitals for the last 3 years of his life. He is buried in All Saints' Churchyard, Sutton Courtenay, Oxfordshire. His epitaph is the simple: "Here lies Eric Arthur Blair, born June 25th 1903, died January 21st 1950."
Plot Synopsis Winston Smith is a member of the outer party—still affiliated with the omniscient leader Big Brother, but not one of the important members. He lives in Oceania, one of the 3 countries of the world, the others being Eurasia and Eastasia. He, like all other party members, is constantly watched. He has a device called a "telescreen" in his apartment that constantly spews propaganda and is also is able to observe everything he does. Members of the party are not allowed to be free. They are punished severely for any actions against the party, even mere thoughts.
Winston is a rebel. He is seeing the unjustness of the fascist dictatorship and secretly is rebelling against it. His first act is purchasing a diary to write down all of his treasonous thoughts, which is highly illegal. He continues in his private rebellion against the party when he notices a woman consistently following him around. He is scared because he thinks she is a member of the "thought police", law enforcement officers that come after you for thinking anti-party thoughts. It turns out, however, that she is not a member of the thought police. Instead, she slips him a note that says "I love you". They are both rebels against the party and they begin an affair. The girl, named Julia, is optimistic. She believes they can continue to survive while rebelling against the party. Winston is pessimistic. He has believed from the very beginning that he is going to be caught, but he is indifferent about his fate. Will they get caught? Or will they continue to be able to rebel against the party? Read it to find out! Literary Information
1984 is 268 pages long, and has 3rd person limited point of view, the story follows the main character, Winston, through his everyday life. It is a futuristic novel about society in a dystopia- a utopia gone wrong. It shows the negative aspects of society through what Winston thinks of as normal. The mood is almost didactic. I feel that the point of the book was almost to teach us what can go wrong with so called "Utopian societies," and that basic rights will be taken away without us completely realizing the transition. The story is divided into 3 "books" or parts of the novel. The splits are along major stopping points or breaks in the plot. It helps further organize the ideas in the story.
Literary AnalysisSPOILERS!
George Orwell is a good author, the main reason being that he can create a very intricate plot structure yet still making the story interesting and engaging. One example of this is his use of foreshadowing. George Orwell is a good enough writer that he can foreshadow in a way that one only realizes the foreshadowing after one finishes the book. One example of Foreshadowing is in the first chapter. Winston says when he is writing in the illegal diary for the first time that he knows that he will be caught. He doesn't care. When I first read this I didn't give that much thought, it just seemed like something to enhance the conflict, but after I read the ending, in which they get caught, I realized it was foreshadowing. Julia says that she thinks they will be okay, and in the end, they are, depending on one's definition of okay. They are completely brainwashed, and like the party again, but they are still alive and "happy". The intricate foreshadowing is what stuck out the most in how he wrote the book.
CriticismSPOILERS!
My major criticism with the book is how the author ends the book. I have this criticism with several books, so I might just be picky. I dislike the feeling I get with the ending of the book. The party keeps Winston in captivity for a never-specified amount of time, but obviously several months. They work to and succeed in brainwashing Winston into loving the party again. This is a very unsatisfying ending for me, it just makes all of the things that happen in the book amount to nothing. I do understand why Orwell ended the book in this way. It shows the main theme of the party being too powerful, and showing that if one lets the government decay to that point, all hope is lost. I would still prefer a happier ending, but that is just opinion. The rest of the book I enjoyed tremendously. It was really well written.
"WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH."
Author Biography
George Orwell was a pen name for the author Eric Blair. He was born in Bengal, India, then a British Colony, in 1903. He moved to England at the age of one. He had two sisters, one older and one younger. He describes his family's economic situation as "lower-upper-middle class. He was educated at some prestigious preparatory schools, and Started college at Wellington, but later moved to Eton. Some say he was a bad student here, but some deny that, so it is not known how well he was accepted at Eton.
After College, he returned to India and joined the Indian Imperial Police of Burma. He grew to hate imperialism, however, so he returned to England. He lived in poverty for a fair amount of time, finding inconsistent work here and there. This all continued until the Spanish Civil War.
Eric Blair volunteered to fight in the Spanish Civil War. He took the The side of the Republicans against Franco's Nationalist Uprising. He fought in the militia of the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification, A far left group. He was later shot in the neck and forced to leave the war. For a while, he worked on pro-World War II propaganda, attempting to gain the support of the British colonies for the war, and was a member of the Home Guard. A short while later, he finished the novella "Animal Farm". This was his first major success and he lived out of poverty for the first time in his adult life. Later he wrote this novel, 1984. Eric Blair died in 1950, from Tuberculosis. He was in and out of hospitals for the last 3 years of his life. He is buried in All Saints' Churchyard, Sutton Courtenay, Oxfordshire. His epitaph is the simple: "Here lies Eric Arthur Blair, born June 25th 1903, died January 21st 1950."
Full biography here
Plot Synopsis
Winston Smith is a member of the outer party—still affiliated with the omniscient leader Big Brother, but not one of the important members. He lives in Oceania, one of the 3 countries of the world, the others being Eurasia and Eastasia. He, like all other party members, is constantly watched. He has a device called a "telescreen" in his apartment that constantly spews propaganda and is also is able to observe everything he does. Members of the party are not allowed to be free. They are punished severely for any actions against the party, even mere thoughts.
Winston is a rebel. He is seeing the unjustness of the fascist dictatorship and secretly is rebelling against it. His first act is purchasing a diary to write down all of his treasonous thoughts, which is highly illegal. He continues in his private rebellion against the party when he notices a woman consistently following him around. He is scared because he thinks she is a member of the "thought police", law enforcement officers that come after you for thinking anti-party thoughts. It turns out, however, that she is not a member of the thought police. Instead, she slips him a note that says "I love you". They are both rebels against the party and they begin an affair. The girl, named Julia, is optimistic. She believes they can continue to survive while rebelling against the party. Winston is pessimistic. He has believed from the very beginning that he is going to be caught, but he is indifferent about his fate. Will they get caught? Or will they continue to be able to rebel against the party? Read it to find out!
Literary Information
1984 is 268 pages long, and has 3rd person limited point of view, the story follows the main character, Winston, through his everyday life. It is a futuristic novel about society in a dystopia- a utopia gone wrong. It shows the negative aspects of society through what Winston thinks of as normal. The mood is almost didactic. I feel that the point of the book was almost to teach us what can go wrong with so called "Utopian societies," and that basic rights will be taken away without us completely realizing the transition. The story is divided into 3 "books" or parts of the novel. The splits are along major stopping points or breaks in the plot. It helps further organize the ideas in the story.
Literary Analysis SPOILERS!
George Orwell is a good author, the main reason being that he can create a very intricate plot structure yet still making the story interesting and engaging. One example of this is his use of foreshadowing. George Orwell is a good enough writer that he can foreshadow in a way that one only realizes the foreshadowing after one finishes the book. One example of Foreshadowing is in the first chapter. Winston says when he is writing in the illegal diary for the first time that he knows that he will be caught. He doesn't care. When I first read this I didn't give that much thought, it just seemed like something to enhance the conflict, but after I read the ending, in which they get caught, I realized it was foreshadowing. Julia says that she thinks they will be okay, and in the end, they are, depending on one's definition of okay. They are completely brainwashed, and like the party again, but they are still alive and "happy". The intricate foreshadowing is what stuck out the most in how he wrote the book.
Criticism SPOILERS!
My major criticism with the book is how the author ends the book. I have this criticism with several books, so I might just be picky. I dislike the feeling I get with the ending of the book. The party keeps Winston in captivity for a never-specified amount of time, but obviously several months. They work to and succeed in brainwashing Winston into loving the party again. This is a very unsatisfying ending for me, it just makes all of the things that happen in the book amount to nothing. I do understand why Orwell ended the book in this way. It shows the main theme of the party being too powerful, and showing that if one lets the government decay to that point, all hope is lost. I would still prefer a happier ending, but that is just opinion. The rest of the book I enjoyed tremendously. It was really well written.
If you liked this page, also see:
A.O's 1984
1984 BZ1984 AS
If you liked this book, consider reading:
Animal Farm- also by George Orwell
Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury