Thursday, January 14, 2010
Do You Have What it Takes?!
Figurative Language & Stylistic Devices
George Orwell used figurative language in the novel very tastefully. For example:
Personification - "If the Party could thrust its hand into the past and say this or that even, it never happened—that, surely, was more terrifying than mere torture and death," (Orwell 126).
Orwell uses personification to give life to the story. In this quote, he gives life to the Party by saying it could thrust its hand into the past, which is obviously not something that can be done.
Irony - “War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength,” (Orwell 27).
Orwell uses irony to contradict himself in a positive way and to bring in new light to the subject. He forces readers to think that two complete polar opposites such as freedom and slavery are one in the same, giving hope to those in slavery and a wake up call to those who are free. Irony brings a new aspect to common terminology.
Repetition - “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the future controls the past,” (Orwell 248).
Orwell uses repetition to keep readers interested. It forces readers to re-read and re-think for further meaning. It is his way of reinforcing that what he is saying is important enough to repeat it.
Diction
The novel was written in George Orwell’s typical style, in the third person narrative. It is clear and lucid. None of the vocabulary is particularly complicated which makes it easy to understand and interesting at the same time. Any novel written this way is bound to be accessible to the public. “Orwell's "plain style" was a deliberate contrivance, formed in response to Newspeak,” says Hugh Kenner in his literary criticism regarding the language, art, and politics of the novel. Newspeak is the official language spoken in Oceania engineered to remove the mere possibility of rebellious thoughts. It removed all negative words and worked to control the thoughts of citizens. For example, to express the meaning of the word “bad,” was by saying “ungood.” Furthermore, extremely bad was even said as “doubleplus ungood.” Orwell used this intriguing technique yet still managed to keep the novel plain and comprehendible.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Tone
This literary criticism describes the usual tones in Orwell's works. It goes on to talk about "1984" and the reasoning behind some of its main ideas and the way it was written. To visit the article, look at our favorite links!
Woodcock, George, and Harold Bloom. "George Orwell and the Living Word." Bloom's Modern Critical Views: George Orwell (1986): 121-37. Literary Reference Center. Web. 12 Jan. 2010.
Theme: Technology Cast in a Negative Light
Theme: Control
Physical control is also apparent in the story. Winston can not even face the telescreen in his home without putting on a fake optimistic facial expression. Any physical evidence of mischievousness or disagreement could result in torture or death. Sexual desires have been suppressed to such a degree that participating in any sexual act is simply for the reason to reproduce more children, to make the party thrive and exist for more generations to come. The book concludes with the idea that there is no pain worse than physical pain. Winston gave up all of his emotional commitments to Julia just to resist physical pain, and ultimately, conform.