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.