thesis based on 1984

How to Write a Scary-Good 1984 Analysis Essay

There are tons of scary stories—ones filled with ghosts or vampires or zombies. But in my opinion, there’s nothing scarier than the stories that show what the world could be like if left in the hands of the wrong people.

One of the books that demonstrate this point the best is George Orwell’s 1984 . And while the content of this book might scare some, writing an essay about it scares others.

But don’t worry—I’m here to help you break it down and write a great 1984 analysis essay.

First, Figure Out What Your 1984 Analysis Essay Will Be About

You can’t have an essay without a topic, so the first thing you have to decide is what yours will be about. You may be thinking, “We’ve already covered this—it’s about 1984 .”

You’re thinking too big. What you want to do is narrow your focus on one element of the story—a theme or a character. You could also concentrate on a literary device like symbolism.

Don’t try to cram all the stuff you know about the book into your essay. It never works out well. What ends up happening is that you either start summarizing instead of analyzing , or you just don’t have the time or the page count to fully flesh out your ideas.

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A good analysis is a focused one. But what can you focus on in your 1984 analysis essay? Here are just a few suggestions.

Focus on a Character

You can certainly write about the protagonist, Winston , if you connect more to him, but let’s talk about O’Brien for now.

O’Brien is an interesting character because he’s so mysterious. Winston looks up to O’Brien and thinks he’s a member of the Brotherhood, a supposed secret rebel group.

As the reader later discovers, O’Brien is actually a hardcore member of the Party. He ends up tricking Winston into admitting his disdain for the Party, which is a pretty big deal. But how can you focus your 1984 analysis essay on O’Brien?

As with any other character, you have to analyze O’Brien—instead of just telling the reader what he did in the story. Here are a couple directions you can take.

1. O’Brien as a father figure

Throughout the beginning of the story, Winston sees O’Brien as trustworthy and looks up to him. O’Brien is part of the Party’s innermost circle—he has power. And Winston thinks O’Brien is part of the resistance.

This establishes a friendship/mentorship. Even after O’Brien reveals his true intentions, he still acts as a type of father figure, though this time it’s a bit more malicious. He’s the one torturing Winston, but it comes from a place of caring.

O’Brien thinks he needs to purify Winston of his bad thoughts so that Winston can excel in society. After all, isn’t that what every father wants?

2. The Party got O’Brien long ago

While torturing Winston, O’Brien says that the Party got him long ago. Analyzing what this means can make a really great essay. His comment alludes to the fact that he might have once been as rebellious as Winston. It also alludes to how O’Brien realized that being powerful meant being obedient.

But does he buy into the Party’s ideology? Does he really prescribe to doublethink, or does he just put up the facade to avoid being tortured like Winston?

You can argue it either way in your 1984 analysis essay, but whichever stance you take, be sure to make it clear and back it up with evidence .

Need more help analyzing a character? Check out these posts:

• How to Write a Character Analysis That Works
• 2 Character Analysis Essay Examples With Character (with annotations)

Focus on a Theme

Themes are common in analytical essays , but they’re certainly not boring. Themes touch on certain truths the author wants to get across to the reader.

In the case of 1984 , Orwell touches on several themes, but one that strikes me is the use of language to control people.

• Controlling what words people use: In the novel, the Party controls what people are and aren’t allowed to say, even in the privacy of their own homes. The Party bans words related to rebellion because, if there are no words for something, people can’t talk about it or spread ideas about it.
• Rewriting history: The Party also controls language through the rewriting of history. The Party “corrects” historical text to fit its latest whims, and because every reference is changed, what it writes becomes “truth.” This makes individuals rely less on their memories and perceptions, and more on what the Party says is true. That’s how the Party controls people.

Need more help with writing about a theme in your  1984  analysis? Try one of these posts for additional guidance and tips:

• How to Write a Literary Analysis That Works
• 8 Components of a Smart Literary Analysis
• Literary Analysis Essay Tips From a Kibin Editor

Don’t Forget Your Outline

The importance of creating an outline  cannot be understated. Outlines are maps that guide you much more easily through the writing process.

Not only do you know where you’re going, but you also know every checkpoint you have to hit along the way. Without all the detours into unnecessary rambling , you can write faster and make your analysis a lot clearer.

Your outline doesn’t have to be super detailed, but it should lay out your argument and the evidence backing up your thesis. The example below is based off the discussion above about themes:

• Thesis statement: By controlling language, the Party was able to control the masses.
• Ban on words related to rebellion
• No way to spread ideas
• No way to argue points against the Party
• Propaganda becomes truth
• Must rely on the Party for what’s “true”

You can have as many or as few body paragraphs as you need, and as many or as few supporting details as you need. The more time you spend on your outline now, the less time you’ll spend worrying about the details later.

Write a Killer Thesis Statement and Don’t Lose Steam

I’ve always found that starting an essay is the hardest part. But with a strong thesis statement , you set yourself up for a strong essay.

When writing a thesis statement, you want to be direct—take a firm stance, and explain exactly what you’ll be writing about in the body of your essay. This lets your readers know what they’re in for and gives you a reference point throughout your essay.

My thesis statement for the 1984 analysis essay outlined above might look something like this:

In 1984 , George Orwell shows how language can be used as a form of control. The Party monitors and bans some language and rewrites history so that it can be seen as the only source of truth.

After you write your thesis statement, just follow your outline. Flesh it out with full sentences, details, and references to specific parts of the book. With a strong thesis and detailed outline, you can keep your momentum going until you wrap up your essay.

There are tons of things you could write about in a 1984  analysis essay, and just reading the couple of examples I’ve provided might not be enough for you. (Don’t worry, I don’t take offense to it.)

To give you a little more inspiration, here are some 1984 analysis essay examples you can look at:

• Hate in George Orwell’s Novel 1984
• Character Winston Smith in 1984
• A Character Analysis of Julia in 1984 by George Orwell
• The Themes of Monopolization of Power and Manipulation of People’s Thoughts in George Orwell’s 1984

Once you’re done with your essay, you can have the Kibin editors look over it. They’ll help you with more than just spelling and grammar—they’ll make sure you have a strong thesis and supporting details.

And don’t worry—they won’t turn you into the thought police for any rebellious things you write.

Now get to writing!

Psst... 98% of Kibin users report better grades! Get inspiration from over 500,000 example essays .

About the Author

Eden Meirow is a full-time copywriter and part-time freelance writer. Along with her BS in marketing from Florida State University and MA in museum studies from Johns Hopkins University, she has spent the past 7 years learning how best to reach and teach people using the power of words. When she's not working, she's constantly trying to expand her creativity through music, writing, art, and animation.

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Orwell’s “1984” from Theoretical Views (An Essay)

Kelsi Lynelle

June 28, 2015

Understanding Orwell’s 1984 Through Marxist and Deconstruction Theories

In the study of literature, there are various theories that allow works to be evaluated and better understood because of the application of those theoretical perspectives. Through literary theories and their analyses, one is able to come to a deeper understanding of literature in the way that it relates to the world around it (Southern New Hampshire University). Two of the primary theoretical schools of thought are that of Marxism and the Postmodernist’s Deconstructionism. These theories can be applied to works of literature in order to better understand the characters and plot of the story, but also to better understand the author’s mindset and thus the world in which the author was writing. Therefore, through theoretical analyses, readers can comprehend themselves on a deeper level. George Orwell’s classic dystopian novel 1984 is particularly impactful when looked at from Marxism and Deconstruction mindsets. Aspects of the novel’s plot, language, and characters will be analyzed from these two perspectives. It will ultimately be determined that both theories enhance the reading of 1984 and the reader can glean different lessons from the novel by applying both theories. While Marxism applies to the overall political concept, Deconstruction lends to the reader’s understanding of what it is like to live in the world of the story. Thus, one comes to understand that both theories contribute to the novel but a careful analysis will demonstrate that Deconstruction provides more insight into how the novel relates directly to the lives of readers.

M arxism associates itself with class differences, economic and otherwise, and ultimately “attempts to reveal the ways in which our socioeconomic system is the ultimate source of our experience” (Purdue OWL). That is to say, the political ideologies of a literary work are directly related to the world in which the author was writing or the message that the readers are intended to learn through the piece. Previous scholarship on Marxism has demonstrated how “literature reflects those social institutions out of which it emerges” and often relates to the “author’s own class or analysis of class relations, however piercing or shallow that analysis may be” (Delahoyde).In order to be truly applying Marxism, a reader or critic must ask himself a few questions such as determining the currency or most valuable aspect of the story’s society, as well as explicating the social structure of the world of the novel and thus illuminating the political agenda that the author is trying to put forth.

D econstruction is a branch of the Postmodern movement and is typically defined by the phrase “the center cannot hold” (Purdue OWL). Contrary to the political and economic agenda of Marxist criticism, Deconstruction works on a more philosophical level. It seems as though the world is divided into binary oppositions such as living/dead, black/white, wrong/right, and so on. Deconstruction seeks to not only point out the flaws in binary thinking but to, overall, bring those concepts crashing to the ground by shaking them at their core. Deconstruction hits readers on a personal level and challenges their thinking by forcing them to consider that perhaps there is no singular, absolute truth and the world may be much more complex than they originally thought. In fact, the man behind the theory, Jacques Derrida, described Deconstruction as wanting to “erase the boundaries between binary oppositions — and to do so in such a way that the hierarchy implied by the opposition is thrown into question” (“Definition of Deconstruction”). Another way to think of Deconstruction is that there is a space between the binaries and “this divided space (/) is really not an unbridgeable demarcation, but is rather a zone of undecidability, a space open to free-play and crossings, a gray zone, not a black and white one” (Giles 129–130). Ultimately, both theories examine literature to find truth within the work, to determine meaning that goes beyond what readers already know and believe, and to perhaps make a difference in the world through the literary work or at the very least to point out flaws.

A fter gaining a better understanding of what each of the theories stand for, one can now apply them to a selected work of literature. An excellent literary piece that provides plentiful material for analysis is George Orwell’s 1984 . The novel has been considered a classic work of literature because “1984 has come and gone, but George Orwell’s prophetic, nightmarish vision in 1949 of the world we were becoming is timelier than ever” (Fromm). It has been the subject of a variety of critical analyses by scholars and critics as they try to derive meaning from a work that can be interpreted in numerous ways. Orwell presents a “hopeless” (Fromm) future, one in which mankind succumbs to a totalitarian governmental regime and ultimately loses the essence of what makes them human.

In his afterword to the Signet version of the novel, Erich Fromm discusses the evolution of novels in relation to the economic and political events of the time. He refers to Orwell’s writing as a Negative Utopia, or a Dystopia, that sought to answer a question that seemed to be the end all-be all: “can human nature be changed in such a way that man will forget his longing for freedom, for dignity, for integrity, for love — that is to say, can man forget that he is human” (Fromm 318). Fromm continues to say that Orwell does not approach this question from a psychological aspect, which would be “the simple position” (318). It must also be noted that although feminist critics could make applications to the novel, it would only be in relation to the characters or aspects of the story rather than the overall meaning of the work, so it is not the theoretical lens of choice nor the one applied directly by Orwell. It is almost as if Orwell himself chose both Marxist and Deconstruction aspects in his writing of the novel, combining to what Fromm refers to as “Orwellian” (318). First, the Marxist perspective can be explicated upon to determine how the world of 1984 carries on. Then, Deconstruction will allow for a deeper interpretation of what the world of 1984 truly means to the characters but also to readers.

D ouglas Kellner pondered the political qualities of 1984 and argued that Orwell’s writing “project[s] an image of totalitarian societies which conceptualizes his experiences of fascism and Stalinism and his fears that the trends toward this type of totalitarianism would harden, intensify, and spread throughout the world.” Kellner is clearly taking a Marxist perspective, as this statement describes how the literature is a direct political and economic reflection of the experiences of the author and, thus, the world in which the author lived when he wrote, or at the very least the world that the author feared was on the horizon. As a whole, 1984 seems to be stating that “Politics is solely a constant struggle for power and the only change brought about is the replacement of one ruling class with another” (Sava 53). This ideal is solidified by the class structure of the Party members within 1984 and ultimately by the power-plays of the Party, which is to be impressed upon all citizens of Oceania. The Party’s control over the mindset of the people is demonstrated in the way that Oceania is constantly at war with one of the other political powers and the Party’s agenda is then forced upon the people — noted in the beginning of the novel by Winston as he says, “Oceania was at war with Eurasia: therefore Oceania had always been at war with Eurasia” (Orwell 34) despite his personal knowledge that they had actually been allies with Eurasia a few years prior. Later on, when things change suddenly, the power of the Party is exerted once again: “Oceania was at war with Eastasia: Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia” (Orwell 182).

W inston addresses the Marxist ideal of separating social classes, with the upper-level Inner Party members and the mid-level Party members, what Marx considered to be the Bourgeois, and the lower-level Proletariat. The lower class in the world of 1984 is indeed referred to as Proletariat, or proles for short. According to Marx, when a group is oppressed by another group, there will be a revolution and that revolution will be led by the working class. Winston reflects on this concept directly, as he is writing in his diary: “ If there is hope … it lies in the proles ” (Orwell 69). Winston further contemplates that hope for the future is found in the proles “because only there, in those swarming disregarded masses, eighty-five per cent of the population of Oceania, could the force to destroy the Party ever be generated” (Orwell 69). Therefore, Winston concludes, if change is to occur it is up to the proles:

[For members of the Party,] Rebellion meant a look in the eyes, an inflection of the voice; at the most, an occasional whispered word. But the proles, if only they could somehow become conscious of their own strength, would have no need to conspire. They needed only to rise up and shake themselves like a horse shaking off flies. If they chose they could blow the Party to pieces tomorrow morning. Surely sooner or later it must occur to them to do it (Orwell 69).

This is a straight-forward reference to Marx’s assertion that the “proletariat will grow more restive and more skeptical” (Southern New Hampshire University) of their government and will ultimately revolt against them. If this were to happen, the government would be overthrown and the political establishment will be forced to change. However, Winston doubts that this will ever happen because the proles have yet to awaken the rebellious side within them. Since they are the lower class citizens, they are not required to be as loyal to the Party as others. In fact, “It was not desirable that the proles should have strong political feelings” (Orwell 71). This is how the Party keeps the proles under control and prevents an uprising. This is also why an uprising will likely never happen and things will never change — Winston sees that and it is a fact that he laments. The belief that revolution will never take place is only cemented later on as Winston reads Goldstein’s book of the Brotherhood, which expounds upon the ideals of revolutionists and depicts the great struggle they are up against in trying to take down Big Brother and the Party. Goldstein addresses the Party’s concept of war actually being peaceful in a chapter of his book — thus, a book within the book — and makes the following claims:

The essential act of war is destruction, not necessarily of human lives, but of the products of human labor. War is a way of shattering to pieces…materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too comfortable, and hence, in the long run, too intelligent….…The war is waged by each ruling group against its own subjects, and the object of the war is not to make or prevent conquests of territory, but to keep the structure of society intact (Orwell 191, 199).

The role of Marxism in 1984 is prevalent throughout the novel, evident in the way the government controls its people. Orwell paints a grim picture of the future and shows readers what could become of the world. The Party slogan emphasizes the power of the government:

WAR IS PEACE FREEDOM IS SLAVERY IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH (Orwell 4).

From a Marxist perspective, it is clear to see that the world of 1984 has spiraled out of control. This resonates with readers as something to fear, and they realize that it not only means being controlled by a higher authority but it also represents losing a part of one’s self and becoming just another part of an all too powerful system.

Through a Marxist analysis, readers are able to understand the world of 1984. Now, providing a Deconstructive analysis will allow readers to truly step into that world and comprehend the characters and, in turn, themselves. To begin a Deconstructive critique one need only look at the beginning of the novel, at the Party slogan referenced earlier. This puts binary oppositions in the reader’s face from the start and immediately gets the readers out of their comfort zones by stating antonyms as synonyms. Binaries continue to be challenged as Winston explains the four types of ministries:

The Ministry of Truth, which concerned itself with news, entertainment, education, and the fine arts; the Ministry of Peace, which concerned itself with war; the Ministry of Love, which maintained law and order; and the Ministry of Plenty, which was responsible for economic affairs (Orwell 4).

A few lines later, it is stated that the “Ministry of Love was the really frightening one” (Orwell 4), as it is a bland building with no windows and is encircled by barbed-wire and guarded by machine guns (Orwell 4). This instantly makes readers take a step back and think about what Orwell is saying here: nothing is what it seems or what it should be.

R eaders start out believing that everything in life is either this or that . However, according to Big Brother and the Party, two things cannot exist simultaenously — one must first be destroyed, forgotten and erased, before the other thing can begin to exist, and the existence of the second thing overwrites the fact that the first one ever existed. This is particularly exemplified by Winston’s job at the records department, where he works dilligently to ensure that historical records reflect what the Party wants them to reflect, be that the truth or something fabricated. In actuality, it has become impossible to tell the difference between truth and lies. This is deconstructive of anything that the readers are familiar with, as there is a belief that there are absolute truths in the world that cannot be tampered with and that truth is something inherent.

The most influential deconstructionist passage, though, is when Winston is attempting to describe the concept of “doublethink,” represented in the following paragraph:

To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality whil laying claim to it, to believe that democracy was possible and that the Party was the guardian of democracy, to forget whatever it was necessary to forget, then to draw it back into memory again at the moment it was needed, and then promptly to forget it again, and above all, to apply the same process to the process itself — that was the ultimate subtlety: consciously to induce unconsciousness, and then, once again, to become unconscious of the act of hypnosis you had just performed (Orwell 35).

Here it becomes apparent that two things have stopped being two things — the boundary between binaries has been crossed to the point where things that were once opposing are now considered to be one in the same. Something can be both black and white; one can turn right while simultaneously turning left; a person can exist while they are not in existence as demonstrated later on when Winston creates “a certain Comrade Ogilvy” (Orwell 46). This work of literature most certainly demonstrates the deconstructionist concept of a work unraveling itself, of contradictory ideals, and the world of Oceania is most definitely an unstable one and may cause readers to question the stability of their own reality. Winston later states that “to understand the word ‘doublethink’ involved the use of doublethink” (Orwell 35). This coincides with deconstruction, implying that interpretation of the text can only go so far since it would take living in the novel’s world in order for one to truly understand it.

E xpanding on the concept of Deconstruction, one must refer back to the aforementioned segment where Winston noted that the proles would lead the revolution. This entails how the Marxist lens overlaps with Deconstructionism, because he is discussing how the proles must ultimately be the ones to rise up against the totallitarian regime but he also acknowledges the reason why that is unlikely to ever actually take place: “Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled the cannot become conscious” (Orwell 70). Thus, according to Winston, and Orwell it seems, people are locked in a vicious cycle of being controlled by a dominating group while simultaneously holding the key to their own deliverance. This means that the political aspects of 1984 have bearings on the world as readers know it, but it also demonstrates the deconstruction that occurs as what readers know to be true is challenged, as it appears as though the concept of doublethink is needed in order for one to even begin to understand Orwell’s true intentions in writing the novel.

In summation, Orwell presents a totalitarian society that seems to be a Marxist nightmare come to fruition and applying a Marxist lens allows readers to interpret what Orwell was trying to warn against. In addition, a Deconstructionist viewpoint of the novel points out binary oppositions that exist within the world and challenges readers to see beyond their original mindset, ultimately leading them down a path to deeper understanding of one’s self. Readers are able to understand the political and economic foundations of 1984 through Marxism, but it is Deconstruction that allows them to step into Winston’s shoes and live inside that world. Through Winston’s great revelations of seemingly opposite concepts, such as his statement to Julia that “We are the dead” (Orwell 135), readers come to understand the great gift they have in being truly alive and relatively free to live their lives in any way they choose. This may make them question whether or not they have been truly living up to this point, allowing them to learn from Winston’s mistakes. Later on, as readers see Winston succumb to the Party’s will and ultimately die unto himself, they may be shocked into the understanding that they are rather lucky and that they must live while they can, they must hold onto that part of themselves that makes them them . Perhaps that is what Orwell was truly warning against, the fear that humanness is a quality that can be stolen right from under one’s nose or, worse, that it will simply be given away.

Works Cited

“Definition of Deconstruction.” Critical Approaches . Virtual Lit. <http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/poetry/critical_define/crit_decons.html>

“Marxist and Deconstructionist Theories.” Module Three: A Little Deeper Now . Southern New Hampshire University: LIT 500 Module Three. Lecture.

Delahoyde, Michael. “Marxism.” Introduction to Literature. <http://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/marxist.crit.html>

Fromm, Erich. In George Orwell, 1984 . New York, NY: Signet Classics. 1977.

Giles, Todd. “Using Melville’s ‘Bartleby, the Scrivener’ to Teach Deconstruction in the Introduction to Fiction Classroom.” 128–135. <http://criticaltheoriesandwriting.wikispaces.com/file/view/teaching+melville+to+introduce+deconstruction.pdf>

Kellner, Douglas. “From 1984 to one-dimensional man: Critical reflections on Orwell and Marcuse.” Current Perspectives in Social Theory 10 (1990): 223–52. <https://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/essays/from1984toonedimensional.pdf>

Orwell, George. 1984 . New York, NY: Signet Classics. 1977.

Purdue OWL. “Postmodern Criticism.” Purdue OWL: Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism. Web. 3 June 2015. < https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/08/>

Sava, Toma. “Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. Deconstructing Dystopia.” Journal of Humanistic and Social Studies 2 (2012): 51–57.

Written by Kelsi Lynelle

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Books — 1984

Essays on 1984

Hook examples for "1984" essays, the dystopian warning hook.

Open your essay by discussing George Orwell's "1984" as a prophetic warning against totalitarianism and government surveillance. Explore how the novel's themes are eerily relevant in today's world.

The Orwellian Language Hook

Delve into the concept of Newspeak in "1984" and its parallels to modern language manipulation. Discuss how the novel's portrayal of controlled language reflects real-world instances of propaganda and censorship.

Big Brother is Watching Hook

Begin with a focus on surveillance and privacy concerns. Analyze the omnipresent surveillance in the novel and draw connections to contemporary debates over surveillance technologies, data privacy, and civil liberties.

The Power of Doublethink Hook

Explore the psychological manipulation in "1984" through the concept of doublethink. Discuss how individuals in the novel are coerced into accepting contradictory beliefs, and examine instances of cognitive dissonance in society today.

The Character of Winston Smith Hook

Introduce your readers to the protagonist, Winston Smith, and his journey of rebellion against the Party. Analyze his character development and the universal theme of resistance against oppressive regimes.

Technology and Control Hook

Discuss the role of technology in "1984" and its implications for control. Explore how advancements in surveillance technology, social media, and artificial intelligence resonate with the novel's themes of control and manipulation.

The Ministry of Truth Hook

Examine the Ministry of Truth in the novel, responsible for rewriting history. Compare this to the manipulation of information and historical revisionism in contemporary politics and media.

Media Manipulation and Fake News Hook

Draw parallels between the Party's manipulation of information in "1984" and the spread of misinformation and fake news in today's media landscape. Discuss the consequences of a distorted reality.

Relevance of Thoughtcrime Hook

Explore the concept of thoughtcrime and its impact on individual freedom in the novel. Discuss how society today grapples with issues related to freedom of thought, expression, and censorship.

Exploring The Concept of Dispensation in The Bible

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Coral Paperweight in 1984: Symbol of Resistance

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1984 by George Orwell: Literary Devices to Portray Government Controlling Its Citizens

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A World Without Love: The Ramifications of an Affectionless Society in 1984

On double-think and newspeak: orwell's language, the theme of survival and selfishness in the handmaid's tale in 1984, government surveillance in 1984 by george orwell: bogus security, george orwell's 1984 as a historical allegory, exploitation of language in george orwell's 1984, how orwell's 1984 is relevant to today's audience, the relation of orwel’s 1984 to the uighur conflict in china, symbolism in 1984: the soviet union as representation of the fears people, parallels to today in 1984 by george orwell, the relationship between power and emotions in 1984, proletariat vs protagonist: winston smith's class conflict in 1984, a review of george orwell’s book, 1984, o'brien as a dehumanizing villain in 1984, family in 1984 and persepolis, the philosophy of determinism in 1984, orwell's use of rhetorical strategies in 1984, control the citizens in the orwell's novel 1984, dangers of totalitarianism as depicted in 1984, dystopian life in '1984' was a real-life in china.

8 June 1949, George Orwell

Novel; Dystopia, Political Fiction, Social Science Fiction Novel

Winston Smith, Julia, O'Brien, Aaronson, Jones, and Rutherford, Ampleforth, Charrington, Tom Parsons, Syme, Mrs. Parsons, Katharine Smith

Since Orwell has been a democratic socialist, he has modelled his book and motives after the Stalinist Russia

Power, Repressive Behaviors, Totalitarianism, Mass Surveillance, Human Behaviors

The novel has brought up the "Orwellian" term, which stands for "Big Brother" "Thoughtcrime" and many other terms that we know well. It has been the reflection of totalitarianism

1984 represents a dystopian writing that has followed the life of Winston Smith who belongs to the "Party",which stands for the total control, which is also known as the Big Brother. It controls every aspect of people's lives. Is it ever possible to go against the system or will it take even more control. It constantly follows the fear and oppression with the surveillance being the main part of 1984. There is Party’s official O’Brien who is following the resistance movement, which represents an alternative, which is the symbol of hope.

Before George Orwell wrote his famous book, he worked for the BBC as the propagandist during World War II. The novel has been named 1980, then 1982 before finally settling on its name. Orwell fought tuberculosis while writing the novel. He died seven months after 1984 was published. Orwell almost died during the boating trip while he was writing the novel. Orwell himself has been under government surveillance. It was because of his socialist opinions. The slogan that the book uses "2 + 2 = 5" originally came from Communist Russia and stood for the five-year plan that had to be achieved during only four years. Orwell also used various Japanese propaganda when writing his novel, precisely his "Thought Police" idea.

“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” “But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.” “Being in a minority, even in a minority of one, did not make you mad. There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad.” “Confession is not betrayal. What you say or do doesn't matter; only feelings matter. If they could make me stop loving you-that would be the real betrayal.” “Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing.” "But you could not have pure love or pure lust nowadays. No emotion was pure, because everything was mixed up with fear and hatred."

The most important aspect of 1984 is Thought Police, which controls every thought. It has been featured in numerous books, plays, music pieces, poetry, and anything that has been created when one had to deal with Social Science and Politics. Another factor that represents culmination is thinking about overthrowing the system or trying to organize a resistance movement. It has numerous reflections of the post WW2 world. Although the novella is graphic and quite intense, it portrays dictatorship and is driven by fear through the lens of its characters.

This essay topic is often used when writing about “The Big Brother” or totalitarian regimes, which makes 1984 a flexible topic that can be taken as the foundation. Even if you have to write about the use of fear by the political regimes, knowing the facts about this novel will help you to provide an example.

1. Enteen, G. M. (1984). George Orwell And the Theory of Totalitarianism: A 1984 Retrospective. The Journal of General Education, 36(3), 206-215. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/27797000) 2. Hughes, I. (2021). 1984. Literary Cultures, 4(2). (https://journals.ntu.ac.uk/index.php/litc/article/view/340) 3. Patai, D. (1982). Gamesmanship and Androcentrism in Orwell's 1984. PMLA, 97(5), 856-870. (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/pmla/article/abs/gamesmanship-and-androcentrism-in-orwells-1984/F1B026BE9D97EE0114E248AA733B189D) 4. Paden, R. (1984). Surveillance and Torture: Foucault and Orwell on the Methods of Discipline. Social Theory and Practice, 10(3), 261-271. (https://www.pdcnet.org/soctheorpract/content/soctheorpract_1984_0010_0003_0261_0272) 5. Tyner, J. A. (2004). Self and space, resistance and discipline: a Foucauldian reading of George Orwell's 1984. Social & Cultural Geography, 5(1), 129-149. (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1464936032000137966) 6. Kellner, D. (1990). From 1984 to one-dimensional man: Critical reflections on Orwell and Marcuse. Current Perspectives in Social Theory, 10, 223-52. (https://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/essays/from1984toonedimensional.pdf) 7. Samuelson, P. (1984). Good legal writing: of Orwell and window panes. U. Pitt. L. Rev., 46, 149. (https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/upitt46&div=13&id=&page=) 8. Fadaee, E. (2011). Translation techniques of figures of speech: A case study of George Orwell's" 1984 and Animal Farm. Journal of English and Literature, 2(8), 174-181. (https://academicjournals.org/article/article1379427897_Fadaee.pdf) 9. Patai, D. (1984, January). Orwell's despair, Burdekin's hope: Gender and power in dystopia. In Women's Studies International Forum (Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 85-95). Pergamon. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0277539584900621) 10. Cole, M. B. (2022). The Desperate Radicalism of Orwell’s 1984: Power, Socialism, and Utopia in Dystopian Times. Political Research Quarterly, 10659129221083286. (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/10659129221083286)

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The Definitive Guide to Analysing ‘1984’ for English: Summary, Context, Themes & Characters

Newspeak? Doublethink? What do all of these words mean? If you need help analysing 1984 by George Orwell, you’ve come to the right place — we’ve got all you need to know with a summary, list of key characters, themes and a 3-step essay analysis guide!

We’ve even got an analysis table and a sample paragraph that’s all free for you to download on 1984.

So, let’s throw back into 1984 (the fictional one of course)! 

1984 by George Orwell Summary & Key Messages Key Characters in 1984 Context Themes Explored in 1984 Essay Analysis of 1984

1984 by George Orwell Summary & Key Messages

The politics of oceania.

1984 belongs in the dystopian, science fiction genre as it explores the dangers of corrupted power under a totalitarian regime. Totalitarianism is a government system that dictates how its citizens think, behave and act by constantly keeping an eye on them and carrying out punishments for those who don’t obey. Sounds strict, hey? 

Sadly, this is the life of our protagonist, Winston Smith. Winston lives in a nation that resembles London in Oceania, which has been in a war with Eurasia and Eastasia since forever but no one really knows what the war is about. This is because the Party controls its people through rewriting history in the Ministry of Truth, where Winston edits historical records as part of his job.

The Party also invented a new language called “Newspeak” , which eliminates any words associated with rebellion to ensure full subservience of their nation. 

Wherever Winston goes, he is bombarded with posters of their omnipresent leader, Big Brother. There are also hidden cameras and microphones that are implanted everywhere by the thought police to monitor every move of its citizens.

It’s a scary place because if you do or say anything wrong, the thought police will capture you and force you into lifelong labour . In this world, people cannot have close friends, cannot date whoever they want and cannot have intimate relationships.

Instead, the people pent up these emotions and channel them into aggressive patriotism for their government which are expressed in two minute hate rallies. 

The Start of Winston’s Rebellion

Winston has had enough of the Party and its strict control. He purchases an illegal diary to commit crimethink, where he expresses his own thoughts and feelings about the Party through writing. He also writes about his interest in O’Brien, a member of the Inner Party who he believes could be part of the underground rebellion group called the Brotherhood. 

Access 1984 Downloadable Sample Paragraph and Examples of Analysis

Winston’s and Julia’s Relationship

At work, Winston realises that his historical records were not aligning with his memories . He notices Julia, a young beautiful girl staring at him, and he is afraid that she will turn him into the “thought police”.

However, Julia passes him a note that says “I love you” and they start an affair. 

O’Brien’s Betrayal 

As their relationship grows more seriously, so does Winston’s hatred for the Party. He and Julia decided to reveal their rebellion to O’Brien, who also appeared to be on their side .

O’Brien welcomes them into the Brotherhood and passed Winston a copy of Emmanuel Goldstein’s book. As Winston starts reading the book, the thought police charge in, arrest Winston and Julia and bring them to the Ministry of Love. Turns out, O’Brien is a snake. 

The Party Tortures Winston

At the Ministry of Love, Winston is tortured mercilessly and this makes him confess everything he knows about Julia and the rebellion .

It is then revealed that the government carries out these acts to exercise total power and control over the people of Oceania, to the extent where people not only do things out of fear, but genuinely believe in what they are doing even if it doesn’t make sense.

Winston’s Loss of Individuality

In Room 101, Winston experiences a true Fear Factor episode. The thought police threaten Winston with his ultimate fear, rats that would eat his face off. This caused Winston to scream “Do it to Julia, not me!”, which represents his betrayal to the only person that held value to him.

After this, the thought police let both Winston and Julia go, but the two ex-lovers can no longer look at each other face to face as they are both broken inside. Winston becomes a changed man who does not want to think about rebelling and instead becomes highly supportive of the Party and Big Brother. 

Key Characters in 1984

Winston Smith  The main protagonist who works under the Ministry of Truth in London, Oceania. His appearance is frail, pensive and intelligent. He hates the Party and its totalitarian system with a desire to revolutionise his current political situation. He can be emotional and idealistic with his goals. 

Julia  A beautiful young girl who is Winston’s love interest. Julia is sex-positive with an optimistic attitude about the future of the Party. She represents parts of humanity that Winston lacks, such as passive survival, intimacy, intuition and pragmatism. 

O’Brien  A mysterious leader of the Inner Party who Winston trusts as Winston believes that O’Brien is a member of the legendary rebellion group, the Brotherhood. It is revealed later in the novel that O’Brien is a leader of The Party who has been keeping a close eye on Winston. His betrayal launches us into the inner mechanisms of The Party and its totalitarian rule. O’Brien’s character parallels that of famous dictators in modern history such as Stalin and Hitler, as he is determined to indoctrinate Winston in the name of “purity.” 

Big Brother  Have you watched the show Big Brother? His character in the show is almost the same as in 1984, except a lot more controlling. In 1984, Big Brother is the most dominating figure in Oceania as he is perceived to be the ruler, although Orwell does not specify whether he really exists or not. Big Brother’s face is plastered among posters, coins and telescreens with the slogan “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” so it’s impossible to avoid him anywhere. 

Emmanuel Goldstein As the leader of the legendary group of rebels called the Brotherhood, Emmanuel Goldstein is the opposing figure of Big Brother. Although he never appears in the novel, he has had a profound impact on Winston’s hope for the future. He is the most dangerous man in Oceania, according to the Party.  

Context in 1984

To understand 1984’s context, we must first understand the author’s personal background to craft a well thought-out essay analysis. This is because the author’s personal and historical experiences do shape the novel and its themes. So, let’s start with Orwell’s schooling days.

If you ever felt suppressed at school, Orwell can definitely relate with you on that. As a “lower-upper-middle class”, Orwell didn’t fit in with his peers and was upset with the restricted routine that schools impose on their students.

He then went on to become a British Imperial Policeman in Burma where he hated his job as he had to execute strict laws under a political system he didn’t like. After this, he moved to England and became a full-time writer. 

Orwell experienced poverty for awhile, and even lived as a coal miner in northern England which caused him to shift from capitalist ideals to democratic socialism. Here are the simplified definitions of the political concepts that influenced Orwell’s beliefs and 1984’s themes: 

• Capitalism: An economic system where property is owned and controlled by private actors, rather than by state. As such individuals can control how much they set their prices, instead of leaving it to the government to dictate. 
• Democratic Socialism: Unlike capitalism, democratic socialism is an economic system whereby property and products are owned and controlled by the entire society, alongside governments. So, the main difference here is that governments have a say in trade whereas in capitalism, governments do not interfere with private owner’s business. 

Orwell was also concerned with the rise of Thatcherism. 

In the year 1936, Orwell fought as a socialist in the Spanish Civil War during World War II, where he became familiar with totalitarian systems that are under leaders such as Hitler and Stalin. Although Orwell was passionate about socialism at first, he soon became disillusioned and disappointed with its ideals as Stalin used communism as the foundation of his authoritarian system. 

Stalin of the Soviet Union was also an important influence in shaping 1984’s totalitarian regime of Oceania, as Stalin used secret police to force confessions out of enemies through torture alike how the Ministry of Love did with Winston . Like the Party, the Soviet Union also tampered with physical records of people as they imprison and/or eliminate millions of lives. 

With the rise of the nuclear age and television in 1949, Orwell envisioned a future where everyone would always be monitored through screens in a post-atomic dictatorship . This became a fear that was highly possible when speculated thirty five years into the future. 

But as we all know, this did not become true. In the early 1990s, the Cold War ended with the triumph of democracy, as signified by the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Even so, Orwell’s 1984 still serves as a precautionary tale against the corruption and abuse of totalitarian regimes, along with a profound insight into the use of language and history to manipulate one’s individuality.  

Want more information on George Orwell? Take a look at this biography found via the Orwell Foundation page!

Themes Explored in 1984

To help you get started on your thesis or topic sentence , here are three key themes from 1984 that you can write about in your essay analysis !

The Consequences of Totalitarianism

After experiencing the violence and corruption of totalitarian regimes in Spain and Russia, Orwell wrote 1984 as a warning about the dangers of an authoritarian regime where the government holds the most power. As such, the Party in 1984 administered extreme methods of physical and psychological manipulation to enforce total submission of its people. 

Physical control by the Party includes total surveillance of its people to the extent where even a twitch in the face can be enough to warrant an arrest. Morning exercises, called Physical Jerks, are also carried out before long hours at work to tire people out so they don’t have the energy to think beyond the Party’s propaganda. 

The Party also uses physical torture to “re-educate” and punish those who rebel against them. It is this physical pain that causes Winston to lose his own individuality and moral beliefs, allowing the Party to infiltrate his mind and dictate his sense of reality. 

Meanwhile, the Party also uses psychological tactics to saturate the individual’s mind with propaganda and disable its ability for independent thinking. On top of watching everyone everywhere, the telescreens are also used to indoctrinate (ie. brainwash) people into supporting the Party despite its flaws.

The telescreens also perpetuate slogans such as “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” , to remind people that their government is always watching their back so they better behave according to the Party’s standards. 

The Party also deems close friendships and conversations with others illegal. So, if you’re itching to spill the tea, your only method of venting your emotions out is through pep rallies, where the Party encourages you to show extreme expressions of hatred to its political enemies. Ultimately, this allows the Party to dictate how and where you should express your emotions, keeping you from expressing your individual feelings, thoughts and opinions. 

Here are some quotes that illustrate the perils of totalitarianism: 

The Power of Language to Liberate and Control 

In 1984, language has the dual capacity to both restrain and facilitate individual expression. This is another key message that Orwell imparts, as he highlights how language can either promote or limit ideas which influence our beliefs, behaviour and identity. 

The Party uses Newspeak as a way of controlling the language that its people speak, which in turn dictates the people’s thoughts, actions and personalities (or lack thereof).

By eliminating words that are associated with rebellious thoughts, the Party essentially removes the people’s ability to think of resistance because there are no words to conceive it. With continual edits with Newspeak, the Party inches a step closer to their ultimate goal of total coercion from their people.

Yet, in Winston’s case, he uses language as a vehicle of self-expression as he purchases a diary for himself and writes his everyday thoughts, opinions and feelings into it . By writing in his own words, he is able to build himself an identity with his own passions, goals and perspective.

Sadly, in a world where the government overrules individual expression, Winston’s use of language dwindles, though it is encouraging to see how language can still work to preserve independent thought.

Here are three quotes that can help you get started on this theme: 

The Importance of Preserving Our Identity and Individualism

What happens if we lose everything that defines us as us? 

1984 truly delves into this scary concept as the Party removes everyone’s personal details so they are not able to establish their own identity. For example, even Winston does not know his own age, who his real parents are nor can he trust his own childhood memories as there are no photographs or evidences to help him differentiate between reality and imagination. 

Aside from Winston, the rest of Oceania are also denied documents that could give them a sense of individuality and help them differentiate themselves from others . This causes their memories to grow fuzzy, thus making the people of Oceania vulnerable and dependent on the stories that the Party tells them.

In turn, by controlling the present, the Party can re-engineer the past. Simultaneously, by controlling the past, the Party can rationalise its shortcomings and project a perfect government that is far from the truth. 

With no recollection of the past, the people of Oceania can no longer stay in touch with their real identities and instead, become identical as they wear the same uniform, drink the same brand of alcohol and more. Yet, Winston builds his own sense of identity through recording his thoughts, experiences and emotions in his diary. This act along with his relationship with Julia symbolises Winston’s declaration of his own independence and identity as a rebel who disagrees with the Party’s system. 

Despite this, Winston’s own sense of individuality and identity dissolves after his torturous experience at the Ministry of Love, which transforms him into another member of the Outer Party who blends into the crowd. By asserting a dark vision of humanity’s individualism, Orwell urges audiences in the present to truly value their freedom to express and preserve their identity. 

Here are some quotes that are related to this idea which you may find helpful:

Of course, 1984 also includes other themes that you may be thinking about writing analysis for, such as: 

• Rebellion and Patriotism 
• Active versus Passive Survival 
• The Corrupt Use of Technology

Check out our recommended related text for 1984 .

Essay Analysis: How to Analyse 1984 in 3 Steps

Analysing your text is always the first step to writing an amazing essay! Lots of students make the mistake of jumping right into writing without really understanding what the text is about.

This leads to arguments that only skim the surface of the complex ideas, techniques and elements of the text. So, let’s build a comprehensive thesis through an in-depth analysis of the 1984. 

Here are three easy steps that you can use to analyse 1984 and really impress your English teachers!

Step 1: Select your example(s)

1984 is a world of its own with its totalitarian systems, use of foreign words and more. So, we totally understand if you’re feeling lost and don’t know where to begin. 

Our piece of advice is to look for examples that come with a technique. Techniques offer you a chance to delve into the text’s underlying meaning, which would help you deepen your analysis and enrich your essay writing. 

Find our extensive list of quotes from 1984 by George Orwell!

Here are two quotes that relate to consequences of totalitarian power, which we have picked to help you visualise which examples can provide a deeper meaning: 

“Big Brother is Watching You.”  “WAR IS PEACE FREEDOM IS SLAVERY IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH” 

Step 2: Identify your technique(s)

Getting a good grade in English is more than listing out every technique that you can find in the text. Instead, it’s about finding techniques that allow you to dive deeper into the themes you’re focussing on, while also supporting your argument. 

Try to look for techniques that allow you to explain its effects and link to your argument such as symbols, metaphors, connotations, similes and historical allegories . In Orwell’s case, he uses a lot of language techniques such as neologism, where he makes up his own words such as “Doublethink” or “Newspeak”. 

For the two quotes above, its three techniques include historical allusion, rhetoric and oxymoron. 

If possible, you can look out for a quote that encompasses a few techniques to really pack a punch in your analysis. 

Step 3: Write the analysis

Once you’re done collecting your examples and techniques, the next part is writing. You must remember to explain what the effect of the technique is and how it supports your argument. Otherwise, it’s not going to be a cohesive essay if you’re just listing out techniques. 

An example of listing out techniques looks like this: 

“The rhetoric “Big Brother is Watching You” is also a historical allusion while “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery and Ignorance is Strength” is oxymoronic.”

Instead, you must elaborate on how each of these techniques link to your argument. 

“Big Brother is Watching You” is a rhetoric imposed by the Party to instil psychological fear and submission of the people of Oceania, whereby Orwell uses to warn the dangers of totalitarianism. “Big Brother” is also a historical allusion to Hitler to remind the audience that 1984 is not entirely fictional but a possible future of our reality, urging us to take action against totalitarian regimes with the autonomy we have now. 

Meanwhile, the slogan ““WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH” represents the oxymoronic mentalities that have been indoctrinated into the people of Oceania, highlighting how totalitarian regimes would force its people to think whatever they want their people to think, no matter how illogical it is. 

Together, your analysis should look something like: 

The Party perpetuates the rhetoric, “Big Brother is Watching You” to instil psychological fear and coercion of the the people of Oceania, which forewarns a lack of individual freedom and private reflection within authoritarian regimes. As “Big Brother” is a historical allusion to Hitler, Orwell reminds the audience that 1984 and its extremist politics is a reality, urging us to defend our independence before it’s forbidden. Furthermore, the slogan “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength” embodies the oxymoronic mentalities that the Party indoctrinates into its people, revealing the extreme extent of psychological control an authoritarian regime strives to ensure their power is never questioned, no matter how irrational it is.

Need some help with your essay analysis of other texts aside from 1984?

Check out other texts we’ve created guides for below:

• Romeo and Juliet
• Run Lola Run
• The Meursault Investigation
• In Cold Blood
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• The Book Thief
• The Tempest
• Blade Runner
• Things Fall Apart
• Mrs Dalloway

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A Summary and Analysis of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four , completed in 1948 and published a year later, is a classic example of dystopian fiction. Indeed, it’s surely the most famous dystopian novel in the world, even if its ideas are known by far more people than have actually read it. (According to at least one survey , Nineteen Eighty-Four is the book people most often claim to have read when they haven’t.)

Like many novels that are more known about than are carefully read and analysed, Nineteen Eighty-Four is actually a more complex work than the label ‘nightmare dystopian vision’ can convey. Before we offer an analysis of the novel’s themes and origins, let’s briefly recap the plot.

Nineteen Eighty-Four : plot summary

In the year 1984, Britain has been renamed Airstrip One and is a province of Oceania, a vast totalitarian superstate ruled by ‘the Party’, whose politics are described as Ingsoc (‘English Socialism’). Big Brother is the leader of the Party, which keeps its citizens in a perpetual state of fear and submission through a variety of means.

Surveillance is a key part of the novel’s world, with hidden microphones (which are found in the countryside as well as urban areas, and can identify not only what is said but also who says it) and two-way telescreen monitors being used to root out any dissidents, who disappear from society with all trace of their existence wiped out.

They become, in the language of Newspeak (the language used by people in the novel), ‘unpersons’. People are short of food, perpetually on the brink of starvation, and going about in fear for their lives.

The novel’s setting is London, where Trafalgar Square has been renamed Victory Square and the statue of Horatio Nelson atop Nelson’s Column has been replaced by one of Big Brother. Through such touches, Orwell defamiliarises the London of the 1940s which the original readers would have recognised, showing how the London they know might be transformed under a totalitarian regime.

The novel’s protagonist is Winston Smith, who works at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting historical records so they are consistent with the state’s latest version of history. However, even though his day job involves doing the work of the Party, Winston longs to escape the oppressive control of the Party, hoping for a rebellion.

Winston meets the owner of an antique shop named Mr Charrington, from whom he buys a diary in which he can record his true feelings towards the Party. Believing the working-class ‘proles’ are the key to a revolution, Winston visits them, but is disappointed to find them wholly lacking in any political understanding.

Meanwhile, hearing of the existence of an underground resistance movement known as the Brotherhood – which has been formed by the rival of Big Brother, a man named Emmanuel Goldstein – Winston suspects that O’Brien, who also works with him, is involved with this resistance.

At lunch with another colleague, named Syme, Winston learns that the English language is being rewritten as Newspeak so as to control and influence people’s thought, the idea being that if the word for an idea doesn’t exist in the language, people will be unable to think about it.

Winston meets a woman named Julia who works for the Ministry of Truth, maintaining novel-writing machines, but believes she is a Party spy sent to watch him. But then Julia passes a clandestine love message to him and the two begin an affair – which is itself illicit since the Party decrees that sex is for reproduction alone, rather than pleasure.

We gradually learn more about Winston’s past, including his marriage to Katherine, from whom he is now separated. Syme, who had been working on Newspeak, disappears in mysterious circumstances: something Winston had predicted.

O’Brien invites Winston to his flat, declaring himself – as Winston had also predicted – a member of the Brotherhood, the resistance against the Party. He gives Winston a copy of the book written by Goldstein, the leader of the Brotherhood.

When Oceania’s enemy changes during the ritual Hate Week, Winston is tasked with making further historical revisions to old newspapers and documents to reflect this change.

Meanwhile, Winston and Julia secretly read Goldstein’s book, which explains how the Party maintains its totalitarian power. As Winston had suspected, the secret to overthrowing the Party lies in the vast mass of the population known as the ‘proles’ (derived from ‘proletarian’, Marx’s term for the working classes). It argues that the Party can be overthrown if proles rise up against it.

But shortly after this, Winston and Julia are arrested, having been shopped to the authorities by Mr Charrington (whose flat above his shop they had been using for their illicit meetings). It turns out that both he and O’Brien work for the Thought Police, on behalf of the Party.

At the Ministry of Love, O’Brien tells Winston that Goldstein’s book was actually written by him and other Party members, and that the Brotherhood may not even exist. Winston endures torture and starvation in an attempt to grind him down so he will accept Big Brother.

In Room 101, a room in which a prisoner is exposed to their greatest fear, Winston is placed in front of a wire cage containing rats, which he fears above all else. Winston betrays Julia, wishing she could take his place and endure this suffering instead.

His reprogramming complete, Winston is allowed to go free, but he is essentially living under a death sentence: he knows that one day he will be summoned by the authorities and shot for his former treachery.

He meets Julia one day, and learns that she was subjected to torture at the Ministry of Love as well. They have both betrayed each other, and part ways. The novel ends with Winston accepting, after all, that the Party has won and that ‘he loved Big Brother.’

Nineteen Eighty-Four : analysis

Nineteen Eighty-Four is probably the most famous novel about totalitarianism, and about the dangers of allowing a one-party state where democracy, freedom of movement, freedom of speech, and even freedom of thought are all outlawed. The novel is often analysed as a warning about the dangers of allowing a creeping totalitarianism into Britain, after the horrors of such regimes in the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, and elsewhere had been witnessed.

Because of this quality of the book, it is often called ‘prophetic’ and a ‘nightmare vision of the future’, among other things.

However, books set in the future are rarely simply about the future. They are not mere speculation, but are grounded in the circumstances in which they were written.

Indeed, we might go so far as to say that most dystopian novels, whilst nominally set in an imagined future, are really using their future setting to reflect on what are already firmly established social or political ideas. In the case of Orwell and Nineteen Eighty-Four , this means the novel reflects the London of the 1940s.

By the time he came to write the novel, Orwell already had a long-standing interest in using his writing to highlight the horrors of totalitarianism around the world, especially following his experience fighting in the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. As Orwell put it in his essay ‘ Why I Write ’, all of his serious work written since 1936 was written ‘ against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism’.

In his analysis of Nineteen Eighty-Four in his study of Orwell, George Orwell (Reader’s Guides) , Jeffrey Meyers argues convincingly that, rather than being a nightmare vision of the future, a prophetic or speculative work, Orwell’s novel is actually a ‘realistic synthesis and rearrangement of familiar materials’ – indeed, as much of Orwell’s best work is.

His talent lay not in original imaginative thinking but in clear-headed critical analysis of things as they are: his essays are a prime example of this. Nineteen Eighty-Four is, in Meyer’s words, ‘realistic rather than fantastic’.

Indeed, Orwell himself stated that although the novel was ‘in a sense a fantasy’, it is written in the form of the naturalistic novel, with its themes and ideas having been already ‘partly realised in Communism and fascism’. Orwell’s intention, as stated by Orwell himself, was to take the totalitarian ideas that had ‘taken root’ in the minds of intellectuals all over Europe, and draw them out ‘to their logical consequences’.

Like much classic speculative fiction – the novels and stories of J. G. Ballard offer another example – the futuristic vision of the author is more a reflection of contemporary anxieties and concerns. Meyers goes so far as to argue that Nineteen Eighty-Four is actually the political regimes of Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia ‘transposed’ into London of the early 1940s, during the Second World War.

Certainly, many of the most famous features of Nineteen Eighty-Four were suggested to Orwell by his time working at the BBC in London in the first half of the 1940s: it is well-known that the Ministry of Truth was based on the bureaucratic BBC with its propaganda department, while the infamous Room 101 was supposedly named after a room of that number in the BBC building, in which Orwell had to endure tedious meetings.

The technology of the novel, too, was familiar by the 1940s, involving little innovation or leaps of imagination from Orwell (‘telescreens’ being a natural extension of the television set: BBC TV had been established in 1936, although the Second World War pushed back its development somewhat).

Orwell learned much about the workings of Stalinism from reading Trotsky’s The Revolution Betrayed (1937), written by one of the leading figures in the Russian Revolution of 1917 who saw Stalinist Russia as the antithesis of what Trotsky, Lenin, and those early revolutionaries had been striving to achieve. (This would also be important for Orwell’s Animal Farm , of course.)

And indeed, many of the details surrounding censorship – the rewriting of history, the suppression of dissident literature, the control of the language people use to express themselves and even to think in – were also derived from Orwell’s reading of life in Soviet Russia. Surveillance was also a key element of the Stalinist regime, as in other Communist countries in Europe.

The moustachioed figure of Big Brother in Nineteen Eighty-Four recalls nobody so much as Josef Stalin himself. Not only the ideas of ‘thought crime’ and ‘thought police’, but even the terms themselves, predate Orwell’s use of them: they were first recorded in a 1934 book about Japan.

One of the key questions Winston asks himself in Nineteen Eighty-Four is what the Party is trying to achieve. O’Brien’s answer is simple: the maintaining of power for its own sake. Many human beings want to control other human beings, and they can persuade a worrying number of people to go along with their plans and even actively support them.

Despite the fact that they are starving and living a miserable life, many of the people in Airstrip One love Big Brother, viewing him not as a tyrannical dictator but as their ‘Saviour’ (as one woman calls him). Again, this detail was taken from accounts of Stalin, who was revered by many Russians even though they were often living a wretched life under his rule.

Another key theme of Orwell’s novel is the relationship between language and thought. In our era of fake news and corrupt media, this has only become even more pronounced: if you lie to a population and confuse them enough, you can control them. O’Brien introduces Winston to the work of the traitor to the Party, Emmanuel Goldstein, only to tell him later that Goldstein may not exist and his book was actually written by the Party.

Is this the lie, or was the book the lie? One of the most famous lines from the novel is Winston’s note to himself in his diary: ‘Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.’

But later, O’Brien will force Winston to ‘admit’ that two plus two can make five. Orwell tells us, ‘The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears.’

Or as Voltaire once wrote, ‘Truly, whoever is able to make you absurd is able to make you unjust.’ Forcing somebody to utter blatant falsehoods is a powerful psychological tool for totalitarian regimes because through doing so, they have chipped away at your moral and intellectual integrity.

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5 thoughts on “A Summary and Analysis of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four”

1984 is a novel which is great in spite of itself and has been lionised for the wrong reasons. The title of the novel is a simple anagram of 1948, the date when the novel was written, and was driven by Orwell’s paranoia about the 1945 Labour government in UK. Orwell, a public school man, had built a reputation for hiself in the nineteen thirties as a socialist writer, and had fought for socialism in the Spanish civil war. The Road To Wigan Pier is an excellent polemic attacking the way the UK government was handling the mass unemployment of the time, reducing workers to a state of near starvation. In Homage To Catalonia, Orwell describes his experiences fighting with a small Marxist militia against Franco’s fascists. It was in Spain that Orwell developed his lifelong hatred of Stalinism, observing that the Communist contingents were more interested in suppressing other left-wing factions than in defeating Franco. The 1945 Labour government ws Britain’s first democratically elected socialist governement. It successfully established the welfare state and the National Health Service in a country almost bankrupted by the war, and despite the fact that Truman in USA was demanding the punctual repayment of wartime loans. Instead of rejoicing, Orwell, by now terminally ill from tuberculosis, saw the necessary continuation of wartime austerity and rationing as a deliberate and unnecessary imposition. Consequently, the book is often used as propaganda against socialism. The virtues of the book are the warnings about the dangers of giving the state too much power, in the form of electronic surveillance, ehanced police powers, intrusive laws, and the insidious use of political propaganda to warp peoples’ thinking. All of this has come to pass in the West as well as the East, but because of the overtly anticommunist spin to Orwell’s novel, most people fail to get its important message..

As with other work here, another good review. I’m also fascinated that Orwell located the government as prime problem, whereas Huxley located the people as prime problem, two sides of the same coin.

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• Political Science

Analysis of a Literary Work, “1984” by George Orwell in terms of World History, Political Science, Sociology and Geopolitics Presented as an Extended Essay Document by Yusuf Cinakli

• September 2021

• University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

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by George Orwell

Suggested Essay Topics

Part 1, Chapter 1 1. Discuss the omnipresent posters of Big Brother in terms of his physical appearance as well as the phrase “Big Brother Is Watching You.” What does the caption imply about the society in which Winston Smith lives? Are these implications supported by evidence from Chapter 1?

2. Discuss the three party slogans and what each statement implies about this society. What does the public’s easy acceptance of these mottos suggest about the populace at this stage of the story

Part 1, Chapter 2 1. Examine the ways in which the Party makes itself stronger by influencing the youth of Oceania. Discuss the daily lives of the Parsons’ children. What are their favorite games? How do they like to dress? What seems to be their attitude toward thoughtcrime?

2. Discuss Winston’s need to continue his diary despite the obvious implications of capture and punishment.

Part 1, Chapter 3 1. Describe the circumstances surrounding the death of Winston’s mother. What are his conflicting emotions? Tell why her death is doubly tragic, in view of societal changes since Winston’s childhood.

2. Discuss the implications of Winston’s dreams as acts of thoughtcrime.

Part 1, Chapters 4 and 5 1. Discuss the function of the Ministry of Truth. What is ironic about its title? Explain what Winston does there and how he feels about his work. Explain how the creation of Comrade Ogilvy supports the Party motto.

2. How would you explain both Parsons’ and Syme’s acceptance of obvious propaganda? Discuss the reasons.

Part 1, Chapters 6 and 7 1. The Party’s influence on marriage and family life has been profound. What is the Party’s official position on marriage and children? To what extent was Katharine affected by this position?

2. How does the Party acknowledge that the sexual instinct may not always be controlled? Evaluate Winston’s feelings about his visit to the prostitute.

Part 1, Chapter 8 1. Explore Winston’s attempts to hold on to the past. Tell why his conversation with the old man only increases his frustrations.

2. What does the upstairs room at Charrington’s shop mean to Winston? Why does he buy the paperweight? How might this action be interpreted symbolically?

Part 2, Chapter 1 1. From the beginning, the circumstances surrounding this love affair suggest its doom. Explain how Winston first learns of Julia’s interest in him. Detail their difficulties in arranging a meeting. Why can they not meet in the open? Why had Winston initially distrusted Julia, and why do his feelings change?

2. Discuss Winston’s fearing Julia while at the same time wanting to help her because she is a human being.

Part 2, Chapter 2 1. Orwell makes use of several symbols here, especially those occurring in Winston’s dream of the Golden Country. List and explain the common elements in the dream and in Winston and Julia’s first sexual encounter. Focus especially on the landscape, the girl’s gesture, and the thrush as symbols.

2. Explain how the establishment of a relationship between Winston and Julia has many levels of meaning—personal, political, etc.

Part 2, Chapter 3 1. Orwell has placed major emphasis on the character of Julia in this chapter. Evaluate her statement that she is “not clever.” What evidence refutes this statement?

2. What does Julia’s position on Party doctrine reveal? How does this position contrast with Winston’s views?

Part 2, Chapter 4 1. The coral paperweight becomes a major symbol in this novel. When Julia asks about the paperweight, how does Winston explain its significance? What has the paperweight come to symbolize to Winston himself? Give evidence to support the fact...

(This entire section contains 1434 words.)

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that the room, like the paperweight, has become a sanctuary or refuge for Winston and Julia.

2. Discuss Winston’s reaction to the peasant woman’s song. What is ironic about its source? What additional qualities of the peasant woman does Winston admire?

Part 2, Chapter 5 1. As the novel progresses, we see several physical changes in Winston. Describe these changes, and explain why Orwell believes they are happening. Contrast these changes and Winston’s overall delight in the affair with the increasing mood of hatred as the preparations for Hate Week continue.

2. Contrast Winston’s and Julia’s attitudes toward Party doctrine, rebellion, and Big Brother. Tell why it is unlikely that Winston and Julia will ever successfully rebel.

Part 2, Chapter 6 1. In many respects, O’Brien is the most important character in the novel, although at this point Orwell has not characterized him with the same depth as either Winston or Julia. On what pretense does O’Brien approach Winston? What inferences suggest that O’Brien might be less than honest? What concrete evidence does Winston have that a Brotherhood does exist?

2. What is foreshadowed by the chilling sensation Winston feels as he talks with O’Brien? Besides fear, what other emotions might have provoked these sensations?

Part 2, Chapter 7 1. Orwell interweaves the themes of betrayal and hope in this critical chapter. Discuss how Winston has arrived at his conclusion that the hope for the future lies in the proles. What has Winston learned about universal human emotions from his dreams? What belief dominates Winston and Julia’s belief that they will not betray one another?

2. Discuss the additional insights into his mother’s feelings for her family that Winston gains from his latest dreams of her disappearance.

Part 2, Chapter 8 1. How Winston so easily accepts O’Brien as a political conspirator is a problem for readers who accept his intelligence and intuitiveness. Analyze the reasons for Winston’s willingness to believe in O’Brien. What details imply that O’Brien is not what he seems?

2. Discuss the implications of the recurring phrase “place where there is no darkness,” versus O’Brien’s statement that Winston will “always be in the dark.”

Part 2, Chapter 9 1. What effect does the book have on Winston? What does he learn from reading it? What is the unanswered question? What does he learn about himself?

2. What is Julia’s interest in the book? In view of the way Orwell has developed her character, are you surprised by her reaction? Why or why not?

Part 2, Chapter 10 1. Many of the developments in this chapter revolve around Winston’s newly-formed acceptance of the universality of all people. Explain how Winston comes to that realization. How does the sight and sound of the prole woman affect Winston? Why does Winston believe that the future lies with the proles?

2. Tell how the events in this chapter are an extension of the “Big Brother Is Watching You” motif.

Part 3, Chapter 1 1. In this chapter we finally learn the full meaning of the recurrent phrase, “We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness.” Explain the literal interpretation of this phrase. How might the phrase be interpreted symbolically? Under what circumstances was the phrase introduced early in the novel?

2. What is ironic about the function of the Ministry of Love?

Part 3, Chapter 2 1. The focus is on O’Brien in these chapters. Explain what Orwell is saying about the power-hungry through him. What character traits does O’Brien possess? Why does he claim to enjoy talking to Winston? Why do you think he allows Winston to question him?

2. Contrast O’Brien’s definition of “reality” with that of Winston. What do you think is the foundation of each man’s belief?

Part 3, Chapter 3 1. Man’s inhumanity to his fellow man is a central element of the theme as the effects of Winston’s torture begin to make themselves known. What does O’Brien tell Winston about the history behind man’s suffering? What is the foundation of the Party’s philosophy?

2. Describe Winston’s physical state. What words and phrases are suggestive of death? Explain why O’Brien seems to take pleasure in Winston’s deterioration.

Part 3, Chapters 4 and 5 1. Describe Winston’s physical state in comparison to his emotional state. Suggest reasons for his dreams and constant lethargy as he begins his recovery.

2. Room 101 as a symbol of the thing most feared has remained a mystery to this point. What is in Room 101? In what way do the events occurring in Room 101 relate to the concept of the mind as a shaper of reality? What earlier chapter foreshadowed the events that transpire here? Explain.

Part 3, Chapter 6 1. As Winston sits at the Chestnut Tree Cafe sipping his gin, we are reminded of the unfortunate Syme who had been vaporized some time before. Based on previous descriptions of Syme, what most likely will happen to Winston? Evaluate Julia’s belief that “They can’t get inside you” in light of the conclusion.

2. Cite examples to prove that life goes on as usual in Oceania after Winston’s defeat. What does Orwell imply about the fate of others who might try to rebel against the Party?

Cite this page as follows:

"1984 - Suggested Essay Topics." MAXnotes to 1984, edited by Dr. M. Fogiel, Research and Education Association, Inc., 2000, 18 Oct. 2024 <https://www.enotes.com/topics/1984/teaching-guide/suggested-essay-topics>

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