1984 George Orwell Passage Analysis

George Orwell’s fiction novel, “1984,” portrays a time where there are few personal liberties. Pages 103-107 show Winston, the main character, entering an antique shop, a dangerous choice, and exploring the pieces of the past within. Orwell’s purpose in this passage is to show the effect of the past on Winston and how much he wishes for it. The past, history, and longing are the main focus of the passage. Orwell is speaking to his readers. They are in the midst of a time where their personal freedoms are at stake, as the communist revolution takes place. He is pushing people to remember their pasts and their free lives. He does this by using a soothing and appreciative tone to describe the articles of the past in comparison to his dystopian present.

First, Orwell opens to Winston on the street in the prole district, outside of an antique shop. Orwell uses a fearful tone here to make sure the audience is aware of how severe Winston’s actions are. The phrases “suicidal impulses” and “guard himself” show Winston’s terror of his actions. His actions could get him killed. The word suicidal tends to take on a
He is looking at a small paper weight with a coral inside. Most of the book is in exact, precise, and disciplined words, whereas this passage is in a more natural soft phrasing. Orwell uses words like ‘softness,’ ‘strange,’ ‘convoluted,’ and ‘smooth.’ Orwell uses the rhetorical method of a logical appeal by describing the paperweight with terms that show an approximation of what the paperweight looks like but also uses words in that description that make one think of a calming setting or scene. The words used to describe the paperweight are natural sounding words and the sentence structure flows better than the rest of the book. This is in contrast to when Winston is still out in the street, but compares well to other areas of the