Preview

Analysis of the Book, 1984: Depiction of a Dystopian Society

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
542 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Analysis of the Book, 1984: Depiction of a Dystopian Society
Kevin Kane 1/13/13
Mr. Gold Period ¾
1984

In the book 1984, George Orwell creates an intriguing novel about his predictions of the future using many literary elements. The novel 1984 uses many literary elements to create an image of a dystopian society throughout the book. Orwell uses literary elements like symbolism and allegory throughout the book, helping to paint the scene of the dark and dreary society. George Orwell uses symbolism in many places in 1984. An example of this is when Winston smokes the victory cigarettes and drinks the victory gin. Winston faces the cigarettes and gin as a temporary relief for the constant paranoia he is living in. When Winston begins writing in his journal, he first takes a shot or two of gin to sedate his paranoia and calm him. Winston smokes the cigarettes for one reason: to calm himself. Although this makes sense, there is a deeper level to this. Even though the cigarettes and gin calm Winston down they symbolize something else. They are mini examples of his rebellion and individuality. Winston drinks the gin before writing in the journal which is a forbidden practice in the society he lives in. The gin and cigarettes calm him from the constant worrying of the consequences of doing something against big brother. Another example of symbolism in the book is Julia’s Anti-Sex-League sash. The sash represents a strong idea of chastity that is sent throughout the party. Although Julia wears the sash, and appears to be a devote party member abiding by all rules; she hides behind the ideas of the sash and instead uses it to hide her real actions. She has sex all the time. She makes the appearance to others of a law abiding party member on the outside, but she only uses what the sash symbolizes to hide her real intentions. The book shows many examples of how symbolism is used to show the reader what this society was like to live in. The book also uses allegory to create the vivid

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    George Orwell employs the usage of different rhetoric throughout 1984. The rhetoric differs from describing the human body and its struggle to survive to the different crimes and how the citizens felt about them. Also, within 1984 lies a warning from Orwell: to eliminate the caustic consequences of a communist government. While Orwell served as part of the Indian Imperial Police in Burma during the 1920s, he examined the faults of the communist government. This phenomenon inspired Orwell to warn governments world-wide to stay on the right path to a safe and free rule.…

    • 1057 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Orwell’s purpose in writing 1984 and the understanding of the writer’s thoughts through a thematic analysis of characterization and symbolism…

    • 913 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although the modern dystopian novel and dystopian works of the early 20th century may share many of the same principles and components, the overall purposes behind them are poles apart. The popular novel, The Hunger Games and its sequels can be considered prototypical of our contemporary dystopian themes that emphasize; the act of rebellion against a state of oppression, the power that comes with being motivated by love, the presence of hope and the triumph of the protagonist over a totalitarian regime. George Orwell and Alex Huxley—authors of 1984 and Brave New World respectively—did not write stories that inspired resistance. They used allegory to pinpoint the faults in society and prophesy the end of human intelligence and freedom. Orwell…

    • 162 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    1984, by George Orwell, comes off as very bleak and grey, as it was intended to be portrayed to the reader. This helps us to understand that the world Winston Smith is living in is grey, depressing and overall quite commonplace. A place where he always has to look over his shoulder to make sure that the omnipotent Big Brother won't catch a minor slip of a few choice words or see him flirt with the woman across the way. Orwell successfully accomplishes this through his use of literary methods.…

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1984 by George Orwell, novelist and essayist creates a dystopian novel that features his frightening vision in 1949 of the world we were soon to become. Orwell’s purpose in this passage is to convey the effect of Winston's stolen and mysterious past. Orwell uses foreshadows and symbols. He adopts a nostalgic and mysterious tone in order to hypothesize a horrific ending.…

    • 397 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Andrew Santella thinks that, “However, the Navajos devised a code that worked extremely well. They made a list of Navajo words that would represent each letter in the English language alphabet. For example, the Navajo word for apple (be-la-sana) stood for the letter A. The Navajo word for bear (shush) stood for the letter B, and the Navajo word for cat (moast) stood for the letter C. The code talkers sent messages by using Navajo code words to spell out words in English. For example, to say "Navy," code talkers would say the Navajo words that stood for each letter: Nesh-chee (or nut, for N), wol-la-chee (or ant, for A), a-keh-di-glini (or victor, for V), and tsah-as-zih (or yucca, for…

    • 121 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    George Orwell’s 1984, depicts a time of totalitarian and communism rule. Where ever you are big brother is watching you. Winston, Orwell’s main character in the satirical novel is a man struggling with his true identity in this gloomy world. Orwell, constructing this novel after the ending of World War II writes a satirical story that is also a warning to what can become of the world. Throughout 1984, George Orwell uses satire in his writing through literary elements; theme, imagery, symbolism and irony.…

    • 1906 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    George Orwell’s 1984 is overflowing with a great deal of symbolism. The use of objects such as big brother, telescreens, red-armed prole, and the paperweight are just a few of many symbols found throughout the novel. Sometimes characters and other objects are used as symbols to aid in communicate the underlying meaning of the novel. For example, the use of the glass paperweight in George Orwell’s 1984 represents the many aspects of Winston’s rebellion and secret life of the Party, which will be further explained throughout this essay.…

    • 623 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel 1984, author George Orwell makes many predictions as to what society would conform to in the year 1984. Although these predictions are jurassic and farfetched, many of Orwell's predictions are expressed in our modern day American society. 1984 showcases the empowerment of a totalitarian government. The main Character, Winston, lives in a society where the government controls every aspect of his life, ranging from his food to his razor portions, and even his thoughts.…

    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    "Most dystopian, classic and contemporary, points a future world that puts a twist on present society - a future world that could plausibly happen." - Lauren DeStefano. Dystopia means the place, state, and/or lifestyle that is imperfect, bad, or hell-like. In the science-fiction book, Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, their dystopian society meant there was no books so that everyone was equal, but this back-lashed on them. Fahrenheit 451 had a dystopian society written to scare us and show us some of our societies biggest fears, but what if this idea of dystopia has already presented itself upon our own society cloaked to many but visible to few.…

    • 528 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Upon my reading of the novel 1984, I was fascinated by George Orwell's vision of the future. Orwell describes a world so extreme that a question comes to mind, asking what would encourage him to write such a novel. 1984 took place in the future, but it seemed like it was happening in the past. George Orwell was born in 1903 and died in 1950; he has seen the horrific tides of World War ² and Ï. As I got deeper into this novel I began to see similar events of world history built into 1984.…

    • 584 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    1984 has many qualities that can be pointed out in a very long and thorough paper. But this paper will focus on just a couple. In George Orwell's Novel 1984 the protagonist shows various transitions in his attitude and life style.…

    • 678 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “1984” Are American rights always being violated? Do we really have freedom from the government? These are different questions that are being asked around the United States. Citizens privacy can and will always be violated by the government, when someone is a suspect in an investigation the government can watch and see that person’s every move. In “1984”the citizens privacy is being violated all the time every little thing they do is being monitored by “Big Brother”.…

    • 895 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    History - as in His Story Henry Kissinger published a book in 1954 about twenty years prior to becoming Richard Nixon’s secretary of state called, A World Restored. His work described nineteenth-century European history from the view of Austrian and English leaders and is famous for the quote, “History is the memory of states.” Kissinger’s disregard for the outlooks of the masses that were affected adversely by the leaders’ decisions supports the idea that history is truly subjective and can be seen in many different ways. This is also shown in George Orwell’s, 1984, in which an overpowering government rewrites history to weaken the people’s memories thus forcing them to believe what is written. History cannot exist independently of human…

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    What if you Were Boss

    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The judicial courts is one of the most difficult undertaking out of all the judicial system. Even though law enforcement officers apprehend offenders, it is still up to the prosecutors to retrieve and analyze all evidence from the scene of the crime that the officers collected, so that they can compile a case against the defendant. Then there is the defense also gathering information to make a case to prove the defendant is innocent. Now if I was the boss for the day I would make some changes to help make both sides more successful.…

    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays

Related Topics