Analysis Of The Ending Of 1984 By George Orwell

“Every good story needs a good ending. Don't write the beginning of a novel without knowing the end of it.” When A.D.Y. Howle wrote this short piece of advice, he was putting one of the most important components of writing into words. The ending is the key to any and every good story, and without one, the literary work ceases to be effective. The ending must be logical and fit in with the story. The conclusion must also provide a sense of closure with the reader; however, effective endings will often contain an element of ambiguity. The ending of George Orwell's novel 1984 effectively concluded the novel, and it proved to be an outstanding end to the story he told and the message he delivered. In order to have a quality ending, a story must
conclude in a rational manner. A good ending must be in line with what was before it. In ancient playwriting, a common technique to solve a story's problems was deus ex machina. Deus ex machina is a plot device in which a seemingly unsolvable problem is instantly solved by the unforeseen intervention of a new event, character, ability, or object. In modern times, this would be a rather ineffective and unsatisfactory way to conclude a literary work. The ending of 1984 was a logical and appropriate conclusion to the story being told. Winston Smith was captured by the Thought Police because he was caught committing thought-crime. He was imprisoned and tortured for a long period of time. Smith wasn't magically saved by an act of god; instead, the Party was successful in breaking his spirit and brainwashing him. This was a logical end to the story as nothing impossible had happened to influence the conclusion. In addition to being intelligible, good endings also must leave the reader with a sense of closure. Most of the story-lines must be resolved before the end of the book. George Orwell did a good job of tying up the loose ends in his novel. First off, he resolved the major conflict in the story. This was the battle between Winston Smith and the Party. In the end, the party defeated Smith. Near the end of the book Orwell describes a scene where Smith was at the Ministry of Love. Winston confessed everything and implicated everybody. He was walking down the white corridor with a guard behind him. The long-awaited bullet entered his brain. However, this was only an allegory as Winston was alive at the Chestnut Cafe. The meaning behind the bullet was that the Party had killed Winston not physically, but they murdered Winston's self. He no longer was a thinking individual, and Smith was only a puppet of the Party. In addition to the main conflict, Orwell also resolved several other minor story-lines as well.
For example, he revealed a meeting between Winston and Julia. This showed that a relationship no longer interested neither Winston nor Julia. Orwell also displayed that Smith no longer had any memories of his own. Near the end of the story, Smith had a flashback of his mother, but he determined it was a false memory as it did not involve the Party or Big Brother. Orwell also showed that O'Brien had been with the Inner Party all along, and that he co-authored Goldstein's book. This proved that Goldstein had no involvement with the book and it was a fallacy that he had written it. The final conflict Orwell settled was what Winston's life was like subsequent to being released. He summed up the details of Smith's occupation, habits, and daily
schedule. Despite concluding most of the the major conflicts, George Orwell left a lot to the readers' imaginations. A prime example is the concrete existence of Big Brother, Goldstein, and the Brotherhood. All three of these things exist, but it is unknown if they exist physically. Winston questioned O'Brien about the reality of Big Brother and the Brotherhood, but he only received vague answers with no evidence in return. Goldstein was in fact a real person, but it is left unknown whether if he his alive or dead. He did not author the book used to recruit rebels for the Brotherhood, so this raises skepticism on whether he is still around or not. A minor conflict left up to the reader's imagination was the woman named Smith. It is not known whether this was really Winston's mother or not. If it wasn't, the whereabouts of his mother remain unknown to the reader. Orwell was able to create an effective ending by requiring the reader to ponder on these uncertainties. Furthermore, Orwell orchestrated a brilliant conclusion through the deliverance of his message.
Orwell did a magnificent job of affecting the readers emotions to influence the support of his message. He starts by giving the readers hope of an eventual revolution, but by the end of the novel, the hope is destroyed. The Party goes through all means necessary in order to crush any rebellion, even in thought. This causes the reader to be wary of a government that could be powerful enough to control thoughts and behavior. Also, Winston eventually submits to the ideology of the Party. They annihilated his individuality and made him a slave to the ideas of the government. This provides fear in the readers that there is no hope of individuality if the government gained enough power. In the end, Orwell's conclusion caused the readers to fear the possibility of a totalitarian
government. The ending to an effective literary work contains many components. These components were all fulfilled by George Orwell in writing his conclusion the novel 1984. The first part is making the conclusion logical. Orwell maintained a rational course of action in ending his story. The next essential element is providing a sense of closure for the reader. Orwell did just that when he resolved the major plot-lines. However, he left the reader wondering about things such as the physical existence of Big Brother and Goldstein. Lastly, he appealed to the readers senses in order to promote his overall message. All in all, the ending of George Orwell's novel 1984 effectively concluded the novel, and it proved to be an outstanding end to the story he told and the message he delivered.