George Orwell 1984 Rhetorical Analysis

In Oceania when you step out of line, you will be punished accordingly. That is the message George Orwell tries to get across to his reader in 1984. Since that is the notion he is trying to get his reader to understand as the author in this book, he obeys that rule as well. Orwell uses many literary devices and techniques such as symbolism, metaphors, tone, allusions, and many more… to make the reader understand what kind of society Winston is living in. The tone of 1984 is very gloomy and the setting of the story takes place is in a war inspired type of location. The party members, such as Winston, are treated like prisoners. They are not allowed to speak at their lunch table, they are not permitted to think, and every single action of
theirs is being watched, by Big Brother, that is. Everything is lifeless, as when Orwell describes Oceania “and though the sun was shining and the sky a harsh blue, there seemed to be no colour in anything,”(pg.4). The ministries, on the contrary, are nothing like the rest of the town, they are as Orwell describes them “pyramidal structures of glittering white concrete, soaring up, terrace after terrace, three hundred metres into the air.”(pg.5-6). The ministries are designed like this so that they may stand out in the dark, dirty, shabby little town of Oceania. The pyramids are a literary device in its own, not only the color being ironically white in the a dark shabby dirty old city of Oceania “Scattered about London there were just three other buildings of similar appearance and size.
So completely did they dwarf the surrounding architecture”.(pg.6). Also, they are being so tall and structured, represents the fact that they don’t plan on ever leaving; the ministries are there to stay, and take over the society. The pyramids also reinforce the image of hierarchy in 1984. All the big jobs were done in the ministries. “Ironically though, the most frightening one to Winston is the ministry of love. It does not have windows, and he walks half a kilometer away from it when he passes by”. (pg.6). The ministry of love is impossible to enter, for one to get inside the ministry of love, they must be doing official
business.
Goldstein is the arch nemesis of the party and he is designed to be the party’s number one source to blame.
“When Winston is in the two-minute hate, he describes Goldstein as being a sheep, even his voice turns into the bleat of a sheep.” (pg.17). The referencing of a sheep in literature symbolizes a follower. “The hate rose to its climax…and for an instant the face turned into that of a sheep.”(pg.17). In Orwell’s story, Goldstein’s face on the telescreen turns into a sheep when all the party members get all riled up. This is an allusion done by Orwell to make the reader connect the party members to sheep. The climax of the two-minute hate is when Goldstein is bashing everything Big Brother has worked so hard to achieve in Oceania, and that is when the party members start getting annoyed. Although the question is why do they get annoyed? The party members are brainwashed and do not want what supposedly happened to Goldstein to happen to them. The party members are to be seen as sheep because they all follow Big Brother, their leader, and they do as their told and are punished accordingly if they disobey. They have no say in anything therefore, they might as well be
robots. When Winston bought the journal and started writing in it, he knew he was committing a crime, but it didn’t matter because to him he was already dead. “He was already dead, he reflected. It seemed to him that it was only now, when he had begun to be able to formulate his thoughts, that he had taken the decisive step.”(pg.30). The journal was the first time he actually felt his own mind telling him what to do and not Big Brother. As time went on with Julia the same feelings came to be, he was himself. Once when he was in room 101 is when he died again and went back to being a robot. Julia had betrayed him and he had nothing else to live for in his opinion. The times with Julia had felt so amazing, he felt alive during those times and also when he was writing in his journal. When Winston runs into Julia in the park, it is lifeless again, their love has died. Winston has died; the setting is what tells us this, they are in a park in winter sitting on a cold steel bench. There is no emotion, no color and life in Winston’s eyes is over. He has truly died and has nothing more to live for.
Oceania is a very emotionless, colorless, society; everything is run by the party, rules are not made to be broken, nor are is status. There is an evident hierarchy placed in Oceania and that too is not to be tampered with. Winston knows there is more to life, and when the party catches on they remind Winston that this is the life he lives and it is not to be changed. So next time you get a chance, say hello to the stranger on the street because some day you will not be able to.