the tone in 1984, 9/11 Random Notes and The United States of BOO!
1984, 9/11 Random Notes and The United States of BOO!
1984
The short story contains a lot of pessimistic and negative adjectives, which gives me, as a reader, a feeling of negativity at first, but then you realize that the story is so much negative that it turns out to be filled with humor and a sarcastic touch. In the very first section it is described that it is a cold day in april; that the clocks is striking 13; that the wind is vile; and that Winston Smith tries to escape this by rushing inside his building and though he is not able to keep the gritty dust outside. This indicates that the story is not characterized by joy and sunny days but the opposite instead. In the end of the hallway inside the building, which is called Victory Mansions, containing Winston’s flat, there is this giant poster with a face of a man with the caption “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” underneath. It symbolizes the society of surveillance, which 1984 is about. It is described as “too large”, depicting an “enormous face”, with a “heavy black moustache”. Furthermore it is said that the picture is “one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move.” These posters are everywhere in the city. This element is one of the things in the story that makes the tone sarcastic and ironic. Who can take it serious that these kind of posters, which is hanging everywhere, tries to frighten you from doing mistakes? Nobody. The second element that makes the tone sarcastic is the “telescreen” in Winston’s flat. A screen that watches him and listens to him 24/7 to assure that he doesn’t make any trouble, terrorist wise. Let me give an example of the sarcasm about the surveillance:
“you had to live - did live, from habit that became instinct – in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized.”
The third element that makes the tone in this story sarcastic and humorous is these 4
1984
The short story contains a lot of pessimistic and negative adjectives, which gives me, as a reader, a feeling of negativity at first, but then you realize that the story is so much negative that it turns out to be filled with humor and a sarcastic touch. In the very first section it is described that it is a cold day in april; that the clocks is striking 13; that the wind is vile; and that Winston Smith tries to escape this by rushing inside his building and though he is not able to keep the gritty dust outside. This indicates that the story is not characterized by joy and sunny days but the opposite instead. In the end of the hallway inside the building, which is called Victory Mansions, containing Winston’s flat, there is this giant poster with a face of a man with the caption “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” underneath. It symbolizes the society of surveillance, which 1984 is about. It is described as “too large”, depicting an “enormous face”, with a “heavy black moustache”. Furthermore it is said that the picture is “one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move.” These posters are everywhere in the city. This element is one of the things in the story that makes the tone sarcastic and ironic. Who can take it serious that these kind of posters, which is hanging everywhere, tries to frighten you from doing mistakes? Nobody. The second element that makes the tone sarcastic is the “telescreen” in Winston’s flat. A screen that watches him and listens to him 24/7 to assure that he doesn’t make any trouble, terrorist wise. Let me give an example of the sarcasm about the surveillance:
“you had to live - did live, from habit that became instinct – in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized.”
The third element that makes the tone in this story sarcastic and humorous is these 4