Character Analysis
Syme: “He is too intelligent. He sees too clearly and speaks too plainly. The Party does not like such people” (Orwell 33).
Intelligence is known as a good quality to possess. People strive to gain intelligence so that it will benefit them. That said, Syme’s intellect is a flaw. After a while, the Party will start to think of a perception level of that of Syme’s as a threat. Even though Syme works for the government the chance that Syme will try to think for himself in the future is too great. While talking to Winston, Syme seems fascinated with the Party’s work. He is loyal to his work and the work of the Party. However, the Party does not trust anyone except Big Brother and can not afford to take any chances. So, when the Party realizes the threat that comes with Syme’s brainpower, he will be vaporized. There is no way around it.
While writing 1984, Orwell forms Syme to show that no one is safe from the Party. Syme is intelligent and loyal, an almost perfect party member. Nonetheless, Winston realizes that even Syme is not safe from the Party. The Party uses people for a while then gets rid of them before they can turn against the Party. Syme is being used for his smarts, which may be his downfall. This also helps Winston realize that since no one is safe, he might as well break the laws. He is at the same risk as anyone else.
Symbols
The Parson kids are the most obvious symbols in this chapter. The actions of the children show how Big Brother has affected the future generation. They symbolize the loyalty instated from fearing the Party. The children are willing to turn in their own parents so that they are loyal to the Party. Winston got hit with a slingshot because children are so worried about being accepted into the Party that they will hurt whoever they think are enemies. The children get unhappy when they miss an execution. It shows the power the Party has now and in the future.
Razor Blades represent free will. The Party controls the rations, and like the lack of razor blades there is a lack of free will in society. This shows that the Party controls everything. The Party can deprive citizens of whatever they want. The government controls everything the citizens have to rely on the Party thus creating desperate citizens and a powerful government.
Another form of control used by the Party is seen through Winston’s use of victory cigarettes and victory gin. Winston drinks or smokes whenever he is nervous about something, however the government conditioned him to do so. When Winston takes a sip or lights a smoke it lets the Party know that he needs to calm himself down. Similarly, the Party provides victory gin during lunch so that citizens view the workplace as a calm situation. It may not seem like it but the party has control over most of people’s thoughts and actions.
1984 Book Two, Chapter 4: A Place of Our Own
Summary
Winston rents a room above the shop where he bought the journal to use as a place for his affair with Julia.
Quote Analysis
“He wondered vaguely in the abolished past it had been a normal experience to lie in bed like this, in the cool of a summer evening, a man and woman with no clothes on, making love when they chose, talking of what they chose, not feeling any compulsion to get up, simply lying there and listening to peaceful sounds outside” (Orwell 91).
This quote contributes the theme of love in 1984 since it shows how Winston feels about his time with Julia. Winston listens to the sound of children playing outside while waiting for Julia to awake. He is careful not to as to allow Julia to sleep as long as she pleases. He wants to stay, just laying there next to Julia, so he must love her. Winston is able to get away from the Party’s ideas of sex and connect with someone emotionally and physically. In doing this, he opened up a whole new idea of what life could be like if it was just Julia and him. If there was no Party or government. This quote shows Winston reminiscing in the freedom provided by love and, Winston is finally able to realize the control the government has on love. While in bed, he has all the control of what he can and can’t do with Julia. Winston is content to lay there just so he can be with Julia. In the end, Winston’s affair with Julia was the only true rebellion against the party, nevertheless his love was destroyed by the Party. While imagining being able to be with Julia, everything is right with the world. Throughout 1984 Winston has little control over anything, and love is the only thing that gives him hope.
Character Analysis
Julia: “She gave the tips of his fingers a quick squeeze that seemed to invite not desire but affection” (Orwell 88).
Before walking away from Winston, Julia gives him a quick squeeze of the fingers to ensure that Winston knows she will always be there. It shows that Julia really cares about Winston and is not in the relationship for only the physical part of the relationship. She is attached to Winston. The little squeeze lets Winston know how Julia feels. It shows that Julia either really cares about Winston or that she knows how to manipulate people. This is also a motion that is known to calm people. Julia is very sensitive and knows how to treat a person at a specific time. At the time, Winston needed reassurance and Julia could sense that. She reads people’s emotions and gives them what they need at the moment. Julia is great at comforting people and that’s exactly what she is doing with Winston.
In creating Julia, Orwell not only creates a love interest for Winston but provides a partner in crime. Being together means defying the Party. The biggest crime against the Party anyone could commit is falling in love. Julia was created to fuel Winston’s rebellion. Together they are fighting the Party. Time with Julia gives Winston power to stand strong against the government and their ideology. Without her, there is no telling how Winston would end up. Julia is in 1984 to rebel with Winston.
Symbols
The glass paperweight is a symbol for Winston and Julia’s relationship and their rebellion against Big Brother. Later on in 1984, the paperweight is broken as Julia and Winston get caught. This signifies the end of the couple’s love. The paperweight is fragile, not unlike a human relationship. Additionally, the paperweight’s beauty is no longer achievable since craftsmanship and quality of products has decreased during the Party’s rule. In Oceania the paperweight is rare which is similar to relationship in which people fall in love.
Symbolizing fertility and reproductive capability, the red armed prole woman perfectly represents the strength of the lower class. In doing this, she reminds Winston that the proles are strong enough to one day overthrow the Big Brother and his followers. She is the face behind Winston’s idea of a true leader and is the hope for the future of Oceania. She is a role model for the potential hidden in the prole community.
Though it may seem that Winston’s fear of rats is just a common fear, the rats actually represent the control that the Party has over everyone. Rats demonstrate the ability of the Party to dig into someone’s mind and find what they fear the most. The Party is always in the pursuit of power just as the rats are always in the pursuit of food. There is no one that the government can not investigate and torture. No one is safe from Big Brother.
1984 Book Three, Chapter Six: Everything Has Changed
Summary
Winston is finally won over by Big Brother and will love the rest of his life loving and thanking Big Brother.
Quote Analysis
‘“They can’t get inside you,” she had said. But they could get inside you” (Orwell 183).
The idea that Winston fights against in the whole book is totalitarianism. However, in the end, the government prevails and Winston is forced to submit to the government’s ways. Totalitarianism is a theme throughout 1984 as Orwell wanted to warn against the dangers that occur when the government has too much power. Once Winston is brainwashed, the government has complete control of his mind. He thinks what Big Brother wants him to think and does what Big Brother wants him to do. The government has the power to do this to any of the citizen in all of Oceania. Therefore, they have the power to do whatever pleases them. No one has enough power to stop the government from anything. Without power, the government would have nothing. Big Brother uses fear to instill obedience in those who attempt to resist the rule of the Party. This is how the government gets inside. If one chooses to rebel, Big Brother will either find a way to break the person’s spirit or will kill the offender. There is no way around this. Totalitarianism is the only way of life most people know in 1984. Citizens of Oceania will never know what it is like to live without Big Brother. Instead, the people lean on the government and Big Brother knows this. He uses it to his advantage to make sure everyone is obedient. No matter what happens, people have learned to love Big Brother so he will not be overruled.
Character Analysis
Winston: “He knew as though instinctively that they now took almost no interest in his doing” (Orwell 183).
People change. It is a fact of life. However, not many people change from the influence of torture. Winston had strong beliefs about the wrongdoings of the Party. Although, after being caught he was forcibly persuaded into believing the opposite. This quote represents the new Winston. He has no desire to be his past self. There is no fight left in him. At the beginning of 1984 Winston is passionate about rebelling against the Party. Nonetheless, at the end, Winston has been brainwashed to obey the Party and its rules perfectly. He most likely does not remember his life before, and he does not even question his new way of life. He no longer has his old job and his life will never be the same. Winston has lost what made him Winston and is now blending in with the rest of Oceania.
Winston is the protagonist so he was created to teach a lesson. In 1984 Winston helps warn against the dangers of a totalitarian society. The nation of Oceania was created along with Winston to provide a warning for the future of society. 1984 is a cautionary tale. Winston is a product of torture under the government. It warns people of the way the government will work if they gain too much power. Winston was created to provide an idea of what could occur in a worst-case scenario.
Symbols
The Chestnut Tree symbolizes justice and honesty. This is ironic because the Chestnut Tree Cafe is a place where criminals are known to hang out. Winston is content while sitting at the cafe. It had even become his home away from home. However, the cafe represents Winston’s betrayal of Julia. In Oceania, what once stood for justice and honesty now twisted into symbols of lies. The Chestnut Tree Cafe symbolizes how the Party can take something right and turn it into something wrong.
The Party’s power is symbolized when Julia and Winston see each other in the park. The fact that they have no desire to be intimate with one another shows that the government has the power to change a person. Before, Julia loved Winston and vice versa. However, when they run into each other at the park they barely notice one another. They are not in love anymore. The only person they will ever love from now on is Big Brother.
At the Chestnut Tree Cafe, there is a telescreen. Telescreens represent the ability of the Party. Big Brother is always able to see and hear what is going on. The telescreens are the reasons why. They are the government’s eyes and ears. No matter where you are, Big Brother is watching. There is no escape from the Party. The government abuses technology to exploit their citizen’s privacy. The telescreens are the ultimate invasion of privacy.