LITERARY ANALYSIS 4

PLOT:
-This is a dystopian novel.  Winston Smith, the protagonist, lives in an area formerly known as London in the continent, Oceana.  According to the new innovations from the continent's philosophy, called Ingsoc, there can be no free thought, and history does not exist.  The Party, those who worship "Big Brother" - their leader- control everything.  The Party (which is basically the government) controls history, time, existence, thought, and language within the four parliamentary bastions: the Ministry of Truth, the Ministry of Peace, the Ministry of Love, and the Ministry of Plenty, which are all named ironically of themselves.  Winston later meets another agent of free thought named Julia, and they fall in the only form of love that exists in Oceana, which is strictly political and hardly emotional, but later that love develops into something stronger.  There is thought of a resistance of the Party called "the Brotherhood," supposedly led by a man named Goldstein.  O'Brien, a friendly type of person later identifies as a leader of the "thought police" and captures Winston and Julia and reconditions them into viable members of the party through torture.

THEME:
-The major theme of all dystopian novels is the imperfection that arises from perfection.  On the surface, societies of a dystopian novel functions perfectly, but there is everything wrong in the eyes of a free thinker.  Society will crumble through systematic routine.  It is unnatural to suppress free thought.

TONE:
-The tone is hopeful all throughout until the plot twist and betrayal of O'Brien is realized.  In the Ministry of Love, the tone takes a philosophical turn for the worse until it once again changes at the very end of the novel into a hopeless work.

10 LITERARY ELEMENTS:
1. Pg. 12: Rhetorical question: "What if they were to catch me?"
2. Pg. 17: Motif: "WAR IS PEACE; FREEDOM IS SLAVERY; IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH"
3. Foil: Julia serves as a foil to Winston.  Winston is more oppressed whereas Julia is a younger, more free spirit.
4. Pg. 166: Point of View:  Winston's point of view is similar to Goldstein's book.  The Party's point of view is completely opposite of his.
5. Pg. 11: Stream of Consciousness: Winston writes in his diary exactly what comes to mind, which is a mixture of random words.
6. Pg. 170: Exposition:  Goldstein's book gives background knowledge and history of the development of the Party.
7. Pg. 210: Allusion: "Thou shalt not..." relates to the 10 Commandments
8. Pg. 221: Repitition: "...triumph after triumph after triumph: an endless pressing, pressing, pressing..."
9. Pg. 229: Simile: "I could float off the ground like a soap bubble if I wanted to."
10. Pg. 234:Synaesthesia: "He could hear the blood singing in his ears."

CHARACTERIZATION:
1.)- Direct Characterization: Most characters.  "She was a bold-looking girl of about twenty-seven, with thick, dark hair, a freckled face..."
- Indirect Characterization:  Most round characters were indirectly characterized later on through their speech.  Winston's thoughts indicated him as a free thinker, confused within his society for knowing and remembering too much and not being able to master doublethink.

2.) Orwell's syntax and diction was very structured.  Diction related to the fact that free speech could not be used entirely.  The thought of always being watched with very little freedom always came into play, and it gave a sort of philosophy to the writing.

3.) Winston is an incredibly round character in an incredibly flat world.  Being a round character is a crime in Oceana, making the novel much more interesting for Winston who must obey and hide his real character in order to survive and live with the automatons that the society has created of mankind.

4.) I related to Winston, especially being a student-athlete where my routines consist of wake up, study, learn, practice, eat, work, study, sleep.  In the world today, people are challenged and suppressed into becoming yet another cog in the machine of society.  Colleges want us to apply to their "prestigious ranks," but first, they want to hear every one of their applicants succumb and accept and even embrace the truths of becoming "a part of something bigger."  Free thought hasn't been extinguished today in my world as it did in 1984, but I definitely feel the oppression of living, working, then dying in my country.