FREE ESSAY ON 1984

1984

1.) List the title and author of the work you read?
1984 written by George Orwell which is a pen name for Eric Blair, his real name.
2.) Briefly describe the plot (action) of the work. What happens?
1984 a story of dictators who are in complete control of a large part of the world after
the allies lost in
World War II. The government in this novel gives no freedoms to its citizens. They live
in fear because
they are afraid of having corrupt thoughts about the governments of Oceania, a crime
punishable by death.
Winston, the main character, is a man of 39 who is not high in either intelligence or
character, but is
disgusted with the world in which he lives in. Winston represents Orwell's view on
totalitarianism. He
works in the Ministry of Truth, which is a place where history and facts- significant or
not are rewritten
to reflect the party's idealistic beliefs. They destroy the records of the past; and
print up new revised
editions, which is being constantly redone. Winston is aware of the untruths, because he
makes them true.
This makes him very upset with the government of Oceania, where Big Brother, a larger
than life figure,
controls the people. Big brother is the figurehead of a government that has total
control. The Big brother
political system uses propaganda and puts fear in its citizens to keep the general
population in line. His
dissatisfaction increases to a point where he rebels against the government in small
ways. Winston's first
act of rebellion is buying and writting in a diary in which he buys from a antique shop
run by a prole. This
act is known as a though crime and is punishable by death. A though crime is any bad
thought against the
government, Winston commits many thought crimes and becomes paranoid about being caught,
which he
knows is inevitable. He becomes paranoid because he is followed by a young woman who is
activly
involved in many community groups. Winston is obsessed with the past, a time before
Oceania was under
strict dictatorship. He goes into the same antique shop and forms a relationship with the
shop keeper in
which he shows Winston a room upstairs which he can rent. While there he sees the same
woman
following him, as this happens many thoughts race through his mind about killing her. He
decideds
against it since she would probly fight back. The girl who was following him slipped him
a note while in
work saying I love you. They make plans to meet each other and carry on an illegal love
affair that lasts
for a long period of time and is commited in many secret places. Winston rents the room
where him and
the girl, Julia, can be secluded from the outside world. Julia is considered a sexual
deviant in the
oppressed world of 1984. In the normal world sex is free, in 1984 it's a forbidden act
only allowed for
reproduction prposes to keep the partys numbers constant. Julia has been sexually active
since her teenage
years. "She has had her first love affair when she was sixteen, with a party member of
sixty." Love and
sex is not allowed in this totalitarian state so Julia has to look as pure as possible so
that she does not show
any guilt. 
Winston had been fascinated about a man named O'Brien who he see's and he contacts
Winston
who indicates that he is a member of a secret brotherhood. They go to his house and he
gives them a 
book to read said to be written by Emannuel Goldstein. Soon after that, Winston and Julia
are caught at
there rented room which was actually all fake and the though police knew everything that
was happening
from the begging. O'Brien, becomes his rehabilitator and torturer for the next 9 months.
O'Brien tortures
Winston in stages. The first two stages are to force the party's beliefes on him then
learn and understand
what is exspected of him. In the third stage, Winston is made to face what he secretly
fears the most, rats
eating his face. O'Brien knows this because earlier in the novel while they were in the
rented room a rat
comes out of a hole and Winston is petrified of it and shows his fear of rats. then
Winston yells: "Do it to
Julia, dont do it to me, do it to her!" This was the ultamite betrayal of her and himself
and he is
immeditately released from his imprisonment. After being rehabilitated by O'Brien,
Winston now loves
the establishment and the government. He is set free and lives a rather dull life playing
chess, drinking,
and sitting in a cafe. Later, back in the Chestnut Tree cafe, he realises that he loves
Big Brother.
3.) How would you describe the authors style? Examine the way the author writes,
considering word 
choice, point of view, structure, special techniques (ie. symbolism).
1984, in spite of its setting in the future, is not primarily a utopian fantasy
prophesying what the world
would be like in thirty of forty years but a novel about what the world is like now.
Orwell relates all the 
characters in his books to points of view in real people. In 1984, Orwell represents his
point of view in 
Winston. He shows a totalitarian leader, in O'Brien and Big Brother, while Julia is the
desire and lust in 
every human being. Orwell had deep resentment against totalitanism in his existing world.
He also 
understood how the problem could fester and become larger due to instability in Europe's
economy after 
World War II. He purposely makes the story, 1984, unrealistic and blown out of proportion
to capture 
people's attention and make them think maybe it would'nt be unrealistic in the near
future. With his deep 
resentment toward totalitarianism it became the focal point of the novel. Orwell's novel
was directed 
against totalitarianism and for socialism and what it stood for. Orwell was a proficient
master of 
symbolism. The leader of the Soviet Union, Stalin, closley resembles Big Brother. They
were both larger 
than life figures in there respective countries. In the Soviet Union you could easily
have found large 
posters with Stalins face on them. The same holds true in 1984; Big Brother's face is
everywhere in the 
story. Orwell extracted what he saw in the world while writing 1984 which was his special
technique in 
this perticular story.
4.) Was this an easy work to read? Why or why not?
The book seemed to lack something in the begging that I could not put my finger on. Since
the
ending of the book was rather exemplary it made up for the begging. Some thing in the
book did seem
obscure because of his misconspetions of the future as it is now.
5.) In two or more sentences, explain your overall understanding of the theme of this
work?
Remember that a theme is a interpretive statement that describes what you consider the
central
meaning of the novel.
The authors purpose of writting this book is to warn of danger certain types of
government can have. He is
saying those Dictatorships are very controlling and that they can do as they please just
to control the
people within their country. The book says that the Inner Party, which is like a
Dicatorship, did what ever
it took the control of the people. The major theme of the book is that totalitarianism is
a very sinister and
corrupt form of government and that it should be banned in some way or another. I believe
that it is bad
because the government has the complete power to do what they want and they could
possibly change
history. An additional theme in the book is to keep track of your history because at any
given time it could
change right in front of you.