Literature Analysis #5 ~ 1984

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read according to the elements of plot you've learned in past courses (exposition, inciting incident, etc.).  Explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same).

Exposition: The book takes place in London, Oceaniain what is thought to be the year 1984. The main characters are Winston Smith, Julia, and O'Brien. These three characters live in a less-than ideal world, constantly being watched by Big Brother, constantly in fear of committing a 'thought-crime' and constantly watching their actions, gestures, expressions, etc. or less it be taken as unorthodox. Winston works in a building where history is 'fixed' to depict all of Big Brothers foretellings as true, history and the past don't necessarily exist, everything is falsified, events that occurred can be written out of history and out of the peoples' minds, people can also disappear and no one will ask questions. Winston is not generally with the Party (Big Brother), he despises the world he lives in and wishes he could go back to a time before the fifties or sixties, when he was a child, and when he knew things were not like this. Winston at first believes Julia is attempting to turn him in to the authorities, but it turns out she is actually in love with Winston, she is also against the Party. These two turn into lovers, finding pleasure in breaking the rule of celibacy out of marriage and only for the mere purpose of future informers(children). Winston also believes that O'Brian is against the party, but he only has a couple of glances and a dream to suggest this.
Inciting Incident: Winston buys a journal, a place where he sets all his thoughts, including those against the Party. For some reason he states that the journal is for O'Brian, that he writes in it for him.
Rising Action: Winston gets the opportunity he needs to speak to O'Brien when O'Brien personally invites him to visit his home for a 'dictionary.' All those glances and slight meetings that may have meant nothing actually did, O'Brian was a part of the Brotherhood, the group against the Party and Big Brother. O'Brian was allowing Winston and Julia into the organization, and allowed them to borrow the book that carried Goldstein's theories.
Conflict: Winston and Julia are discovered in the room above Mr. Charrington's shop. The church frame has concealed a telescreen.
Climax: Out of the telescreen comes a familiar voice, that of Mr. Charrington, singing the last lines of the church song, "Here comes a candle to light you to bed, Here comes a chopper to chop off your head."
Falling Action: Winston is take to the Ministry of Love and tortured by O'Brian, this is the "place where there is no darkness." Winston is brainwashed and forced to believe everything the Party says, he resists but is eventually broken. He also gives up Julia, telling the Party to torture her instead, this satisfies the Party.
Resolution: Winston has come to believe that the party is right, he no longer questions or challenges their views. He no longer cares for any contact with Julia. Winston has turned into a submissive and controlled citizen, just like all the others.

2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.
The theme is that we cannot escape the society that is yet to come. We will all eventually succumb to the Party, or we will die trying to rebel against it. The theme is that we ourselves are pushing into this form of society.

3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).

1. "..they had the illusion not only of safety but or permanence." 
2. "History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right." 
3. "We are the dead." 

The author's tone is hopeless. Orwell has his protagonist experience some sliver of hope, and then it is immediately shut down. Winston himself shuts down his and Julia's hope, usually their conversations end with, "We are the dead." And even when they remain hopeful for awhile, they are betrayed, "the Party is always right."

4. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each, please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your readers. (Please include edition and page numbers for easy reference.)

1. Allusion: "...over fulfillment of the Ninth Three-Year Plan." pg. 6
2. Juxtaposition: " WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH." pg 7
3. Irony: "The Ministry of Love was the really frightening one. There were no windows in it at all... maze of barbed-wire entanglements, steel doors, and hidden machine gun nests." pg 8 "..tortures, drugs, delicate instruments that registered your nervous reactions, gradual wearingdown by sleeplessness and solitude and persistent questioning." pg 138
4. Hyperbole: "The thing he was about to do was to open a diary. ... If detected it was reasonably certain that it would be punished by death, or at least by twenty-five years in a forced labor camp." pg 9 
5. Foreshadow: "...Syme will be vaporized. He is too intelligent. He sees to clearly and speaks too plainly. The Party does not like such people. One day he will disappear. It is written in his face." pg 47
6. Antimetabole: "Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious." pg 61
7. Simile: "...not rebelling against its authority but simply evading it, as a rabbit dodges a dog." pg 109
8. Metaphor: "The room was a world, a pocket of the past.." pg 124
9. Alliteration: "We are the dead."

CHARACTERIZATION
1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization. Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?
DIRECT:

1. "Katherine was a tall, fair-haired girl, very straight, with splendid movements. She had a bold aquiline face..."
2. "O'Brien's manner became less severe. He resettled his spectacles thoughtfully, and took a pace or two up ad down. When he spoke, his voice was gentle and patient. "

INDIRECT:

1. "What is it?" said Winston, fascinated. "That's coral, that is," said the old man. "It's a beautiful thing," said Winston."
2. "The young, strong body, now helpless in sleep, awoke in him a pitying, protecting feeling."

2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character?  How?  Example(s)?

The authors syntax and diction do not change when he focuses on a character. Orwell provides the same attention to detail to each part of his book, whether it be concerning a Two Minutes Hate ceremony, or describing the face of a tired woman, he supplies the reader with very minute details.

3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic?  Flat or round?  Explain.

The protagonist is dynamic and round. He goes from being a rebel to completely being for the party. Winston had many outside forces pushing and pulling him, and he managed to transform throughout the entire novel. He even transformed with Julia, starting off as cold and animalistic, and transforming into a loving, passionate, and caring lover. But, Winston does take that nasty turn at the end, giving up Julia, and essentially telling the Party to harm her instead.

4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character?  Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction. 

Winston does seem like a real person, he goes through all the feelings and actions any person would under his circumstances. He experiences paranoia, he questions his situation, yet he is submissive and private in his ways in order to stay alive. One example that makes him seem real is when he is already meeting up with Julia to make love. It is a moment where she cannot make it and he angers, only to find her squeezing her hand and his entire attitude changes to one of affection, an idea that they do not need to make love every time they meet, but that being together is enough. It makes him seem human and in a sense, normal.