Journal of a Rebel

“He had seen it lying in the window of a frowsy little junk shop in a slummy quarter of the town (just what quarter he did not now remember) and had been stricken immediately by an overwhelming desire to possess it.” (6)

Winston uses the journal that he is drawn to as a way of expressing his thoughts, ideas, and feelings. It is what first makes Winston start committing thoughtcrimes, or thinking against the Party.  Journals symbolize the transfer of thoughts from one entity to another, which in the society that Winston lives in is considered a crime. Orwell uses Winston’s writing in the journal to show how Winston rebels against the society in which he lives.

Time Crime

“He sat back. A sense of complete helplessness had descended upon him. To begin with, he did not know with any certainty that this was 1984. It must be round about that date, since he was fairly sure that his age was thirty-nine, and he believed that he had been born in 1944 or 1945; but it was never possible nowadays to pin down any date within a year or two.” (7)

Orwell shows the uncertainty that the Party has created for society.  The Party has changed history so many times, that they’ve affected the public’s perception of time.  The days, weeks, months, and years have all blended together, making it nearly impossible to distinguish between each of them. The Party has removed all unnecessary pieces of information from the public’s greater knowledge, including their concept of time, as yet another method for controlling their thought.

Saint Sebastian

“He would tie her naked to a stake and shoot her full of arrows like Saint Sebastian.” (15)

Saint Sebastian was a Roman soldier who remained firm in his faith despite being threatened with death. According to records and legends, Saint Sebastian was ordered to be executed for being a Christian. He was shot full of arrows and left to die, but a widow known as Saint Irene found his body and nursed him back to health. Religion and its important figures are rarely mentioned in 1984. Orwell uses allusions to religion to show that Winston is detached from his society. While others around him either know nothing or very little about religion and ignore whatever knowledge they might have, Winston uses his knowledge of religion to express his feelings; in this case, he uses Saint Sebastian’s attack to represent his hatred for the dark-haired woman sitting behind him.

Works Cited: "St. Sebastian." Catholic Online. 31 Mar. 2009 http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=103.

Image Credit:  http://www.saintsebastian.us/

Oxymoron

“Then the face of Big Brother faded away again, and instead the three slogans of the Party stood out in bold capitals:

WAR IS PEACE

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.” (16)

Orwell uses oxymorons to show that the Party has reversed life and made it backwards in comparison to what it once was. An oxymoron is a statement that contradicts itself, like the three slogans of the the Party. Before the Party came into power, war would not have meant peace, freedom would not have meant slavery, and ignorance would not have meant strength. After the Party took control, it twisted life around until war did mean peace; it convinced its people that war is a good, beneficial, necessary thing and therefore equivalent with peace. The Party used the same idea with freedom and slavery, saying that the two were equal, and also with ignorance and strength.

Public Hanging

“‘Why can’t we go and see the hanging?’ roared the boy in his huge voice.  

‘Want to see the hanging! Want to see the hanging!’ chanted the little girl, still capering round.” (23)

A public hanging is an event that is not suitable for children, yet in this society of 1984, it is acceptable.  Attending a public hanging was also popular during Queen Elizabeth’s Elizabethan England. At this time, England was in a similar state of dysfunction. However, Elizabethan England was not prospering because of the bubonic plague that destroyed a large percentage of the population. the children’s interest in seeing the public hanging is Orwell’s method for showing how society has transgressed to one of its previous states, in this case a dysfunctional Elizabeth England.

Shakespeare

“Winston woke up with the word ‘Shakespeare’ on his lips.” (31)

It is unusual for Winston to be thinking about Shakespeare in a time when literature is nearly obsolete.  The Party has taken control and censored much of the literature that had been published previously, including Shakespeare. Anything that does not agree with the Party is illegal because of the controversies it creates.  Many of Shakespeare’s plays were about controversial topics. Orwell sees Winston as a character similar to Shakespeare, using writing as a way of creating controversy.

Doublethink

“To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancel out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it, to believe that democracy was impossible and that the Party was the guardian of democracy, to forget, whatever it was necessary to forget, then to draw it back into memory again at the moment when it was needed, and then promptly to forget it again, and above all, to apply the same process to the process itself—that was the ultimate subtlety: consciously to induce unconsciousness, and then, once again, to become unconscious of the act of hypnosis you had just performed. Even to understand the word ‘doublethink’ involved the use of doublethink.” (35)

The language complexity that Orwell uses here shows how difficult the world of doublethink is and lends to the theme of control that is present in 1984. It has become nearly impossible for people like Winston, who enjoy thinking freely, to do so. The Party controls everything, and can see everything. When someone commits a thoughtcrime, the Party is instantly aware, exerts its control, and punishes the person in one way or another.

**Note: This is the longest sentence I have ever seen.