1984 Power Point By David Jacobs

Big Brother and The Man of Steel Orwell modeled Big Brother after Josef Stalin, leader of Soviet Russia. Stalin comes from the word Stal meaning steel. Stalin took power in 1924 after the death of Vladimir Lenin. By mid-1930’s Stalin started to sweep up “The enemies of the people” This continued until his death in 1954. Historians estimate that between 8 and 13 million people fell victim to Stalin’s “political crimes”, which he had fabricated to frame the enemy of the people. Others suffered from famine, forced labor camps or they were simply killed. The motive behind all his crimes was he wanted to maximize his personal power.

What’s Not New in 1984 The society of 1984 is based on real life policies from Hitler’s Nazi Germany, and Stalin’s rule over Soviet Union. The extreme nationalism, food shortage, forced labor, censorship and spying all existed pre-Big brother. Orwell also based the youth group of spies on the Hitler youth group. Orwell also modeled the countries after the cold war countries. Oceania (U.S), Eurasia (Soviet Union) & Eastasia (China)

Telling Time Unlike the way we tell time, the world of 1984 had a different time system. The time system is not split up into a.m or p.m . The time frame is modeled after the US military’s system of telling time.

Newspeak Today Newspeak is actually used in the U.S. The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) gives an annual doublespeak award. The award is given to public speakers whose language is deceptive, evasive, euphemistic, confusing or self- contradictory. The Council also gives a annual George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language.

Irony in 1984 People don’t say what they mean, lies are the truth, life is death. They are all examples of the irony of life in 1984. The ministry of Truth is in charge of falsifying documents and history. Feeding the population with lies. The ministry of Peace organizes the wars. The Ministry of Love stirs up hate and injustice. The Ministry of Plenty gives out a small amount of goods. Also, The Newspeak terms for the four ministries are ironic. Minittue- little or no truth truth Minipax- little or no peace Miniluv- little or no love Miniplenty-small of a plentiful amount.

Capitalist in Top Hats In the 19th century, many prominent men wore top hats, including Pres. Abraham Lincoln. The old man in the prole, mentioned to Winston about how he remembered wearing a top hat for a funeral. Winston never thought about for a second time because he cannot trust his fragile memory.

Separate and Unequal “If there is hope, it lies in the proles.” Winston wrote in his diary. Prole is Newspeak for proletariat this is a communist term for the working class, or the workers in the factories. The 85% of Oceania that doesn’t work in the Ministries are proles.

Britishisms Here are a few British terms: Lift- An elevator Tube- The subway Queue- A line of people waiting their turn Water Closet- A Restroom