By George Orwell Published 1949, England 1984 By George Orwell Published 1949, England

George Orwell Real Name: Eric Arthur Blair Born 1903 in Motihari, Bengal, India Plagued by bad health (pneumonia) for most of life Felt out of place in prestigious boarding schools Not of same social class Hated dictatorial control of school over students Worked for British Imperial Police in Burma Hated enforcing strict rules of regime he despised

George Orwell cont… Published work Down and Out in London and Paris In London, Orwell disguised, lived among the poor Published work Down and Out in London and Paris Lived among destitute coal miners in Northeast England Fostered hate for democracy in favor of socialism Reported Spanish Civil War Hatred for communism, but favored socialism still Saw rise and fall of Hitler and Stalin Increased hatred for totalitarianism & fascist political regimes Worked for BBC during WWII, disagreed with info from Britain to be broadcast to India & Southeast Asia

George Orwell in Summary He hated the British empire and everything to do with it A socialist. A man of political controversy. He loved to write about his personal experiences. He did not like to write but he ended up being a journalist and a writer in the end. He hated his childhood and real Christian name. A hypocrite.

Context of 1984 Published: 1949 aftermath of WWII, during the Cold War & Korean War Communism on the rise Genre: negative utopia or a dystopia Setting: 1984, London Tone: Dark, frustrated, pessimistic Narrator: 3rd person, limited, past tense, following the protagonist Winston Smith Plot: Totalitarianism reigns without question and the protagonist attempts to rebel

Socialism Socialism a political theory or system in which the means of production and distribution are controlled by the people and operated according to equity and fairness rather than market principles

Can you make people work for the good of others? Socialism uses coercion or taking the property of one person, to accomplish good ends, helping one's fellow man. Using coercion and reaching into another's pockets has no redeeming features and is worthy of condemnation.

Communism Communism Marxist-Leninist version of a Classless society in which capitalism is overthrown by a working class revolution that gives ownership and control of wealth and property to the state One-party state: government in which a single, usually totalitarian, party holds power, and the state controls the economy Famous Communist Governments: People’s Republic of China Republic of Cuba

Totalitarianism Centralized & Dictatorial a centralized government system in which a single party without opposition rules over political, economic, social, and cultural life “Total representation of the nation and total guidance of national goals” Giovanni Gentile What would a totalitarian society look like? Examples: Nazi Germany, Soviet Union, Fascist Italy, German Democratic Republic (East Germany), Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea)

Political Spectrum Charts 1 Political Affiliation (circle chart with x-y axis) 2 Political Parties (x and y axis chart) 3 Economics (circle with x-y axis) 4 Extreme Liberalism to extreme Conservatism (linear)

Themes The psychological, technological, physical, and social dangers of totalitarianism and political authority the importance of language in shaping human thought

Motifs/Symbols Motifs Urban decay the idea of doublethink Symbols The glass paperweight (connection to past) the picture of St. Clement's Church the red-armed prole woman (rebellion) the telescreens and the posters of Big Brother (surveillance) the phrase “the place where there is no darkness” (false hope) Urban decay (London is falling apart under the Party's leadership) the idea of doublethink (the ability to hold two contradictory ideas in one's mind at the same time and believe them both to be true) The glass paperweight (Winston's desire to connect with the past) the red-armed prole woman (the hope that the proles will ultimately rise up against the Party) the picture of St. Clement's Church (the past) the telescreens and the posters of Big Brother (the Party's constant surveillance of its subjects) the phrase “the place where there is no darkness” (Winston's tendency to mask his fatalism with false hope, as the place where there is no darkness turns out to be not a paradise but a prison cell)