1984 by George Orwell

Dystopia Dystopia: A futuristic, imagined universe of oppressive societal control The illusion of a perfect society is maintained through totalitarian control using corporate, bureaucratic, technological, philosophical, or religious means. Dystopias are an exaggerated worst-case scenario that makes a criticism about a current trend, societal norm, or political system. Opposite of Utopia— “No place”

Protagonist Narrator Point of view The lead or central character; hero, or heroine Winston is a “dystopian protagonist” Narrator The one who tells the story The “voice” of the story. Winston Point of view 1984 is told from the 3rd person limited POV Conveys the thoughts/perspective of 1 character We depend on Winston for our understanding His experience is our experience

Totalitarianism The ruling governmental style of Oceania The government, usually under the control of a single political person or group recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever possible Historic Examples Used By: 1. Stalin in Russia 3. Mussolini in Italy 2. Hitler in Germany 4. Franco in Spain

Paradox A statement that is self-contradictory on the surface and seems to defy logic or reasoning. Example: Nothingness Example: Is the answer to this question no? Example: The following sentence is true. The previous sentence is false.

Foreshadowing -Clues and hints about what’s to come. Winton dreams offer glimpses of his past and clues about his future. -O’Brien tells him “We will meet in the place where there is no darkness” -He dreams of the dark-haired girl stripping naked in the Golden Country

Parable -A story that’s meant to illustrate a moral or life lesson. -One trait of dystopian literature is that it serves to criticize a current societal or political trend. It might be power grabs by governments, foreign policies, technological innovations, etc -What social or political trends do you disagree with or find potentially dangerous?

Juxtaposition -An act or instance of placing two things close together or side by side, especially for comparison or contrast. In writing, this might occur if an author writes about contrasting events one paragraph after another.

Objective correlative -The external appearance of a person’s state of mind, which serves to re-emphasize their internal anguish. Allows the reader to view their suffering from more than one perspective Winston Smith has an itchy, bothersome varicose ulcer on his ankle, which is an external representation of his internal suffering (depression, hopelessness, etc.)

1984 by George Orwell After The Atomic War, the world is divided into three states. London is a city in Oceania, ruled by a Party who has total control over all its citizens. Winston Smith is one of the bureaucrats, rewriting history in one of the departments….

Background 1984 was published in the year 1949, but very closely manages to predict technology as modern as what we have today.

Technology in 1949 The very first Jeep The first color TV The microwave The Slinky

Technology in 1984 The first CD-ROM The first IBM PC The first disposable camera

Technology Today Google Glass Apple Watch iPhones

1984: World The world in the novel 1984 has been divided into three superstates: Oceania, Eurasia & Eastasia Oceania: London (specifically Airstrip One) Leader: Big Brother

Society Inner Party: Elite Upper Class (2%) Outer Party: Middle Class (13%) Proles (Proletariat): Lower class (85%)

Political Geography in the world of 1984

Political Geography in the world of 1984 Oceania--Britain and U.S. Eurasia--Russia Eastasia--China

Proles -Short for “proletariat” or the lowest and poorest class of people. -Considered unimportant to the Party because they lack the ability to organize any revolution -In Oceania 85% of the population -Controlled through alcohol and the lottery. Uneducated

Government Ministry of Peace(minipax): deals with war and defense Ministry of Plenty (miniplenty): deals with economic affairs (rationing and starvation) Ministry of Love (miniluv): deals with law and order (torture and brainwashing) Ministry of Truth(minitrue):  deals with news, entertainment, education and art (propaganda)

Thought Police (thinkpo) The Secret Police of Oceania It is the job of the Thought Police to uncover and punish thoughtcrime and thought-criminals They use psychology and omnipresent surveillance(such as telescreens) to search, find, monitor and arrest members of society who could potentially challenge authority They use terror and torture to achieve their ends

Winston Smith: Our Main Character Outer Party member (middle class) Works at the Ministry of Truth (Minitrue) re-writing history (propaganda) for Big Brother He re-writes old newspaper articles and alters photographs that mention “deleted people” or “unpersons” in order to keep Big Brother in power Fascinated with the idea of a “true past”, Winston begins to keep a diary…which could get him killed.

Two-Minutes Hate A daily practice by the people of Oceania where Party members must watch a film depicting the Party's enemies (notably Emmanuel Goldstein and his followers and Eurasia) and express their hatred for them. Propaganda – a tool of uniting the Party against a common enemy.

Newspeak The controlled language of Oceania, created to limit freedom of thought, self-expression, individuality, and peace. It has limited synonyms, antonyms, and adjectives The government hopes to limit the words of the people with an end goal of controlling their thoughts

Examples of Newspeak Unperson: a person who has been “vaporized” Ownlife: the tendency to be alone. This is illegal. Doublethink: accepting two contradictory ideas as true (hypocritical/propaganda) Thoughtcrime: Socially unacceptable thoughts Facecrime: An indication that a person is guilty of thoughtcrime based on their facial expression. Telescreen: television and security camera-like devices used by the ruling Party in Oceania to keep its subjects under constant surveillance bb: Big Brother

The Slogans of Big Brother