Analysis 1984 What is Big Brother a A
Analysis 1984
What is Big Brother? a) A really stupid reality tv show b) Some guy whose face is plastered all over Airstrip One c) A kind man who looks after little boys who don’t have any family. d) The embodiment of the Party that governs Oceania
Greatest Fear! Ø If you had to name your biggest fear, what would it be? Ø Write your greatest fear on the piece of paper. Ø Don’t show it to anyone Ø Put it in the box Ø Choose one of the papers and try to guess whose fear it is
Homework Questions – Chapter One 1. How does Orwell position readers to view Winston’s world and place of residence as poverty stricken, bleak and highly surveilled? Find evidence from the text. (p. 3) “The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats” – This excerpt highlights the poverty-stricken conditions in which Winston lives in comparison to how modern London is. “bright cold day… vile winds” – Set in winter or another cold season. Outside is not somewhere nice. “An enormous face gazed from the wall… the eyes follow you about… BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” – constant surveillance, even from a mere poster the people feel like they’re being watched all the time.
2. Find the description of Big Brother. Why do you think Orwell has portrayed BB in this way? (p. 3) ØBB is always watching every move Winston takes. Describing the poster as one of those “pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you” personifies the government, making it appear as a system that is always watching and regulating what people say and do. The civilians are being stalked, their every move watched by some mysterious figure. ØOrwell has depicted big brother in a way that reflects the image of dictators of his own time. Allowing the audience relate to the oppressive nature of Big brother. Ø“an enormous face, more than a metre wide: the face of a man of about forty-five, with a heavy black moustache and ruggedly handsome features. ” – This description of BB depicts him as being very large, perhaps a symbol of his immense power. He is also described as being handsome which could make other people feel lesser or ugly. “the poster with the enormous face gazed from the wall. It was one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move. ” – This description of the poster itself tells that BB is always watching. Always.
3. What physical ailment does Winston suffer from? Winston has a varicose ulcer above his right ankle. 4. What is a telescreen and how does it function? (p. 4) ØA telescreen is a television like device which can never be shut off. It is used to display propaganda, news, and other things deemed worthy to be on it. It is also a constant surveillance camera and audio receiver. It is always watching whoever is in front of it. “oblong metal plaque like a dulled mirror” – metal, cold, manmade ØIt is an oblong metal plaque like a dulled mirror that can be dimmed but not turned off. It shows a person or people who talk and read out things such as a list of figures who produce pig-iron.
5. What does Winston look like? How does his appearance help to develop the bleak environment of 1984? ØWinston is depicted as very plain and forgettable suggesting that in Orwell's world people are not individuals but instead are part of the party’s mold. Ø “a smallish, frail figure, the meagreness of his body merely emphasised by the blue overalls which were the uniform of the Party. His hair was fair, his face naturally sanguine, his skin roughened by coarse soap and blunt razor blades” – Winston is depicted as dirty and small showing his insignificance and complete oppositeness to BB. His depiction helps to develop the bleak environment of 1984 and the lack of supplies by which he can keep himself sharp. ØWinston is a smallish, frail figure, his hair very fair, his face naturally sanguine, his skin roughened by coarse soap and blunt razor blades and the cold of winter. This helps to develop the bleak environment of 1984 by drawing a picture of a small man who has been through very rough times, and the comment about the cold of winter makes us think about the roughness of the weather.
Don’t bow down to the Thought Police!! Explain your answers to questions 6 -34 to the class. Express your opinion even if you like.
Chapter 1 Questions 4. What is a telescreen and how does it function? (p. 4) 5. What does Winston look like? How does his appearance help to develop the bleak environment of 1984? 6. How does the world look to Winston? 7. Which matters more? The police patrols or the Thought Police? (p. 4) 8. What powers did the Thought Police have? (p. 5) 9. Where does Winston work? (p. 5) 10. How does The Ministry of Truth look? Why do you think Orwell has portrayed this building in this way? (p. 5)
Chapter 1 Questions 11. What are three slogans of the Party? (p. 6) 12. What are the 4 Ministries which form the government of Oceania? (p. 6) 13. What are their ‘Newspeak’ names? 14. Which one was the ‘really frightening one’? Why? (p. 6) 15. How much food does Winston have? (p. 7) 16. What does he consume instead of lunch? (p. 7)
Questions 17. How does Orwell describe ‘the book’? (diary) (p. 8) peculiarly beautiful 18. What does Winston do that could be punishable by death? (p. 8) open a diary and write in it. 19. Who does Winston write his diary for? (p. 9) for the future, the unborn. 20. What Newspeak word does Winston think of? (p. 9) Doublethink. 21. In his diary, Winston recounts the audience reaction to the war films. Which people applauded the films? The Party Who ‘kicked up a fuss’? A proletariat woman. Why? Such violence shouldn’t be shown to kids. (p. 11) 22. Which two people come into the room during the Two Minutes Hate? A girl who worked in the Fiction department and who is a member of the Junior Anti-sex League. O’Brien, a member of the Inner Party
Chapter 1 Questions 23. How are the two people described? How does Winston feel about these people? (p. 11 -12) girl: ‘bold-looking girl, of about twenty-seven, wit thick dark hair, a freckled face and swift, athletic movements. . . shapeliness of her hips. ’ ‘more dangerous than most… might be an agent of the Thought Police. ’ … he felt uneasy, fearful, hostile when ‘she was anywhere near him. ’ JULIA • Works in the Fiction Department. • Falls in love with Winston • Organises clandestine meetings with him • Doesn’t care about changing the Big Brother society • Hates the Party
O’Brien Ø ‘A momentary hush passed over the groups of people round the chairs as they saw the black overalls of an Inner Party member approaching…. Ø ‘a large, burly man with a thick neck and a course, humorous, brutal face. In spite of his formidable appearance he had a certain charm of manner. ’ Ø ‘curiously disarming – in some indefinable way, curiously civilized. ’… ‘urbane manner and prizefighter’s physique. ’ … ‘perhaps it was not even unorthodoxy that was written in his face, but simply intelligence. ’… Ø ‘he had the appearance of being a person that you could talk to, ’ • Inner Party member • Interrogates Winston and Julia in the Ministry of Love
The Two Minutes Hate
Provide quotes for the following: 23. What happens during the Two Minutes Hate? (p. 13) Two Minutes Hate 24. Who is Emmanuel Goldstein? (p. 13 -14) What features of Goldstein might align Orwell’s Big Brother with Adolph Hitler? READ 25. What does Goldstein say about Big Brother and the Party? (p. 14 -15) 26. What is the Brotherhood? (p. 15) 27. What is ‘the book’? (p. 15) 28. How is ‘the Hate’ described on pages 16 and 17? What are the features of the ‘Hate’? (READ)
Chapter 1 Questions 30. Whose eye does Winston catch during the ‘Hate’? (p. 19) O’Brien’s eye 31. What do incidents like this do for Winston? (p. 19) ‘Such incidents never had any sequel. All that they did was to keep alive in him the belief, or hope that others besides himself were the enemies of the Party…. Perhaps the Brotherhood really existed!’ 32. What does Winston write over and over in his diary? (p. 20) DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER 33. What is Thoughtcrime? (p. 21) ‘the essential crime that contained all others in itself. ’ ‘not a thing that could be concealed for ever. … sooner or later they were bound to get you. ’ 34. How was Thoughtcrime punished? (p. 21) ‘You were abolished, annihilated: vaporized was the usual work. ’
Winston Smith q. Hero of the novel q. Writer who works at the Ministry of Truth q. Keeps a diary about his hatred of the Party and Big Brother q. Falls in love with Julia q. Strives to maintain his humanity and remember the past
Totalitarianism q. A form of government that theoretically permits no individual freedom q That seeks to subordinate all aspects of the individual’s life to the authority of the government. q. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini coined the term totalitario in the early 1920 s to describe the new fascist state of Italy, which he further described as: “All within the state, none outside the state, none against the state. ” q. By the beginning of World War II, “totalitarian” had become synonymous with absolute and oppressive single-party government.
Communism
5 Facts about Communism
Life under Adolph Hitler Members of the Hitler Youth overseeing Jews made to scrub the streets clean
Discuss in groups 1. From your reading of the novel, identify 5 aspects of life under Big Brother that are very similar to life for people in either Stalin’s Communist Russia, or Hitler’s Fascist Germany. 2. How obvious do you think Orwell has made these comparisons to the world as he saw it at the time he was writing? 3. What criticism is he making of totalitarian regimes via the five similarities you’ve identified? 4. Present your group’s ideas to the class and justify your reasons with evidence from the text and your own explanations based on your understanding of the social context of the novel.
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