GEORGE ORWELLAKA ERIC BLAIR

1903 - 1950

He considered himself a “truth writer”

What Orwell saw…

Context of 1984

Nazi GermanyEVER since I have been scrutinizing political events, I have taken a tremendous interest in propagandist activity. I saw that the Socialist-Marxist organizations mastered and applied this instrument with astounding skill. And I soon realized that the correct use of propaganda is a true art which has remained practically unknown to the bourgeois parties.

Mein Kampf by Adolf HitlerVolume One - A Reckoning

Truth?

What does this remind you of?

“How easy it was, thought Winston, if you did not look about you, to believe that the physical type set up by the Party as an ideal, - tall muscular youths and deep bosomed maidens, blond haired, vital, sunburnt, carefree –existed and even predominated”

Orwell considered himself a “truth writer”

GEORGE ORWELLAKA ERIC BLAIR

1903 - 1950

1984(sometimes written Nineteen Eighty-Four)

Why keep a diary?

Surveillance and Control

The Map

The Party

The “Four Freedoms”

Three Slogans of the Party:

"Work Makes Freedom"

The Ministries of OceaniaOceania's four ministries are

housed in huge pyramidal structures displaying the three

slogans of the party on their sides.

The Ministry of PeaceMinipax is the newspeak name for

the Ministry of Peace, which concerns itself with making war

The Ministry of PlentyMiniplenty in Newspeak, it is the ministry involved in maintaining ubiquitous poverty in Oceania

The Ministry of TruthMinitrue is the propaganda arm of the Ingsoc State. Winston Smith spends

his daytime hours “correcting” historical records in Minitrue.

The Ministry of LoveMiniluv is a gigantic windowless

building devoted to torture and brutality. The home of the thought police, it is

surrounded by a maze of barbed wire and machinegun towers.

Terms to Know

Newspeak = official language of Oceania, words are condensed and simplified for communication, resulting in less thought

Ingsoc = English Socialism, these principles guide the state of Oceania

Doublethink = believing two contradictory ideas at the same time

Telescreen = a two-way television screen

Main Characters

Winston Smith = the “everyman” who is amember of the Party; rewrites history,begins to rebel against the party

O’Brien = a man with whom Winston feelsa connection; member of “thebrotherhood,” an underground rebel group

Julia = a girl from Winston’s work that hebecomes infatuated with

Things to think about…

How does this novel connect with our ownsociety?

What is Orwell’s ultimate message about Societal apathy? The use of fear? Mass manipulation? Isolation and individualism?

Remember

Remember

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axSnW-ygU5g