Orwell, Beckett

A COMMITTED WRITER

-At Eton, Orwell developed a non-conformist attitude and declared himself an atheist. From the 1930s he

considered himself a socialist, but he thought that the writer should be independent and not follow a party

line, as he had the useful social function of informing, interpreting and warning

-This explains why his most successful novels express political themes. In his social experiments he chose to

reject his middle class background and emotionally identified with the working class. He also adopted his

pseudonym as a way of escaping from his social class

SOCIAL THEMES

-Orwell is indebted to the realistic tradition of Daniel Defoe and Charles Dickens in the use of straightforward

language and his choice of social themes. His books portray the misery caused by poverty and deprivation,

and warn against the increasing hypocrisy of urban civilisation, where the ideals of fraternity, tolerance and

justice are at risk.

In his last two books he criticises totalitarianism and tyranny in all its forms

ALL ABOUT NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR:PLOT

-The novel describes a future world divided into three blocks: Oceania, an empire of which England,”Airstrip

One”, is no longer the head but just an outpost; Eurasia, including Russia and Europe; and Eastasia, which is

Asia and the Far East. The regimented, oppressive world of Oceania is ruled by 'the Party', which is led by a

figure called big brother

- The Party uses telescreens, helicopters and the Thought Police to control people's lives and is implementing

Newspeak, an invented language with a limited number of words.

Any free expression or individuality is forbidden. The protagonist, Winston Smith, a former journalist employed

by the Ministry of Truth to rewrite historical report to support state policy, illegally buys a diary in which he

writes his thoughts and memories, addressing them to future generation

-Winston's rebellion gains impetus from his association with Julia, another dissident, who wants to fight

against the repression of sexuality required by the Party.Julia and Winston begin a secret affair which is

discovered by the Thought Police. They are subjected to torture and brainwashing in Room 101 at the hands

of the merciless O'Brien, a member of the powerful Inner Party. This is the final destination for those who

oppose the Party. Here Winston is forced to confront his worst fear:rats on his head, ready to eat his face

-His will and his resistance are broken and he is released to the outside world. He meets Julia, but no longer

loves her. He has completely given up his identity and has learned to love Big Brother

SETTING

-London which is under the constant control of Big Brother. There is no privacy because there are monitors

called 'telescreens' watching everything people do; love is forbidden but there is a 'Two Minutes Hate, a ritual

of collective rage against the supposed enemies of the Party'. The Party totally controls the press,

communication and propaganda; language, history and thought are manipulated in the interests of the state.

Any form of rebellion against the rules is punished with prison, torture and 'liquidation, that is, elimination

WINSTON SMITH

-The protagonist: Winston Smith, stands for the last man to believe in humane values in a totalitarian age.

This is symbolised by his name:'Smith', the commonest English surname, suggests his common

value;'Winston' evokes Churchill's patriotic appeals during World War II

-Winston is middle-aged and physically weak, he has a desire for spiritual and moral integrity and experiences

alienation from society. He exemplifies rebellion that fails against oppression and becomes Orwell's

spokesman, especially in the first two parts of the novel

THEMES

-Nineteen Eighty-Four is a dystopian novel. The book is deeply rooted in Orwell's political morality, and in the

post-war years in Western Europe. Its themes are:the threat of the totalitarian state, censorship and the denial

of objective truth, the importance language plays in shaping thought and opinions, and the danger of the

suppression of any form of dissent

-Nineteen Eighty-Four is a satire on hierarchical societies which destroy fraternity. The dictator is called 'Big

Brother' but he actually does not look after his people as a brother should; his watching' means controlling

The theme of the preservation of memory against the official attempts to rewrite history becomes crucial to

maintaining individuality and freedom.The novel does not offer consolation but expresses Orwell's sympathy

with the millions of people persecuted and murdered in the name of the totalitarian ideologies of the 20 th

century

STYLE

The novel is told by a third-person narrator. Orwell presents a frightening and gloomy picture of the future,

switching between Winston's limited perspective and a third-person point of view, which allows him to present

a wider context for what Winston feels and lives through.Orwell's language is clear and concise and contains

neologisms that have become part of the English language

THE FIFTIES:FROM RATIONING TO CONSUMERISM IN BRITAIN

-The Fifties opened in Britain with two important events: the Festival of Britain in 1951 and the start of

Elizabeth II's reign in 1952. Both events were instrumental in raising spirits in a country that was still living

under the shadow of WWII with open bomb sites and rationing of many basics such as meat and sugar

-The Festival of Britain:was a showcase for contemporary design and the new style that would transform

British homes. It encouraged spending in an expanding economy where consumer goods, like the television,

were becoming commonplace. Queen Elizabeth II succeeded her father George VI in 1952 and the live

broadcast of her coronation in 1953 was a tremendous boost to television sales. It was watched by around

twenty million people. By the mid-Fifties, the British economy was booming: produced 75% of the world's cars

and many families became homeowners with cars, telephones, washing machines and refrigerators

-The weakening of the British Empire (which had begun in the post-war years) continued in the Fifties and was

clearly shown in the Suez crisis:in 1952 a revolution had overturned the British-friendly government in Egypt,

and in 1956 the Egyptian President Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal Company jointly owned by the British

and French governments. France and Britain invaded Egypt but were forced into a humiliating retreat by the

international outcry and opposition from the United Nations and the USA,so Britain was no longer a world

power able to manage international relations without US support

THE SIXTIES

-The changes brought about in the Sixties created a society so dramatically different to what had come before

that it can be seen as a time of cultural revolution. It was a decade dominated by exuberant optimism and

rejection of previous values. That generation fought for cultural freedom:in their music, their fashion and their

left-wing politics. They protested against wars and sexual repression

-The Labour Party won the general election in 1964 and the left-wing influence was seen in two important

changes: In 1965 capital punishment for murder was suspended, to be abolished in 1969; and a new school

system, which was considered less discriminatory, was introduced

-London, now nominated Swinging London' by Time magazine, was seen as the world capital of youth culture.

Rock bands like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones brought new vitality to popular culture. Women's fashion

was changing. By 1966 Mary Quant was producing the miniskirt (symbolic of woman's liberation and

empowerment) Carnaby Street and King’s Road (first boutique of Mary Quant) were the fashion centres of

Swinging London

-In 1967, puritan attitudes towards sex were swept away. First, the Abortion Act made it possible to get an

abortion on the National Health Service; then, the National Health Service (Family Planning) Act allowed local

authorities to provide contraceptives. The Sexual Offences Act stated that a homosexual act between two

consenting adults in private was no longer a criminal offence. The Divorce Reform Act of 1969 made divorce

possible after the couple had lived apart for two years, while the Matrimonial Property Act of 1970 established

that a wife's work should be regarded as an equal contribution towards creating the family home

THE ABSURD AND DANGER IN DRAMA

-During the 1950s and 1960s there was a revival of drama that showed a rejection of traditional values. Two

main trends developed: 'The absurd' and Anger

-The term 'absurd' was applied to the works of a group of playwrights who emerged in the 1950s: the Irish

Samuel Beckett, whose “Waiting for Godot”:is generally considered as the starting point of Absurd drama; the

Russian-born Arthur Adamov and the Romanian born Eugène Ionesco. They did not form a school, since each

playwright regarded himself as an outsider, with his own background and personal approach to form and

subject matter. lonesco defined absurd' as that which is devoid of purpose .Cut off from religious,

metaphysical and transcendental roots, man is lost; all his actions become senseless, absurd and useless

-They are the main themes of the plays of Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter and Tom Stoppard. Their plays are

vague as regards time and place and have no real story or plot: they only present the absurdity of the human

condition in concrete situations. One of the most important aspects of Absurd drama is its distrust of language

as a means of communication. In fact, what happens on the stage transcends, and often contradicts, the

words spoken by the characters; pauses, silences, miming, farcical situations and incoherent babbling are also

common

ALL ABOUT SAMUEL BECKETT AND WAITING FOR GODOT (HIS LIFE)

-Samuel Beckett was born in 1906 in a Dublin suburb, into a Protestant middle-class family. He was educated

at a boarding school and then at Trinity College (Dublin). After taking his BA degree in French and Italian, he

moved to Paris, where he became closely associated with the Irish novelist James Joyce. In 1937 he settled

permanently in Paris, where he began his literary career as a short storywriter and a novelist

-He quickly achieved success with the play “Waiting for Godot”:first written in French in 1952 and translated

into English in 1954. The play ran for 400 performances and enjoyed critical acclaim.It was regarded as the

most

original, influential play of the time and its protagonists, the tramps Vladimir and Estragon, became the

emblems of the Absurd

-In the 1950s and 1960s, Beckett wrote a series of masterpieces,including Endgame: about the dissolution of

the relationship between the physical and the intellectual sides of man experienced at the very moment of his

death; “Krapp's Last Tape”: a monologue impossibility for a man to find an identity; and “Happy Days”:which

reveals the playwright's tendency to reduce characters to motionless individuals