Orwell e Sassoon

Party’s lies, but he struggles to remember how thing were previously, which is why he starts

keeping a journal, even though is difficult with the strict control he is under. He then meets

another girl, Giulia, who is against the party and they start a relationship, but are betrayed by

O’Brien, a man that at first acts as if he is with them but is actually a member of the Inner

Party. They are arrested and, even if at first Winston resists torture, he collapse into room

101, where the Thought Police threaten him with his biggest fear, rats: here he will say “do it

to Giulia”, proving the failure of the free man. At the end of the book he will be convinced that

he loves Big Brother and that he has faith in the Party, leaving Europe without the last man.

Themes

Orwell’s aim was not to write a science fiction novel, but something that people could

imagine not too far from their reality. The plot is not the most important thing in the novel, but

the building of a world that’s the maximum example of a dictatorship, without it being

necessarily linked to a party or another. Obviously the importance of language and of

memory is crucial in the story too. Orwell believed that only through memory and education

it’s possible to defeat and prevent a dictatorship.

Characters

The novel has quite a few characters, but everyone is important and essential to the plot:

- Winston Smith= he is the main character and the name he chose for him is not

casual: Winston reminds of Churchill, a sort of hero in WWII just like the character is a hero

in its own way, being the last free man. This clashes with the typical English surname Smith,

an ordinary name that reminds that he is also just a simple man. So at the end he is both a

hero and a commoner;

- Immanuel Goldstein= he is the designated enemy of the Party who is blamed for everything

wrong in Oceania. Both his name and surname are jewish, because historically jews had

always been the scapegoats;

- O’Brien= he is a member of the Inner party but he will lie to Winston saying that he is a

member to the resistance in order to capture and torture Winson and Julia;

- The proles= they represent the population whose main job is to provide soldiers to the

nation. Because of that they are encouraged by the party to have a family, something that is

forbidden for the members of the party. Furthermore they have limited access to education

and are told to drink or have fun to pass the day. That is a direct reference to the fact that

education is essential to rebel against injustices and to better understand what’s going on

around them;

- The INGSOC (the English socialist party) is divided in three main sections:

- Big Brother= he is a legendary figure that none has seen but everyone

follows. He is portrayed through images of propaganda where he is seen

having a mustache that resembles the one of Hitler or Stalin;

- The Inner party= this represents the part of the members who have a direct

access to power and are in the position to make decisions for the country. In contrast to the

proles, they are forbidden sex, the consumption of alcohol and any romantic relationships in

order to not share opinions or ideas. They are trying to introduce the ‘New speak’;

- The Outer party= this is the other part of the party and can be described as the middle/high

class who work in the ministry, Winston is one of them;

+ Though police= they are part of the military force and their duty is to spy on

everyone, both the proles and the members of the party through the TVs that broadcast

propaganda.