orwell s 1984 - wordpress.com

1 | DBA Candidate, Khaled Al Kaabi | Supervisor, Dr Emilie Rutledge | “Private Sector Emiratisation: Evaluating Policies and Practices”

ORWELL’S 1984A BOOK WORTH READING

Jawaher H. K. S.

* * *

a wannabe wordsmith

2 | DBA Candidate, Khaled Al Kaabi | Supervisor, Dr Emilie Rutledge | “Private Sector Emiratisation: Evaluating Policies and Practices”2 | Jawaher H. K. S.

Outline

1. George Orwell

2. The story’s plot

3. Why it is worth reading

3 | DBA Candidate, Khaled Al Kaabi | Supervisor, Dr Emilie Rutledge | “Private Sector Emiratisation: Evaluating Policies and Practices”3 | Jawaher H. K. S. | www.bidoonism.com

About the Author

∎ George Orwell is an English writer… his books are Penguin Classics

∎ He was born in (British controlled) India in 1903 and died in 1950 (@ 47 year of age).

∎ He considered himself a democratic socialist and was critical of communism

∎ He hated cruelty, duplicity, authoritarianism & totalitarianism

∎ He hated the way communist Russia controlled its citizens

∎ 1984 was written in 1948


1984: Setting & Characters

• Futuristic

• Warns of a dystopiyan future

• Winston: the rebellious narrator

• Julia: the temporary sex-partner

• O’Brien: the government spy


1984: Setting and Genre

∎ Genre: Dystopian and Cautionary

∎ Setting: London in the future (1984)… remember, the novel was written in 1948


Characters: Winston Smith

∎ The key character and the narrator of the story

∎ He is a 39 year old low ranked government worker

∎ Physically he is thin and weak

∎ Mentally he is an intellectual and a dreamer

∎ He secretly hates Big Brother (the government) and dreams of overthrowing it (starting a revolution)


Characters: Julia

∎ Julia is Winston’s 25 year-old lover

∎ She is a beautiful, dark-haired woman who enjoys sex

∎ She is optimistic and her rebellion is small and personal – to have lots of sex.

Winston wants to rebel in a major way: to start a revolution

Julia only wants to be rebellious in a minor way: free-sex


Characters: O’Brien

∎ A mysterious, powerful, and sophisticated member of the government

∎ Winston trusts and admires O’Brien, but never really understands him

∎ Winston believes O’Brien also wants to see a revolution against the government

Basically, O’Brien is a spy.

He tricks Winston into telling him all of his secrets – his rebellious plan of a revolution


Characters: Big Brother

∎ Big Brother is the leader (dictator) of this futuristic government

∎ He looks like a combination of Hitler and Stalin

∎ Big Brother’s God-like image is stamped on coins and shown 24/7 on TV screens


1984: Plot

• Follows the life of Winson,

• he rebels

• but then succumbs to the authoritarian government


1984: Story Overview

∎ Winston hates his job: changing history at the “Ministry of Truth” [Think Fake News

∎ Winston has an affair with Julia – he trusts her and shares his rebellious thoughts with her

∎ Then, Winston wants to get involved with O’Brien

∎ Winston thinks O’Brien is also wanting a revolution against Big Brother

∎ Winston is captured by the Party – the spy O’Brien tells the government about Winston’s dreams of a revolution

∎ Finally, Winston loves the Big Brother.

The point of the book is that human beings can be broken down completely until they believe whatever they are told to believe


Newspeak & Doublespeak

Newspeak

∎ Newspeak is the official language of Oceania

∎ The goal of the Party is to have Newspeak replace Oldspeak (standard English)

∎ Newspeak eliminates undesirable words and invents new words – all to force Party conformity

Doublespeak

∎ Doublethink is the manipulation of the mind by making people accept contradictions

∎ Doublethink makes people believe that the Party is the only institution that knows right from wrong

∎ “The Ministry of Truth” (where Winston works) changes history, facts, and memories to promote Doublethink


Why it’s worth reading

• It shows us how scary au-thor-i-tar-i-an-ism is

• It is relevant to today’s world (CCTV’s etc.)


Mind Control

∎ We know 2 + 2 = 4, right?

• Well if you were beaten and tortured and told two plus two was five… would you keep getting beaten or just agree and say: yep, 2 + 2 = 5

∎ Today, governments and religious authorities tell us:

• What to think

• What to say

• What to wear

• … basically: how to live our lives…


Contemporary Relevance

∎ Think of CCTVs

• We cant smoke were we want to

• We cant say what we want to

• Our movements are monitored

• Google stores our search history

• Our iPhones know our location

• SnapChat has a database full of our facial selfies

• Cameras are everywhere, the campus the road the mall… even in my family home


Related Reading

∎ “Brave New World”

• Book by Aldous Huxley

• British author

• Similar in many ways to 1984

• A novel about the future that was written in 1932

a technology-based society where citizens are totally controlled and no creativity is allowed.

a future where citizens completely depend on machines and computers and no longer have emotional relationships with each other.


Thanks… any questions?

orwell s 1984 - wordpress.com

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