1984 - 16

• "Winston kept his back turned to the telescreen. It was safer; though, as he well knew, even a back can be revealing." (p. 3)

Citizens of Oceania are not only mentally controlled, but physically controlled as well. Winston realizes that the monitoring process is so tedious, that he needs to train assumed 'safe' features such as his back. Orwell introduces this concept in the beginning to demonstrate how it works against Winston in the end of the novel. Even though Winston believed the Party would never corrupt his mind, physical pain was the most powerful device used against him. Once Winston experiences the torture in the Ministry of Love, the Party has fully conditioned his mind to obey their purposes.

http://www.bronxbanterblog.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/shhh.jpg

1984 - 15

• "If all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed ... Then the lie passed into history and became truth. 'Who controls the past,' ran the Party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.'" (p. 34)

The party slogan is quite frightening, because if one breaks it down into detail, there is absolutely no truth in this dystopian society. The Party has the ability to oversee, rewrite, and manipulate documents of the past, which allows justification for what is happening in the present. Orwell illustrates the vulnerability of the citizens of Oceania because each are not allowed to keep any of their personal records. Without individual memories, gradually their it will fade, eventually leading them to easily accept anything the Party tells them.

1984 - 14

• "'She listened at the keyhole. Heard what I was saying, and nipped off to the patrols the very next day. Pretty smart for a nipper of seven, eh? .... I'm proud of her. It shows I brought her up in the right spirit, anyway.'" (p. 233)
  

This passage describes Mr. Parson's gratitude toward his young daughter who turned him in to the patrols for committing 'Thoughtcrime." Unlike many other individuals who would be mortified at their own child revealing a crime they've committed, Orwell allows readers to see the future generation's seriousness about obeying Party rules. Mr. Parson's story shows how accepting the citizens of Oceania are, never questioning their punishments. One would think family members remain faithful and the young respect their elders, but here, Mr. Parsons is actually proud of his parenting.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2482/3966569138_54f8741e7e.jpg

1984 - 13

• "'It was a common punishment in Imperial China,' said O'Brien as didactically as ever." (p. 286)
  

Orwell alludes to Imperial China in this passage, a place where methods of torture were used as a tool for the releasing of information or confessions. Within the traditional Chinese system of justice, the government believed that torture could result in more substantive justice - in the sense that the guilty were more likely to be convicted and the innocent allowed to go free. In 1984, Orwell incorporates this tactic as a way for Winston to obey the power of the Party. Since he won't allow his mind to accept their irrational ways, O'Brien resorts to torturing Winston until he faces his breaking point.

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/late_imperial_china/summary/v029/29.2.park.html
http://www.thewrestlingschool.co.uk/Dead%20Hands%20Image%20Tied%20hands.jpg

1984 - 12

• "Four, five, six - seven times they met during the month of June. Winston has dropped his habit of drinking gin at all hours. He seemed to have lost the need for it. He had grown fatter, his varicose ulcer had subsided ... The process of life had ceased to be intolerable ... or shout curses at the top of his voice." (p. 150)

Orwell captures the feeling of love within this passage, showing that having a companion can cure an intolerable lifestyle. Throughout 1984, the citizens of Oceania are trained to not feel any sort of attraction toward the opposite sex. People are living in constant fear and hatred; emotions are controlled so harshly there is barely any freedom. However, for a small part of Winton's life, he finds Julia who undoubtedly makes life more bearable. Her presence even begins to cure Winston's addiction to alcohol and tobacco (vices he turns to in moments of stress and irritability), and his varicose ulcer is in control (something that frequently acts up).

1984 - 11

• "There was one about four and twenty blackbirds, and another about a cow with a crumpled horn, and another about the death of poor Cock Robin." (p. 151)

Orwell alludes to the poem "Cock Robin" as Winston describes Mr. Charrington's inability to remember the extensiveness of the story. In this poem, the death of Cock Robin is declared:

Who killed Cock Robin? I, said the sparrow With my bow and arrow I killed Cock Robin.

Numerous animals gather to prepare for Cock Robin's funeral when the Bull announces:

Who'll toll the bell? I, said the bull, Because I can pull, I'll toll the bell.

'Cock Robin' appears to have many verses with small detail. The fact that Mr. Charrington cannot remember these familiar rhymes reveal his age and distorted memory of the past. Clearly the brainwashing of the Party has conquered his mind.

http://dickens.stanford.edu/archive/great/great_issue7gloss.htm
http://www.mamalisa.com/images/mother_goose/cockrobin_national.gif

1984 - 10

• "As soon as Winston had dealt with each of the messages, he clipped his speakwritten corrections to the appropriate copy of the Times and pushed them into the pneumatic tube." (p. 39)
  

TIME Magazine, first issued on March 3, 1923, is a weekly news magazine who's main purpose is to break the news down into categories each delivering short news pieces that busy consumers can quickly understand and absorb. Orwell's choice to allude to TIME Magazine seems slightly ironic because in reality it's content is solely based on factual news, where in 1984, Winston works to change history in order to suit the Party's demands. Instead of documenting history and reflecting on historical events, the Ministry of Truth is forced to alter it, which completely contradicts TIME Magazine's purpose.

http://www.things-and-other-stuff.com/magazines/time-magazine.html
http://www.russiablog.org/ObamaTimeMagazineCover.jpg

1984 - 9

• "Winston woke up with the word 'Shakespeare' on his lips." (p. 31)
  

William Shakespeare is an English poet and playwright and is arguably the greatest writer in the English language. Shakespeare wrote comedies and histories at the beginning of his career, and then focused on writing tragedies. He wrote in a lyrical and emotional style, putting emphasis on love, beauty and mortality. Orwell alludes to Shakepeare in this passage as Winston illustrates Julia undressing herself. Winston vividly describes the delicacy in which Julia tosses her clothes aside, using language similar to Shakespeare's respected writing.

http://www.online-literature.com/shakespeare/
http://www.wwu.edu/depts/skywise/cosmo/shakespeare.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare

1984 - 8

• "WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH. But the face of Big Brother seemed to persist for several seconds on the screen, as though the impact that it had made on everyone's eyeballs were too vivid to wear off immediately." (p. 16)
  

The thousands of telescreens placed throughout Oceania is overpowering, yet it is a successful tactic used by the Party. The steady flow of propaganda gradually conditions the citizens of Oceania to obey the Party. Within this strategy, repetition is key, which is why the familiar slogans brainwash one's mind. However, Orwell stresses that in this case, technology is being abused, promoting wrong messages. Orwell shows his audience the dangers of technology, in particular how the Party uses the telescreens for their personal advancement, not bettering the life of Oceania's citizens.

http://purecontemporary.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/omnimount_moda_muro_8_ls_hr.jpg

1984 - 7

• "Seven years it must be - he had dreamed that he was walking through a pitch-dark room. And someone sitting to one side of him had said as he passed: 'We shall meet in the place where there is darkness.'" (p. 25)
  

'We shall meet in the place where there is darkness' was first spoken by O'Brien in a dream Winston had. Sure enough, these haunting words foreshadow what will happen in the future. Orwell carefully chooses a specific language to create a mysterious, evil atmosphere, repeating Winston's dream of meeting O'Brien. Eventually Winston does meet O'Brien in the Ministry of Love where his cell is pitch black. Darkness connotes negative, secretive ideas, and clearly, Winston undergoes unnecessary torture and manipulation when he finally faces O'Brien.

1984 - 6

• "'You're a traitor!' yelled the boy. 'You're a thought criminal! You're a Eurasian spy! I'll shoot you' ... Why can't we go and see the hanging?' roared the boy in his huge voice." (p. 23)

Orwell creates this frightening scene with Mrs. Parson's children as a tactic to show readers the potential of a totalitarian society. In 1984, at such a young age, children were preached the purpose of the Party. Children, being significantly more susceptible to obey anything they are taught, follow these rules and become brainwashed at a very young age. The most saddening part of this scene is that the children find violence as a source of entertainment. The future of Oceania is within this generation, and without a doubt, the Party is succeeding in their desire to manipulate the mind's of it's citizens.

http://askmissa.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/kid-with-gun.jpg

1984 - 5

• "He thought of the telescreen with its never-sleeping ear. They could spy upon you night and day, but if you kept your head you could still outwit them." (p. 166-167)

Telescreens are placed everywhere throughout Oceania. Citizens have developed a constant awareness because of it's "never-sleeping ear." Progressing through the novel, readers realize that the force behind the telescreen is never identified. The "people" behind the telescreens are always referred to as "they" or "the telescreens." The citizens of Oceania are so brainwashed to the point where they don't even question the existence of someone actually monitoring them. Orwell instantly develops a curiosity for readers to know "who" is truly behind the scene.

1984 - 4

• "He took up his glass and sniffed at it. The stuff grew not less but more horrible with every mouthful he drank. But it had become the element he swam in. It was his life, his death, and his resurrection." (p. 293-294)
  

Throughout 1984, the alcoholic beverage, Gin, is repeatedly used to reveal Winston's need for escape. Much like Peter Walsh in Mrs. Dalloway who constantly played with his pocket knife in moments of discomfort, Winston drinks Gin to tranquilize his paranoia. Orwell allows Winston's character to crave Gin in moments of insecurity, nervousness or stressful situations. Winston uses Gin as a "security blanket" to calm his anxiety.

http://campsmoke.fmallen.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/gin1.jpg

1984 - 3

• "It was as when Winston had gazed into the heart of the paperweight, with the feeling that it would be possible to get inside that glassy world, and that once inside it time could be arrested. (p. 151)

The people of the Party strive to force memories of the past out of individual's heads and replace them with their own, altered versions. Winston is in an unceasing fight against this process and buys a glass paperweight in attempts to remember the true past. Orwell expresses Winston's desire to leave the former alone, "arresting" time and leaving previous events trapped inside a "glassy world." Further into the story, the paperweight shatters when Winston is arrested, symbolizing that his battle is finally lost.

http://www.bungoglass.com/images/Paper%20Weights/Blue%20Green%20Paper%20Weight--Large.jpg

1984 - 2

• "BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption said, while the dark eyes looked deep into Winston's own." (p. 2)

The face of Big Brother is plastered throughout Oceania; a constant reminder that one's every move is observed. However, Winston finds the actual existence of Big Brother questionable as he is simply an image. Orwell emphasizes the vagueness of Big Brother - readers, as well as Winston himself, never truly discover if Big Brother is actually human. The concept of Big Brother proves that power has the ability to control a mass of people, despite the fact that he may be a mere status or image. For some unexplainable reason, the citizens of Oceania accept the lack of structure and knowledge of the Party, simply because Big Brother appears everywhere: a continual threat to society.

1984 - 1

• "The Ministry of Truth - Miniture, in Newspeak - was startlingly different from any other object in sight." (p. 4)
  

Newspeak is the official language of Oceania which overtime will, ideally, replace the English language. The primary purpose of Newspeak is to limit the amount of words citizens are able to use to express their feelings or ideas. Orwell introduces this concept in 1984, allowing readers to imagine a world where destructive, defiant thoughts cannot even be verbalized simply because the words do not exist. In turn, this strategy is highly effective throughout the novel since many citizens of Oceania are incapable of creating and executing thoughts opposing the power of the Party.

http://spl225.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/dictionary11.jpg