Riassunto "1984" George Orwell, Sintesi del corso di Inglese

Scarica Riassunto "1984" George Orwell e più Sintesi del corso in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! 1984 - George Orwell PLOT In the year 1984, civilisation has been damaged by war, civil conflict, and revolution. Airstrip One is a province of Oceania, one of the three totalitarian super-states that rule the world. It is ruled by the "Party" under the ideology of "Ingsoc" (english socialism is the predominant ideology and pseudophilosophy of Oceania) and the mysterious leader Big Brother, who has an intense cult of personality. The Party punish anyone who does not fully conform to their regime using the Thought Police and constant surveillance through devices such as Telescreens. Winston Smith is a member of the middle class Outer Party, working at the Ministry of Truth, where he rewrites historical records to conform to the state's ever-changing version of history. Those who fall out of favour with the Party become "unpersons", disappearing with all evidence of their existence removed. Winston revises past editions of The Times, while the original documents are destroyed by fire in a "memory hole". He secretly opposes the Party's rule and dreams of rebellion and realises that he is already a "thoughtcriminal" and likely to be caught one day. While in a proletarian neighbourhood, he meets Mr. Charrington, the owner of an antiques shop, and buys a diary, where he starts writing down his thoughts as a way to escape from the oppressing reality in which he lives. He uses an alcove to hide it from the Telescreen in his room, and writes thoughts criticising the Party and Big Brother, and also writes that "If there is hope, it lies in the proles". As he works in the Ministry of Truth, he meets Julia, a young woman maintaining the novel-writing machines at the ministry, whom Winston suspects of being a spy against him. He also suspects that his superior, an Inner Party official named O'Brien, is a secret agent for an enigmatic underground resistance movement known as the Brotherhood, a group formed by Big Brother's reviled political rival Emmanuel Goldstein. Smith also has a lunch conversation with Syme, who is writing a dictionary for a revised version of the English language called Newspeak. After Syme admits that the true purpose of Newspeak is to reduce the capacity of human thought, Winston speculates that Syme will disappear as he believes he is "too intelligent”. One day, Julia secretly hands Winston a note confessing her love for him, and the two begin a torrid affair, an act of the rebellion as the Party insists that sex may only be used for reproduction. Winston realises that she shares his loathing of the Party, but later shows that she is not interested in overthrowing the regime, thinking that it is impossible. They first meet in the country, and later in a rented room above Mr. Charrington's shop. During his affair with Julia, Winston remembers the disappearance of his family during the civil war of the 1950s and his terse relationship with his ex- wife Katharine. He also notices the disappearance of Syme during one of his working days. Weeks later, Winston is approached by O'Brien, who invites Winston over at O'Brien's luxurious flat where both Winston and Julia swear allegiance to the Brotherhood. He sends Winston a copy of The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism by Emmanuel Goldstein. Meanwhile, during the nation's Hate Week, Oceania's enemy suddenly changes from Eurasia to Eastasia and Winston is called back to make changes to the records to conform to the nation's new allegiance and enemy. Winston and Julia read parts of the book, which explains more about how the Party maintains power, the true meanings of its slogans (war is peace; freedom is slavery; ignorance is strength) and the concept of perpetual war. It argues that the Party can be overthrown if proletarians rise up against it. However, to Smith, it does not answer 'why' the Party maintains power. Soon, Mr. Charrington is revealed to be an agent of the Thought Police and Winston and Julia are captured and imprisoned in the Ministry of Love. Smith briefly meets his other colleagues who have been arrested for other charges. O'Brien reveals that he is actually an agent as well and was simply part of a special sting operation to catch "thoughtcriminals". Over many months, Winston is tortured and forced to "cure" himself of his "insanity" by changing his own perception to fit the Party line. O'Brien openly admits that the Party "is not interested in the good of others; it is interested solely in power." He says that once Winston is brainwashed into loyalty, he will be released back into society for a period of time, before they execute him. When he asks Winston if there is anything worse that can happen, Winston points out that the Party has not managed to make him betray Julia, and that while he accepts the Party's doctrines, he still hates Big Brother. O'Brien then takes Winston to Room 101 for the final stage of re-education. The room contains each prisoner's worst fear, in Winston's case, rats. As a wire cage holding hungry rats is fitted onto his face, Winston eventually betrays Julia. After being released, Winston meets Julia in a park. She says that she was also tortured, and both reveal betraying the other. Later, Winston sits alone in a café as Oceania celebrates a supposed victory over Eurasian armies in Africa and realises that "He (now) loved Big Brother” as well. THEMES  Totalitarianism In writing 1984, Orwell's main goal was to warn off the serious danger totalitarianism poses to society. He goes to great lengths to demonstrate the terrifying degree of power and control a totalitarian regime can acquire and maintain. In such regimes, personal rights, freedoms and individual thoughts are pulverized by the government. Orwell was a Socialist and believed strongly in the potential for rebellion to advance society, yet too often he witnessed such rebellions go wrong and develop into totalitarian rule. In 1984, Orwell presents a dystopia, or in other words, the perfect totalitarian state. In composing this novel, Orwell gave the world a glimpse of what the embrace of communism might lead to if allowed to proceed unchecked.  Propaganda A major factor in the Party's rule over Oceania lies in its extremely well organized and propaganda machine. The Ministry of Truth, which is ironically where Winston works, is responsible for disseminating all Party information. All figures and facts come from the Ministry of Truth, so the Party chooses exactly what to tell the public, regardless of what is accurate. The effectiveness of this propaganda machine, which constantly corrects old material to reflect the Party's current position on any subject, allows the Party to completely dominate the information disseminated to the public. In addition, there are also basic forms of propaganda, such as the Two Minutes Hate, Hate Week, posters of Big Brother, and required daily participation in the Physical Jerks.  Love/sexuality The Party works to repress all physical sensations of love, and sex is referred to as a "duty to the Party" (for the purposes of procreation). Winston suffers the Party's removal of enjoyment in relationships in his failed marriage with Katharine. Later, when he meets Julia, Winston appreciates the freedom of being able to love someone in a physical and emotional way. Winston is only able to rebel against the Party through his affair with Julia, even though this love is destroyed in the end. Orwell's discussion of love is not only relegated to romantic love, but also to the familiar one. Winston’s mother deeply loved her children and did all she could to protect them during the the the Party's rise to power. In Winston's time, the Party has removed such interfamilial loyalty, demanding that all love and loyalty be reserved for Big Brother and the Party. In this way, the bonds between parents and children are broken. Even worse, children commonly report their parents to the Thought Police, placing the Party above the lives of their mother and father.