Riassunto dettagliato di "1984" di George Orwell, Appunti di Inglese

Scarica Riassunto dettagliato di "1984" di George Orwell e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! 1984 (GEORGE ORWELL) Type of work: Novel Genre: Utopian literature; social criticism Date of first publication: 1949 Narrator: Third-person Protagonist: Winston Smith Antagonist: The Party; Big Brother Setting (time): 1984 Setting (place): London, England (known as “Airstrip One” in the novel’s alternate reality) Point of view: Winston Smith’s Tone: Dark, frustrated, pessimistic Summary: The story unfolds on a cold April day in 1984 in Oceania, the totalitarian superpower in post World War II Europe. Winston Smith, employed as a records (no, not vinyl) editor at the Ministry of Truth, drags himself home to Victory Mansions (nothing victorious about them) for lunch. Depressed and oppressed, he starts a journal of his rebellious thoughts against the Party. If discovered, this journal will result in his execution. Now that’s playing with fire. For the sake of added precautions, Winston only writes when safe from the view of the surveying telescreens. And when that shot of industrial grade "Victory Gin" kicks in. At work, Winston becomes curious about "the brunette" (a.k.a. Julia), a machine-operator in the Fiction Department. Although at one time he feared that she was a member of the Thought Police, all such paranoia ends when she slips him a note reading "I love you" in the corridor one day. The two begin a secret love affair, first meeting up in the countryside, and then in a rented room atop Mr. Charrington’s shop in the prole district. All of these places are away from surveillance – or so they think. As Winston and Julia fall deeper in love, Winston’s views about their government (the Party) change. There’s something about Ingsoc that doesn’t seem quite right – is it the manipulation? The changing of history? The all-around sketchiness? Winston is drawn to the revolutionary "Brotherhood" because, well, they’re revolutionary. Eventually, Winston makes contact with O’Brien, who Winston thinks is a member of the Brotherhood, but who in actuality is a member of the Thought Police. O’Brien arranges for Winston to receive a copy of "the book," a resistance manifesto which supposedly exposes the how and the why for the resistance. Unfortunately, Winston never finds out the why. Instead, he gets tortured. But before the torturing, he and Julia are apprehended by the Thought Police. Turns out that secret hiding place wasn’t so secret after all. The happy couple is then brought to the Ministry of Love, where criminals and opponents of the Party are tortured, interrogated, and "reintegrated" before their release and ultimate execution. O’Brien runs the show as far as Winston’s torture sessions are concerned. Months later, Winston is sent to Room 101, where a person is faced with his greatest fear. Rats…why did it have to be rats? Musing on the impending rats-chewing-on- his-face scenario, Winston calls out, "Do it to Julia!" That’s pretty much what O’Brien was looking for, so Winston gets to go back to being a happy member of the rat race. Released, Winston’s heart is filled with love for the Party. Even when he and Julia meet again by chance, they feel apathetic towards each other. The last man in Europe has been converted and destroyed. Quite the fine point there, George. Characters: -Winston Smith: Winston, the novel's protagonist, is staunchly against the Party. He finds unobtrusive methods to rebel, or at least he believes them to go unnoticed. He main desire is to remain human under inhuman circumstances. -Julia: Winston's love-interest and ally. Julia also works in the Ministry of Truth. She is against the Party's doctrines, but she merely wants to break the rules, not change the society. -O’Brien: Member of the Inner Party. A mysterious figure, O’Brien is at once Winston's enemy and his ally and is the reason for Winston's ultimate indoctrination to the Party. O'Brien is a personification of the Party, and much of the Party's doctrine is revealed through him. -Big Brother: Leader of the Party. Big Brother is a god-like figure, all-present, all- powerful, and eternal — yet quite intangible. -Emmanuel Goldstein: Leader of the Brotherhood. Orwell leaves ambiguous whether the Brotherhood actually exists or is merely propaganda perpetuated by the Party. Nevertheless, Goldstein, whether he exists or not, figures prominently as a foil to Big Brother. -Mr. Charrington: Owner of the shop where Winston rents the room and a member of the Thought Police. -Parsons: Winston's neighbor who ends up in the Ministry of Love with Winston, turned in by his own children. -Syme: A Newspeak expert who works with Winston in the Ministry of Truth and is vaporized. -Ampleforth: A poet-of-sorts who works with Winston in the Ministry of truth and also winds up in the Ministry of Love.