1984

Terminology and Background Information

The Characters

• Winston Smith– Protagonist– Churchill

• Julia– 25yrs. Old. Minitruth

• O’Brien– Inner Party

• Big Brother– Always watching

• Goldstein– Scapegoat

• Syme– newspeak

• Parsons– neighbor

• Mr. Charrington– shop owner

Terminology

• Newspeak– Language of the party

• Doublethink– Denial of reality

• Thoughtcrime– death

• The Golden Country– Winston’s dreams

• Thought Police– Monitor the Party

• Two Minutes Hate– Daily public event

• Ingsoc– English Socialism

• Chestnut Tree Café– Location of the

doomed

Timeline

• 1903 – Eric Blair, pen name George Orwell born in Motihari, India.

• 1922 – Orwell returns to India and joins Imperial Police in Burma.

• 1938 – An Homage to Catalonia released. Account of Orwell’s experiences with Loyalists in Spanish Civil War.

• 1945 – Release of Animal Farm, “modern beast fable attacking Stalinism.”

• 1949 – Release of 1984. Dystopia.

• 1950 – Orwell dies of tuberculosis.

• 1984 – Orwell’s future.• 2050 – Our future.

The Political Structure

• Oceania– The Country

• Airstrip One– England

• The Outer Party– 18% of pop.

• The Inner Party– 1% of pop. – Control wealth

• The Proles– 81 % of pop.

The Countries

• Eurasia– Country with which

they are at war.

– Russia

• Eastasia– Country with which

they are at peace (for now)

– China

The Ministries

• Ministry of Love– miniluv

• Ministry of Plenty– miniplenty

• Ministry of Peace– minipax

• Ministry of Truth– Minitrue

The Slogans of the Party

• War is Peace

• Freedom is Slavery

• Ignorance is Strength