Section-Two 10-Slide Critical Perspective for “1984” By: Brian Doyle, Alli Allison Gell and James Gornick 1984, published 1949

Since the death of George Orwell in 1950, the critics could not get past the larger than life, persona of Orwell’s works. The style of criticism was weighted to the style of pseudo-autobiographical by many as one noted critic whose name was that of Eric Arthur Blair who was the original and the mortal Orwell. One critic, whose name was Anthony Stewart wrote significant views dealing with “Doubleness, and the Value of Decency”. With this angle of critical view, he was able to dissect Orwell in a more profound Biographical Perspective; the author states clearly that, “George Orwell is almost unavoidable today. His famously ‘plain’ prose style makes him easy to read. His strong opinions on the importance of a plain prose style and clearly written essays on a range of subjects, from the joys of English cooking to the evils of colonialism, make him the perfect subject for university composition classes” (Stewart).

To understand the era of the author will remain important to understand also the place of where the author is also residing during childhood and as an adult. We will highlight with greater contrast, the reasons of why every professor uses as a standard for many students of literature. Use the other foundations when reading through the presentation to gather the similarities to common themes and even likeness in characters Orwell chose to use to tell his stories.

George Orwell on 1984 “My recent novel [Nineteen Eighty-Four] is NOT intended as an attack on Socialism or on the British Labor Party (of which I am a supporter), but as a show-up of the perversions . . . which have already been partly realized in Communism and Fascism. . . . The scene of the book is laid in Britain in order to emphasize that the English-speaking races are not innately better than anyone else, and that totalitarianism, if not fought against, could triumph anywhere.” - From The Collected Essays, Journalism, & Letters, George Orwell: In front of your nose 1945-1950 1984 is a Novel published in 1949. Its setting is Britain in 1984. It is a satire story that demonstrates how extreme things could turn out if totalitarianism is allowed to run its course unchallenged. It is the ultimate story of “Big Brother” abusing its power and manipulating its citizen. In 1984 the government is involved in manipulating the truth to fit its needs. The main character Winston works for Big Brother and his Job is to revise (change) the records of history to better fit the governments needs and goals. There are thought police and spies everywhere for “Big Brother”. Winston tries to break out of the norm and even has an illegal relationship with Julia, until the Thought police catch them in the act and arrest him. His is then beaten, tortured with electrical shocks, and brainwashed to accept Big Brothers ways even though he will eventually be executed for his crimes any way he still caves in the end and is convinced to love Big Brother. 1984

How the Biography helps… It is easy to see how much government and wars influenced Orwell throughout his life. His political ideals are very important to him. In looking at how much he cared about Socialism we can see that 1984 is almost more of a warning to the Labour party that this is what could happen if your not careful. Orwell and 1984 are perfect examples as to how a biography can help you understand how and why an author wrote a particular story… Orwell spent much of his time dealing with governmental issues and had a strong hatred for communism and fascism. In 1984 we see what could happen if the totalitarianism that Orwell despised in communism and fascism were to run free in Britain and in socialism, which he loved. 1984 is a year that has come and gone, but it is still a relevant story with many warnings about totalitarianism. The book can stand on it’s own a satire of how bad thing could be under a communistic or fascist government. BUT, if you truly want to understand the story of 1984 and why it looks upon totalitarianism in such a way then you need to look at Orwell’s life and the world around him at that time. Orwell is the perfect author to demonstrate how the use biographical information can help us better understand a story.

George Orwell’s early years… Born 1903 in a British colony of India named Eric Blair. He moved with his mother to England when he was 1. His dad stayed at his job in India working for the Department of the Civil Service. He only saw his father once, for three months, between the age of 1 and 9 years old. He was a King’s Scholar at Eton College. According to george-orwell.org there are mixed reports on his academic level, the site also notes “It is clear that he was disliked by some of his teachers, who resented what they perceived as disrespect for their authority.”

After School… He joined the Indian Imperial Police in Burma, where he reportedly developed a strong hatred for Imperialism. He quit and returned to England in 1928. He spent some years working a variety of jobs from school teacher to a clerk at a bookstore, spending most of his time in poverty and was homeless at times. Spanish Civil War Orwell volunteered and fought as an infantryman in the Independent Labour Party where he fought against communism. As reported in george-orwell.org Orwell “Orwell was shot in the neck (near Huesca) on May 20, 1937, an experience he described in his short essay "Wounded by a Fascist Sniper", as well as in Homage to Catalonia. He and his wife Eileen left Spain after narrowly missing being arrested as "Trotskyites" when the communists moved to suppress the POUM in June 1937.” World War II His biography on george-orwell.org “During World War II he was a member of the Home Guard and in 1941 began work for the BBC Eastern Service, mostly working on programs to gain Indian and East Asian support for Britain's war efforts. He was well aware that he was shaping propaganda, and wrote that he felt like "an orange that's been trodden on by a very dirty boot." Despite the good pay, he resigned in 1943 to become literary editor of Tribune, the left-wing weekly…” He continued writing until his death due to tuberculoses in 1950 at the age of 46.

Just like 1984 many of Orwell’s books contain elements and themes of oppressive and totalitarian governments. Animal Farm, published in1945, reflects the Stalin Era and the events leading up to World War II. Every character in the story is speculated to have an association to a historical figure or group.

The story opens with a speech from Old Major, an old dying pig. The speech was to the animals of the farm urging them to reject the injustice forced upon them by the humans. He told them of his dream of the perfect utopia of animals, free of humans, and an endless supply of food. Soon after that, Old Major dies and the animals begin to organize a plan according to his wishes, the first of which is to take control of the farm away from Mr. Jones.   The animals eventually took control of the farm and by the end of the short revolution, the animals were “free” to live the happy life Old Major predicted they would. The animals then make plans to make the farmhouse a museum, change the name of the farm, and painted the seven commandments of animalism (which basically amount to pro-animal laws) on the barn. It is at this point that Snowball the pig seems to be taking over while Napoleon, another leader, tries to undermine him. These two are always at odds. For example, Snowball proposes a series of proactive proposals, including teaching all the animals how to read and for those who couldn’t catch on to it enough to read the commandments, he simply teaches that “four legs good, two legs bad.” Meanwhile, Napoleon is engaging in his own plans… He adopts newborn puppies saying he will train them to be good subjects, while in fact he is turning them to his side. The problems between Snowball and Napoleon grow and come to a head when Snowball announces his plans to build a windmill. Napoleon storms off and discredits the plan and this time, he is not alone. The puppies he raised are now vicious dogs and thus Napoleon has something of a police force on his side. He overthrows Snowball and takes on the windmill project himself, even though he once said he didn’t like the idea. He makes the animals work at a fast pace to complete the project and with the skillful rhetorical manipulation of Squealer, keeps the other animals more or less in line. Unfortunately, a storm comes and knocks over what was built of the windmill and the animals must work throughout the winter to rebuild it. In order to unite all the animals under a common enemy, he spreads rumors about how the now exiled Snowball knocked over the windmill. All throughout the winter, the animals work harder and harder in increasingly miserable conditions while Napoleon becomes almost completely human, drinking alcohol, sleeping in a bed, and associating with humans. After this point, the pigs realize one day that they cannot tell the pigs from the humans and vice versa. The Link to “1984” is Animal Farm Symbolisms of the Characters Mr. Jones symbolizes Czar Nicholas II, the leader before Stalin. Old Major symbolizes Karl Marx as he was a grandfatherly philosopher of change. Napoleon was the central character of the story, he obviously symbolized Stalin. Although Napoleon seems at first to be a good leader, he is eventually overcome by greed and soon becomes power-hungry. Of course, Stalin did, too, in Russia, leaving the original equality of socialism behind, giving himself all the power and living in luxury while the common peasant suffered. The true side of Napoleon becomes evident after he slaughters so many animals for plotting against him. Stalin, too, was a cruel dictator in Russia. After suspecting many people in his empire to be supporters of Trotsky (Orwell's Snowball), Stalin systematically murdered many. Squealer is correlated with the Pravda (the Russian newspaper of the 1930’s) by many critics. Propaganda was a key to many publications, and since there was no television or radio, the newspaper was the primary source of media information. Squealer, like the newspaper, is the link between Napoleon and other animals. The pigs are used to surround and support Napoleon. They symbolize the communist party loyalists and the friends of Stalin, as well as perhaps the Duma, or Russian parliament. Dogs represent the KGB or perhaps more accurately, the bodyguards of Stalin. The dogs are the arch-defenders of Napoleon and the pigs. Orwell almost speaks of the dogs as mindless robots, so dedicated to Napoleon that they can't really speak for themselves. (Work : Summaries & Interpretations : Animal Farm) ` Snowball represents Leo Dawidowitsch Trotsky, the arch-rival of Stalin in Russia. The similarities are uncanny. Both pigs, like Stalin and Trotsky, wanted a leadership position in the "new" economic and political system. But as time passes, the differences become too great to deal with, so Napoleon decides that Snowball must be eliminated. Trotsky thought he could run Russia better than Stalin. Stalin was very weary of Trotsky and feared that Trotsky supporters might try to assassinate him. Napoleon hired someone to sample his food to test for poisoning. The dictator of Russia tried hard to kill Trotsky. Napoleon took puppies away from their mothers in an effort to establish a private police force, to be used to eliminate Snowball. Trotsky was murdered in Mexico by the Russian internal police. Farm Buildings represents Kremlin. Later it became the residence of Stalin like Napoleon. The Windmill stands for the Russian industry, that has been built by the working-class. Destruction of the Windmill is a symbol for the failure of the Five Year Plan. (Work : Summaries & Interpretations : Animal Farm)

A Connection between Orwell and Winston? Winston’s job is to help Big Brother spread its propaganda by re-writing history. Orwell once had a job that was spreading British propaganda to gain support for their side in WWII. "One of the most horrible features of war is that all the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting." —George Orwell, Homage to Catalonia, 1938 Comparisons of 1984 & Animal Farm The similarities between 1984 and Animal farm are astoundingly abundant. For example Mr. Jones from Animal Farm is essentially the same as the capitalist party in 1984. Both were overthrown to make way for the new regime. In Animal Farm Napoleon the pig overthrew Mr. Jones to take control of the farm and in 1984 “Big Brother” overthrew the capitalist party. Napoleon quite obviously is identical to “Big Brother.” Both exert totalitarian control over others, utilizing psychological manipulation, physical control, class stratification, and an abuse of language. Snowball represents Winston in 1984 because they were both ideological. Snowball was betrayed by his friends and Napoleon when he got exiled. Winston, like snowball, was betrayed by “Big Brother” when they tricked him into thinking he was part of The Brotherhood. Pigs were the same as the general populace in 1984, naïve, unthinking drones who followed orders without a second thought. The dogs were similar to the Inner Party and their tactics of using manipulation and torture on those who rebelled and had thought-crime. The dogs and Inner Party were necessary to the re-education of independent thinkers. Squealer was similar to the Ministry of Truth because they both provide the propaganda and control the information going to the public. In 1984 the Ministry of Truth re-writes history to fit the present, by controlling all information and not allowing the population to keep any documents, therefore they can write history as they see fit, in order to best serve the needs of “Big Brother”. In Animal Farm Squealer abuses language in order to justify Napoleon‘s actions and policy changes. By radically simplifying the language of the other animals, and unnecessarily complicating it when spoken by himself, and other pigs, it forces the other animals to believe that they have no hope of accessing the truth of any matter without the pigs mediation as the “Brainworkers” of the farm. In 1984 we see that every morning the population of Oceania is forced to perform exercises called “Physical Jerks” and then forced to work long, grueling days at various government agencies. In Animal Farm we note the similarities between this work and the work performed in order to construct the windmill. This physical exhaustion is just another way to subdue independent thought and action by the general populace. Despite the fact that Orwell considered himself to be a socialist we can see in his novels 1984 and Animal Farm that he was very critical of communism and especially totalitarianism. The similarities of 1984, Animal Farm, and the totalitarian rule of Stalin and the communist party are prevalent throughout.

http://www.george-orwell.org/l_biography.html http://www.online-literature.com/orwell/1984/5/ Orwell, George. The Collected Essays, Journalism, & Letters, George Orwell: In front of your nose 1945-1950. 1st. 4. Canada: Nonpareil, 2000. 502. Print. http://www.alternativereel.com/includes/top-ten/display_review.php?id=00008 Works Cited Work : Summaries & Interpretations : Animal Farm // George Orwell // www.k-1.com/Orwell." [k1][internetpublishing][viennaaustria]. Web. 11 Nov. 2009. http://www.k-1.com/Orwell/index.cgi/work/summaries/animf.html "Plot Summary of "Animal Farm" by George Orwell with Analysis and Character Discussions." Welcome to ArticleMyriad. Web. 11 Nov. 2009. http://www.articlemyriad.com/summary_animal_farm_orwell.htm Stewart, Anthony. George Orwell, doubleness, and the value of decency. 1st. New York: Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001, 2003.