Archetypes
REBEL – Winston
Winston is a rebel because throughout the book he doesn’t
accept the Party’s opinion as fact or truth. He notices the flaws and
corruption in their government. For example when he is writing in his diary he
suddenly starts writing “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER”.
SCAPEGOAT – Goldstein
Goldstein is a scapegoat because everyday he is displayed as
the enemy in Two Minutes Hate. The Party uses him as “hate magnet” so the
people of Oceania are happy for the rest of the day.
SHAPESHIFTER – Big Brother
Big Brother is the leader of Oceania, but his role changes
every chapter. One time he’s a hero another time he’s a dictator. The only
problem is, that Winston is the only one who notices it, and the other people
believe that BB is a genius/hero/savior/leader of them all.
FOLLOWER/MINION – People of Oceania
Other than Winston, all the people of Oceania bow down to BB
as if he his God, they have no other opinion, as if their mind only reflects
the thoughts of him. As if they are being manipulated, as Winston suspects.
Notes
· It’s scary that Mr. Parson’s children are
obsessed with war and have already convicted a man with treason and they are
very young.
· The
idea of Newspeak is weird, how their vision is to destroy words and put them
back together in shorter meaning is crazy.
Connection
George Orwell wrote this book in 1949 about a future in
1984, the future doesn’t come true in any way in that time, but now it is
becoming more of a reality. The whole debate about the NSA relates to Big
Brother and his cameras and how there is no privacy. I think that his
prediction will become reality in this century, and his world is not one to
look forward to by any means. Thought Police watching your every move and
thought, manipulation of everyone, and constant war. Of many sci-fi books
released around his time were all about flying cars and robots, but none has
become such a possibility as Orwell’s historic vision.
