Motifs: There are quite a few motifs in the book, but one that reoccurred constantly is the motif "victory." The party uses victory in describing most of its items from gin, to cigarettes to houses etc. They try to allude to the people of that society that what the people are given is victory and it is something that everyone should appreciate, but in fact, it is the least thing that we as readers would expect to have. The cigarettes are all crumbled up, the gin tastes horrible, yet it is recognized as being a "victory" item. This way the party can gain the control of all the people and show them that the party is giving them victorious items the same way they win wars victoriously. The people of that society thing that they are given the best of the best since it is labeled victory, but truly, the Party is giving them nothing. It is using those items just to allude to the people that they are having the best.. like the gilded age when a country alludes to be great from the outside, but when it is seen from the inside, it is in its worst conditions.In the beginning of the book for example, Winston "took down from the shelf a bottle of colorless liquid with a plain white label marked victory gin. It gave off a sickly, oily smell, as of Chinese rice-spirit. Winston poured out nearly a teacupful, nerved himself for a shock, and gulped it down like a does of medicine" (8). This clearly depicts what the Party is trying to do with the people. It is portraying to them items as victory items but they are definitely not. After Winston drinks the gin, his face turns red because it tastes like "nitric acid" but he had to hide it from the telescreen in case it sees him because they should show that they respect everything given to them by the Party and should feel proud of having that, because if they don't, they would get punished.
Setting: The setting of the book plays a big role in contributing to the understanding of that society. The setting is in Airstrip One, aka London, England, which is part of the larger continent of Oceania. In Airstrip One, the houses are small and old, the roads are dirty and empty, there is no privacy because everyone is constantly watched by the telescreens. Even the people's living conditions are bad. This setting contributes to the understanding of the society in the book as a place of control, where the government, in this case the Party, has everything and the people have nothing. It shows how strong the Party is controlling everyone from living conditions to actions. "Outside, even through the shut window pane, the world looked cold. Down in the street little eddies of wind were whirling dust and torn paper intro spirals" (6). The world outside is empty and cold, with nothing but dust and pieces of paper everywhere. This shows the emptiness and fear of the people living in that society because every step they take is watched. Since the setting is in Europe, it reveals the idea of a totalitarian government which was happening in Europe at that time. The setting also brings the dull and fearful feelings of the people living in that society and shows how miserable they are, but cannot do anything about it.
Language: The language in 1984 is very formal and descriptive. The formality of he book shows the effect of the control of the Party and how everything should go by order. It shows the strength and control taken over the citizens and the idea that order and formality is an importance to being part of the society. The descriptiveness of the book also shows the detail in setting, but also represents the society and every detail taken by the people is seen and is counted as important because the Party has to know every little detail from the people to remain in control. For example, "Parsons was Winston's fellow employee at the Ministry of Truth. He was a fattish but active man of paralyzing stupidity, a mass of imbecile enthusiasms- one of those completely unquestioning, devoted drudges on whom, more even than on the Thought Police, the stability of the Party depended" (22). In this quote, Parsons is described very thoroughly which shows the reader the extent as to how the Party should know every little detail of a person. The language is also very formal which also shows the order and control of the Party.
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