Summary of the theme 'Class and politics' in Orwell's '1984'
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Course
Comparative and contextual study (H472)
Institution
OCR
In-depth summary of how class and politics is presented in Orwell's '1984' - includes colour-coded quotes, explanations, context and links to other dystopian novels
'WAR IS PEACE'
'FREEDOM IS SLAVERY'
'IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH'
Party’s slogans – doublethink – politics founded on lies
BNW – ‘Community, Identity, Stability’
'It was impossible... to be sure that the Brotherhood was not simply a myth'
The Party is the only political body
Dictatorships (Franco/Hitler) and often communist party’s (Bolsheviks) eliminate all other
political bodies and democratic elections
THT – ruling body makes it ‘impossible to be sure’ about how things were – censorship of
Bible and written word in general
'Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past'
Control of time is very important to the Party’s politics
BNW – also manipulate the past – ‘history is bunk’
'The proles are not human beings'
Classist system – lower class disowned by Party
In Spanish Civil War, Orwell fought with majority of working class – seen how they’re
treated?
BNW – lower castes seen as lesser due to poor intelligence
'The physical type set up by the party as an ideal - tall muscular youths and deep-bosomed
maidens...'
Appearance become a part of politics
Context – Hitler’s Germany – ideal physicality – Aryan race – people who did not fit the
description banished from society or killed
BNW – Bernard is insecure about not being the perfect Alpha – girls have to be ‘pneumatic’
to be desirable
‘a submerged and despised class.'
the proles – Winston says the Party only allows prostitution with the proles as they are so
hated and disgusting – no one will fall in love with them (love is an enemy of the party)
In Franco’s Spain, there was extreme corruption and favouritism among the middle/upper
class – took greater rations than lower class etc.
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