|
E336: Twentieth-Century British Literature George Orwell Study Questions Al Drake. Office: Cyber Cafe, M 6-7 | 714-434-1612 1984 (1948) 1. Why does the Party want power? How, according to O'Brien (Richard Burton), does the Party differ from all previous ruling orders? How would you compare the Party in Oceania to, say, the Nazis, or to Stalinist Russia, or Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge in Cambodia? 2. What are the Party's means of control? That is, what are the respective control functions of language, audiovisual and other technology, war, government departments, etc? Which means do you consider the most effective, and why? 3. In maintaining its control, how does the Party differentiate between social orders or ranks? (How does it keep the Proles in line? How does it keep the different levels of Party functionaries in line?) 4. Does the Party have a view of human nature? If so, what is it? 5. What strategies does Winston Smith (John Hurt) employ to defeat the Party's designs, and what assumptions about human nature and objective truth does he make, whether explicitly or implicitly? Does he retain those assumptions by the end of the novel? 6. To what extent does the novel's unfolding narrative undermine or support Winston's assumptions about the possibility of resistance? If you think the novel undermines Winston, what must then be the point in Orwell's writing a novel such as 1984? 7. What's the difference between Winston and Julia (Suzanna Hamilton) in terms of the basis for their resistance? Whose resistance, by itself, would be most effective? What happens when their two strategies link up? 8. Consider O'Brien, an Inner Party Member. Is he orthodox in his statements and attitudes? Does a term like "orthodoxy" matter with regard to an Inner Party Member? Explain. 9. Do you believe it would be possible actually to achieve and maintain the totalitarian control that the Party has over its subjects? Has this ever happened, or come close to happening? What is required for "totalitarianism" to become a reality? Is it simply a matter of wresting sufficient authority, or is the issue more complex? Explain. 10. Are you an optimist or a pessimist with regard to our chances of getting along, governing ourselves, taking care of the planet, and so forth? Why? 11. How do you put Orwell's novel in a meaningful connection with the Modernist texts we have read? Edition: Orwell, George. 1984. New York: Penguin, 1990 repr. ISBN: 0451524934. A Signet Classic.
|