1984 George Orwell Theme Essay

1. Theme: Throughout the novel, Orwell made it plain that the major theme of the novel was the power of the Party, however, in Part 3, Orwell used torture as a minor theme, and that minor theme was used to convey the major theme. Evidence of that is found on page 266 when characters Winston and O’Brien discussed the fact that one proclaims his power over another by making the other suffer. For example, once in captivity, Winton and other prisoners were starved, as witnessed on pages 225 and 235. Also, Winton was savagely beaten repeatedly (240-241), subjected to harsh electrical shock (256-257), and mentally tormented “...to the edge of lunacy” (252).

2. Imagery: On page 225, Orwell touched on the visual, feeling, and auditory senses of the reader. He used a spatial description of the jail cell when he noted that the cell had “high-ceilings”, no windows, and “walls of glittering white porcelain”. He went further to state that the lighting was cold, so to use a word like cold to describe lighting appealed to the reader’s temperature sensations. Lastly, as it relates to the auditory senses, the writer mentioned the background droning noise of what could have been the
Characterization: The character O’Brien reemerged in part 3 of the novel through Orwell’s usage of indirect characterization. Ultimately, O’Brien was an evil and calculated character, but because the author depicted O’Brien with such a mild demeanor, the character was, at times, mistaken by Winston, the main character, as one to be appreciated in spite of the fact that O’Brien had betrayed him. Take a look at page 245 where the author notes O’Brien’s “gentle” and “patient” voice as he inflicts pain upon Winston, and again on page 257 when Orwell wrote that O’Brien kindly reassured Winston by placing his hand on Winston’s hand while torturing him. Orwell continued the kind charade of the O’Brien character up to the very end, yet making it very clear that O’Brien was