Preview

George Orwell 1984 Betrayal Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
373 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
George Orwell 1984 Betrayal Analysis
In his novel 1984, George Orwell selects an act of betrayal to depict the most important part of the novel, showing the fall of Winston, the main character. Throughout the novel, Winston is ready to change the society’s rules and ideas but after one of the characters betrayed him, his role changed completely because his life turned around. This character was O’Brien and if it wasn’t for his acts, the novel would’ve had another path.From the beginning of the novel, Winston felt that he had a special connection with O’Brien, thinking that he might be feeling the same way as he did towards the society they were living in. Winston was constantly looking to have an encounter with him, hoping to make a revolution against Big Brother. Finally having

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    George Orwell’s novel, 1984, depicts a totalitarian society, Oceania, commanded by the all power holding “Big Brother”. The Party, the government of the nation, controls everything from the nation’s history down to the citizen’s language. Early in the novel, the main character, Winston, discovers a secret society against Big Brother titled “the Brotherhood”. O’Brien, a member of the powerful Inner Party, recognizes Winston as a non-supporter of Big Brother. This begins O’Brien’s multitudes of deception toward both Winston and Julia. O’Brien’s motives were simple and his plans beautifully executed. His deceitfulness was driven purely by his loyalty to the Party and contribution to the organization’s psychological manipulation of the citizens of Oceania. O’Brien’ character development also adds to the novel’s overall theme.…

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    People never accept these Truths because many don’t know the difference between right and wrong. For example, “Ignorance is Strength”(Orwell 26). If you told someone who wasn’t educated what the quote means that person would believe you because that person hasn’t had any other form of education. The people of 1984 are controlled in every form most everyone expect for Winston believes what Big Brother says. In addition “War is Peace”(Orwell 26), is another example showing how you can manipulate people with words.…

    • 509 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The film 1984 based on the book by George Orwell, describes a totalitarian and dystopian regime, complete with too many laws and rules, and a government who surveil your every move. The people live in fear and ignorance, but do not know any better. Do we live in a dystopian society today? What is similar with 1984 and what is not? Is there a government in the world that is more similar than others?…

    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    1984 Winston's Villainy

    • 1289 Words
    • 6 Pages

    This had a powerful impact on Winston. A perfect example of this occurs when O 'Brien is torturing Winston, and he talks to Winston with "the air of a teacher taking pains with a wayward but promising child" (204). O 'Brien adopts this friendly and compassionate tone in order to guide Winston to the answer he desires. Winston 's refusal to cooperate is so upsetting that "O 'Brien 's manner grew stern again" (205). He then proceeds to torture Winston until Winston repeats the correct answer to O 'Brien 's satisfaction. O 'Brien uses this method on Winston throughout the book to trick Winston into feeling safe and secure enough with O 'Brien to open up to him. Why did this continue to work? It worked because O 'Brien was able to manipulate Winston 's need to find someone to talk to who understood him. For Winston, "it did not matter whether O 'Brien was a friend or an enemy" (208). The important thing was "O 'Brien was a person who could be talked to" (208). Orwell wanted the reader to understand the lengths a person would go to, even facing the possibility of death, when their lives are suppressed by a government or entity. By sharing his fear of a totalitarian society and unveiling its nature, Orwell hoped to prevent the spread of…

    • 1289 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    1984 Contradictions

    • 2251 Words
    • 10 Pages

    In 1984, three outwardly misleading characters include Winston, O’Brien, and Mr.Charrington. Since the beginning of the novel, Winston hates the authoritarian rule of the Party and constantly expresses his hatred through suppressed means. For instance, he writes obscenities against the Party in his diary, he secretly has sex with Julia as an act of rebellion, and he attempts to join an organization that opposes the Party. Yet despite all this, he acts loyally when he is being watched; for example, he alters documents wherein he praises the Party for its numerous exploits and achievements. It is fitting that by the end of the novel, he is brainwashed to love the Party: “he had won the victory over himself. He loved big brother” (Orwell, 311). This double contrast highlights the discrepancy present within reality, as in the end, his character is directly at odds with who he initially is in reality. O’Brien is an ambiguous member of the Party who Winston initially comes to trust as a result of a dream where O’Brien says “[w]e shall meet in the place where there is no darkness” (Orwell, 2). This statement itself is contradictory, as Winston initially thinks that O’Brien is referring to the joyful time when the Party is finally overthrown and people are free, but it proves to be a bright room where Winston is endlessly tortured by O’Brien. Winston believes that O’Brien shares his enmity towards the Party, but is proven wrong when O’Brien turns out to be a member of the Thought Police and his subsequent torturer. Thus, O’Brien reinforces the discrepancy between appearance and reality, as his sympathetic character proves to be a trap. Finally, Mr. Charrington, the humble owner of a small shop with a room upstairs that Winston and Julia use…

    • 2251 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the main questions of the novel 1984 is could Big Brother fall. There are many possibilities that contribute to the thought of the fall of Big Brother. Such as the way Big Brother pushes people around like Winston to make them want to rebel. One proven fact in history is that most totalitarian governments do not last such as Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union. The fact they are always at war with one of the other main super powers. "But the proles, if only they could somehow become conscious of their own strength, would have no need to conspire. They needed only to rise up and shake themselves like a horse shaking off flies. If they chose they could blow the Party to pieces tomorrow morning. Surely sooner or later it must occur to them to do it? The proles themselves if realized their power could overthrow the party.…

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Oceania when you step out of line, you will be punished accordingly. That is the message George Orwell tries to get across to his reader in 1984. Since that is the notion he is trying to get his reader to understand as the author in this book, he obeys that rule as well. Orwell uses many literary devices and techniques such as symbolism, metaphors, tone, allusions, and many more… to make the reader understand what kind of society Winston is living in.…

    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    You cannot avoid it, you cannot out run it, you cannot fight it, there is no escaping. You can stand staring directly into a mirror for hours on end, but you will never see your reflection. And as you absorb the world around you, your mind will grow tired, your eyes will become blurry,…

    • 2042 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    1984

    • 1226 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In the novel Nineteen Eighty-four, O’Brien successfully demonstrates the themes of hope and betrayal. As O’Brien’s character is introduced to the reader, one can note he is idealized by Winston. To Winston, O’Brien is an individual that is against Big Brother’s propaganda. The main character feels a sense of satisfaction when O’Brien is present. Winston tells the audience, he has, “a secretly-held belief- or perhaps not even a belief, merely a hope—that O’Brien’s political orthodoxy was not perfect” (Orwell, 13). Winston always hopes that O’Brien will side with him and help him find out history. Thinking O’Brien had the same thoughts as him, allowed Winston to be more confident and comfortable with himself. Winston believes O’Brien can help him achieve the freedom he wants. O’Brien’s character also portrays the theme of betrayal; all the hope Winston had in O’Brien quickly changes into deceit as he realizes, O’Brien is the individual who tortures him to love Big Brother. First, O’Brien pretends to be a part of the Brotherhood. He inducts Winston into the group, but does it to frame him for the ultimate crime. While in the jail cell Winston hears, “the same voice that had said to him, ‘we shall meet in the place where there is no darkness,’ in a dream seven years ago” (256). Throughout the book, the reader is told O’Brien says this in Winston’s dream earlier. To…

    • 1226 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    All societies are controlled by their government in many different ways. Many societies are controlled by a democratic government, while other societies are controlled by dictatorship. These styles of government both have pros and cons. The passage from "1984" by George Orwell distinctly shows that society is a horrible and harmful place to live in because there are certain rules that people have to follow. "It was Mrs. Parsons, the wife of a neighbor on the same floor (" Mrs was a word somewhat discountenanced by the Party- you were supposed to call everyone "comrade"- but with some women one used it instinctively)"( Orwell paragraph 2). In this part of the passage, it is told that there are rules that are needed to be followed in society,…

    • 463 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    George Orwell’s definition of heroism may differ from what most believe heroism is. He believes that it is ordinary people doing whatever they can to change social systems that do not respect human decency, even with the knowledge that they can’t possibly succeed. According to the dictionary, a hero has distinguished courage or ability. Winston is perhaps a hero to Orwell, but, he did not have the courage of a hero. Orwell’s character shows the traits of a hero with rebelling, although he did it in secrecy. But, by the end of the novel, Orwell leaves Winston as a helpless human which can also be viewed as the everyday man that Orwell is talking about.…

    • 913 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Participating in this game gave me a deeper understanding of 1984. When it was first introduced to us in class, I thought it sounded interesting but I didn’t think it would be such a learning experiences. By the end it was clear that this game greatly helped me to comprehend the paranoia and distrust the Party Members feel in Oceania.…

    • 282 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    George Orwell's "1984" focuses on Winston Smith, a middle level member of a totalitarian regime known as "The Party" and it's omnipotence leader "Big Brother". However one day Winston gets fed up with the current system and commits a crime, he starts to write down rebellious thoughts against "Big Brother" in his journal. Latter Winston finds a love interest in a fellow party member named Julia, who also has rebellious thoughts against "Big Brother". Julia and Winston latter in the story go to a party member named O'Brien to become a part of a rebel group called "The Brotherhood". Unfortunately for Winston and Julia, it turns O'Brien was secretly part of "Big Brother's" thought police. O'Brien takes Winston to the ministry of love where there…

    • 1448 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The betrayal of the family bond is a common theme in 1984. Orwell illustrates how weak that loyalty has become with the skull-faced man's desperate begging to watch his wife and children's throats be slit as an alternative to the Ministry of Love's room 101 with a complete lack of "private loyalties"(136). Winston's memories of his mother's…

    • 1056 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, the main character, Winston, takes the responsibility of fighting against the oppressive government under which he and his fellow citizens live. Winston does not, as most people would, sit idly by and watch the government trample people's rights. He takes the "path less traveled by" and attemps to expose the decpive (sp: should have been deceptive) nature of the government. By taking responsibility to tackle a problem in his society, Winston effects some change on the society in the the book even though he is not completly (sp) sucessful (sp). Winston sets the foundation for the overthrow of the government by taking responsibility to solve a problem.…

    • 1770 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays