An important image of Part 1 is the destruction of human desires such a sex. This plays a large role in chapter 6 when Winston remembers meeting with a prostitute from the proletarian area. During the sexual act, Winston is tormented by past memories in which he had been brought up to think sex was an act of dirtiness. Winston was in search for sex, but not because of the obvious purpose of making babies but because he wanted someone to love him passionately which plays a superior role throughout the novel. However from understanding Winston’s pain in these first few chapters, leads on the reader into questioning if Winston finds this love or not. “Kill the sex instinct, if could not, distort and dirty it.” Although the Party disallows sex because the Party doesn’t want peoples emotions to run free. It is also associated with the lower class people which is seen as dirty and ugly.
The language “Newspeak” introduced in Part 1, was forced by the party meaning that nobody can express themselves and therefore cannot even say or think anything rebellious about the party. “By 2050 earlier, probably all real knowledge of Oldspeak will have disappeared. The whole literature of the past will have been destroyed. Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Byron they’ll exist only in Newspeak versions, not merely changed into something different, but actually contradictory of what they used to be. Even the literature of the Party will change. Even the slogans will change. How could you have a slogan like “freedom is slavery” when the concept of freedom has been abolished? The whole climate of thought will be different. In fact there will be no thought, as we understand it now. Orthodoxy means not thinking - not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.” What the underlying statement of Newspeak prolongs is that by destructing the words that would describe what someone would want to say, they wouldn’t be able to think either. The Party’s aim is to make thoughtcrime impossible by removing any words or possible constructs which describes the ideas of freedom, rebellion and sex.
Another distinctive theme of Part 1 is the Dystopian matter. The definition of Dystopia is; “a society characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression disease, and overcrowding.” This relates hugely to the society of Oceania. When there is no freedom, no human rights and a complete invasion of privacy. Dystopian literature usually depicts the futuristic technology, used by the ruling political power to subjugate the people. An example of this would be the Speakwrite and Telescreens. At the time when 1984 was written these technologies were considered science fiction. In order to emphasize the degeneration of society, the standard of living among the lower and middle classes is generally poorer than in contemporary society. In the Inner Party, the upper class of society, also has a standard of living lower than the upper classes today. This theme is closely related to World War II when Hitler kept huge numbers of Jews in concentration camps. They all endured awful living conditions in overcrowded areas with no freedom and a severe lack of privacy. Big Brother seems to compare with Hitler in the sense that both of them had an extreme aim. For Hitler it was to annihilate the Jews and for the master race (Aryans) to rule again. Big Brothers main goals can be summed up in their slogans; “WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, and, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.” This meaning that nothing is as it appears. In the opening chapters, the distinct dystopian theme was made very clear from the first page as such. “On each landing, opposite the lift shaft, the poster with the enormous face gazed from the wall. It was one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption ran beneath it.”
To conclude, Part 1 of 1984 is a very effective beginning of the book, introducing some powerful and interesting themes; Newspeak, Invasion of Privacy, Human rights and Dystopia. The opening in my opinion was very successful, as after reading the first chapter, I felt almost opposed to read on. Also at the end of Part 1 we are left on a high where Winston has fallen in love. Orwell cleverly leaves the end of Part 1 mysteriously uncompleted, perhaps to be knocked down? But the main point is that, from the readers point of view, very attached to the book and intrigued to read on.
