Some readers have felt that, even allowing for the bleakness of the times in which he lived, Orwell's vision in Nineteen Eighty Four is excessively grim and pessimistic. Explore various aspects of the novel from this perspective.

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Alex Green 13PJR

Some readers have felt that, even allowing for the bleakness of the times in which he lived, Orwell’s vision in Nineteen Eighty Four is excessively grim and pessimistic. Explore various aspects of the novel from this perspective, explaining how far you would agree with such a view.

Orwell’s views throughout ‘1984’ are grim and pessimistic in relation to his personal experiences and how he interprets the world, as we know, and what it may become. The possibility of a totalitarian society, which he so fears, is the reason that his views in the novel are as bleak as they are, and why he has created this dystopia for the reader to fear.

        From the first page of the novel it is already clear in the readers’ minds Orwell’s bleak picture of the places he describes. The continent of Oceania entails only sordid living conditions and strict government controls, a situation far away from the world that we live in today. There are very few positive images in the novel, and even then these are ambivalent. Julia is described as beautiful, but previously in the novel Winston thinks about her; “Winston had disliked her from the very first moment of seeing her”. It is clear that Orwell was intent on setting a grim tone for the novel to reflect the highly grim content. I believe he created this world to reflect the mood of the time as realistically as possible. The Second World War had only recently finished and the situation was improving but still bleak. Readers would have recognised the world Orwell so vividly describes with constant desolation throughout this political novel in relation to real events and people. O’Brien describes the overall outlook of the future as one image; “A boot stamping on a human face-for ever”. This image sets hard in the mind, as readers of the time would easily recognise this with recent events in the past and real characters such as the Hitler and his Nazi Party.

        By the end of chapter one Orwell has described Winston Smith and his ascetic life. Even though Orwell wanted to create a political warning it is obvious he was trying at the same time to formulate an extremely pessimistic view of the people of Oceania. They are unhealthy, ugly and uninspired, using Winston as the stereotype given by the writer.  This is also true of the other characters that have little power in the story, be it sexual or within the police state itself: Parsons; a fat, sweaty man, Syme; a weedy intellectual and Ampleforth; a frail old poet, all have physical inhibitions and all end up in ‘Room 101’ eventually and all meet the same callous fate. This is deliberate of Orwell as he clearly argues that the survival of the fittest is inevitable and that it is a reality that we all must face in the future. Julia’s capture by the Thought Police reflects George Orwell’s own personal views on sexuality within society, as does Winston’s encounter with the prostitute. Orwell portrays himself as extremely patriarchal throughout the book, and feminists believe that he supports the power of masculinity. The feminist book, ‘The Orwell Mystique: Study in Male Ideology’ believe Orwell to endorse O’Brien’s power through masculinity in the way the book finishes, and Julia’s unsuccessful attempts to subvert this power. It is true to say that Orwell expresses his masculine views on sexuality in the grotesque way he describes the prostitute and Winston’s wife. I also believe he seems patriarchal in his portrayal of power (the men have the power and women, such as Julia, must sleep with them to gain access to goods and power). This proportion of power in ‘1984’ could be Orwell’s own sexist views, or it may just be the way that he depicts the world to develop. He describes the future to be a survival of the fittest in the way he portrays the deaths of weak or flawed characters, and the fact that men have the power in the novel could be Orwell considering men as the superior sex.

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        Julia’s role in the novel has often been disputed. She is sometimes a rare glimmer of hope and happiness for the reader when everything else in the novel, including Winston himself, seems extremely gloomy. However, this happiness comes through different forms; her actions against the party (such as obtaining bread and real coffee by seducing inner party members) are enjoyed by the reader because she seems to have so much spirit and positivity. The way in which she acts can be interpreted as Orwell’s conscious decision to create a form of political heroine, to add some vigour and hope into ...

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Perfectly good, spelling, punctuation and grammar are all fine. Sentence structure and the overall composition of the essay is also of a high standard and should be noted by any prospective candidates.

Very high, as is to be expected with such a lengthy essay. This candidate explores historical context, the fictional world that Orwell creates and Winston's inner feelings as different perceptions of 'bleakness'. Equally, they analyse the text itself and Orwell's literary techniques to explore these ideas.

A detailed answer to the question, all be it in quite a lengthy format. Candidates would not be expected to write this length of essay for an examination or coursework. However, this does not detract from a very good investigatatory essay which explores various perspectives of the 'bleakness' in 1984. Whether it be historical (ie post-war London or Stalinist Russia) or simply a fictional vision of the future.