1984 - What does Orwell do in the opening two pages of the novel to unsettle the reader?

What does Orwell do in the opening two pages of the novel to unsettle the reader? In the novel 'Nineteen Eighty-Four', the author, George Orwell employs a range of different techniques such as similes, metaphors and symbolism to unnerve and keep the reader in anticipation, impelling them to read on. The novel is in a third-person narrative style, this technique employed by Orwell creates a distance between the central character, Winston Smith and the reader. This vagueness adds tension and mystery to Orwell's depiction, only allowing the characters emotion to be revealed through dialogue. The narrative viewpoint also allows the reader to grasp an unbiased view of the character and his circumstances. Throughout these first couple of pages Orwell purposefully refuses to expand on things which confuse the reader. For instance, "The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats", and simply doesn't give an explanation why. This deliberate omission is employed to purely keep the reader on edge and impel him/her to read on. Another example of this is towards the end of the second page, "The Patrols did not matter, however. Only the Thought Police mattered". This line immediately grabs attention and creates suspense, but Orwell leaves it here. The reader is now left feeling insecure and leaves us questioning ourselves through mere confusion of what may be happening in this

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What is the significance of Piggy in the novel The Lord of the Flies?

What is the significance of Piggy in the novel The Lord of the Flies? The author William Golding uses the character of Piggy to relates to certain themes in the novel. He is linked closely with civilisation, time and the conch which itself represents order. As savagery becomes more intense in the novel, Piggy begins to suffer more injustices and eventually loses his life speaking out against it. Piggy is described by Golding as 'short' and very 'fat'. This has earned him the nickname 'Piggy' in his previous school. It's no coincidence that Piggy's nickname is such, it relates to the overwhelming emotion Jack and his hunters feel when they feel the urge to 'kill the pig'. This indirect metaphor suggests that the boys are killing a part of Piggy each time and that their aggression is directed at him. In fact, while Jack and his gang continue to kill more pigs, the logic and reason which Piggy symbolizes progressively diminishes with the pigs. Piggy's appearance alone has made him an outsider, because the other boys look down on him. He has asmtha and doesn't do much physical work on the island. He is not welcomed on their first exploratory trip of the island. "We don't want you," Jack says to Piggy. It is his academic background and his isolation from the savage boys that had allowed him to remain mostly unchanged from his primitive experiences on the island.

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Effectiveness of death of Simon

The effectiveness of the death of Simon At the beginning of the chapter, Simon realizes that the boys have mistaken the parachutist for the deadly beast that has plunged their entire group into chaos. Adding to his Christ like figure, he frees the parachutist from the rocks, and then, anxious to prove to the group that the beast is not real after all, Simon staggers down the mountain toward the distant light of the fire at Jack's feast to tell the other boys what he has seen. Golding uses the weather throughout the chapter to show the build up of tension on the island and then a release of all the built up tension. He opens the chapter with a sinister description of the odd weather on the island, with the "brassy glare" of the sky where "colours drained" and "nothing prospered". During the climax and the killing of Simon, the weather stimulates the confused frenzy as a streak of lightning is described as a "blue white scar" above the boys and the "dark sky shattered". Simon's death brings about the use of weather again used as a downpour erupts, as though the weather were responding to the boys' actions and because Simon is always very closely connected with nature, so the rain may represent tears - "the clouds opened...poured" Golding uses this thunderstorm as a means of terror and the result is that the fear drives the boys together. In the rain, Ralph asks Jack how

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Examine the ways in which The Great Gatsby explores the corruptive effects of wealth.

Examine the ways in which The Great Gatsby explores the corruptive effects of wealth. The Great Gatsby was set in the 1920s and in this time wealth was spread all over America, particularly in New York, and in F. Scott Fitzgerald's fictional villages of the East and West Egg, where The Great Gatsby was set. In America many people had made their money by themselves without the help of an inheritance. Wealth was displayed in the type of car you drove, to the size and position of your house, and this idea that each person, no matter what their background, could succeed, was known as the 'American Dream'. This occurred because unlike England where there was a clearly defined class system, in which people remained within their class level, in America a poor person born into poverty could by whatever means, become a wealthy person, mixing in society with other wealthy people. This is no more evident than in F. Scott Fitzgerald's character Jay Gatsby. However, such wealth often attracted jealousy, and in turn, corruptive behaviour. In the 1920s, America was a financial goldmine with many individuals making huge sums of money. Post-World War One, many women entered the workforce, and factory production methods improved, creating a significant boost to America's economy. More often than not, however, some of the money that people made was earned through corruptive methods. Two

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Write about some of the ways Fitzgerald tells the story in Chapter 1

Fitzgerald uses a first-person retrospective narrator in Nick to allow the employment of a partially-involved story combined with his reflective perceptions on situations. Fitzgerald builds Nick's perceptions as fickle, having him claim 'I'm inclined to reserve all judgements' yet quickly contradicts this trait as he tells 'the intimate revelations of young men' are 'marred by obvious suppressions'. By Fitzgerald doing this, the audience are given an immediate opinion on Nick, realising he is likely to be inconsistent and an unreliable narrator. Fitzgerald highlights this by his ambivalence towards Gatsby, having him claim 'there was something gorgeous about him' yet describing his 'unaffected scorn' towards him. Fitzgerald also makes it clear Nick is a self-conscious story teller, telling himself 'after boasting this way of my tolerance' to allow the basis of Nick's reliability to be questioned throughout the novel. Fitzgerald has Nick go over what he is written to make it seem obvious that he is selecting events and words, such as claiming Gatsby 'had vanished' to make the chapter seem more dramatic. As the reader currently knows little about Gatsby's character, Nick's unexpected description of his disappearance at the end makes Gatsby seem more gripping, building the reader's anticipation of his entrance. Therefore, any of the events throughout the chapter are to be

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Animal Farm is not just about a story about animals it is about human nature and behaviour. Discuss.

Animal Farm Animal Farm is not just about a story about animals it is about human nature and behaviour. "Animal Farm" by George Orwell is a novel based on the lives of a society of animals living on the Manor Farm. Although the title of the book suggests the book is merely about animals, the story is a much more in depth analysis of the workings of society in Communist Russia. The animals are used as puppets to illustrate how the communist class system operated, and how Russian citizens responded to this, and how propaganda was used by early Russian leaders such as Stalin, and the effect this type of leadership had on the behaviour of the people of Russia. One thing which relates to the topic is how the pigs are favoured on Animal Farm. The main source for this was because their leader Napolean was a pig, the pigs were subject to favouritism by Napolean, and were given privileges that other animals were not given, such as sleeping in beds, wearing clothes and drinking beer. The pigs were also the only animals involved in making the vital decisions on Animal Farm. The fact emulates in a way how our Government tends to operate. The Government Party members are paid an exuberant amount of money, with this money the members of the Government can purchase costly cars and houses, if they wish to do so. They make all the important decisions about the country where as the

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Themes Surrounding The Title Of "Of Mice And Men"

Of Mice And Men Title: In this presentation I will talk about the title "Of Mice And Men", and the significance of various themes incorporated into the story in relation to how they associate to the title, such as the subject of Lennie's treatment of the mouse in the beginning, and how the animalistic deaths that transpire throughout the novel could be seen as an admonition to later events, in which Lennie is killed by George and conclude by answering if the title is effective in indicating the themes that are prominent in the novel. The title of the novel "Of Mice and Men" is an intertextual reference as it is a quotation from a poem written by Robert Burns, in which he speaks of a homeless mouse which is in fear following the destruction of its house. A quotation from the poem, "The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley" means that everything, no matter how well deliberated or considered, is questionable to failure. Steinbeck took the title of the novel from this quote, as the two pieces of text are easily comparable in their matters, as in the novel, Lennie and George's plan to find a little place, how they wanted their dream, and yet it never materialized. On Page 7, George makes the discovery that Lennie is carrying a dead mouse in his pocket. Lennie wanted to keep the mouse because he loves to pet small, soft things. Sadly, such is his brute strength,

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How does John Steinbeck use animals to structure the novel 'Of Mice and Men'?

How does John Steinbeck use animals to structure the novel 'Of Mice and Men'? Animals are used throughout John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" to structure the novel in a way that constantly foreshadows towards the climax at the end of the story. The way in which Lennie kills a mouse before they have reached the ranch, gives the reader an idea of his brute strength, and Steinbeck reinforces this with the fact that Lennie kills a small puppy as well. The American dream in the novel is for Lennie and George to own their own farm, and Lennie only wants this so he can have 'plenty rabbits'. The first mouse encountered in the story is a dead one. Lennie has kept it in his pocket 'to pet', and soon kills it as he does not know his own strength. Steinbeck is already using animals to foreshadow the rest of the novel, as Lennie is comfortable with death but he is so kinaesthetic that he continues to pet the dead mouse. Mice are obviously a source of comfort for Lennie, and he holds connotations of mice with Aunt Clara. The book is based around the fact that George and Lennie are only temporarily working at the ranch until they have enough money to own some land where they could work 'maybe six, seven hours a day' and 'live off the fatta the land'. Steinbeck structures the novel around this simple dream and allow others to join such as Candy. Steinbeck increases the severity of the

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Trust in Animal Farm. From the extract, Orwell uses Squealer to present the great character of Napoleon,

Afterwards Squealer was sent round the farm to explain the new arrangement to the others. 'Comrades,' he said, 'I trust that every animal here appreciates the sacrifice that Comrade Napoleon has made in taking this extra labour upon himself. Do not imagine, comrades, that leadership is a pleasure! On the contrary, it is a deep and heavy responsibility. No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be? Suppose you had decided to follow Snowball, with his moonshine of windmills - Snowball, who, as we now know, was no better than a criminal? 'He fought bravely at the Battle of the Cowshed,' said somebody. 'Bravery is not enough,' said Squealer. 'Loyalty and obedience are more important. And as to the Battle of the Cowshed, I believe the time will come when we shall find that Snowball's part in it was much exaggerated. Discipline, comrades, iron discipline! That is the watchword for today. One false step, and our enemies would be upon us. Surely, comrades, you do not want Jones back? Once again this argument wan unanswerable. Certainly the animals did not want Jones back; if the holding of debates on Sunday mornings was liable to bring him back, then the debates

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Pride And Prejudice:Why is the news of the elopement of Lydia and Wickham in Chapter 46 such an important moment and how does it affect what follows in the novel?

Why is the news of the elopement of Lydia and Wickham in Chapter 46 such an important moment and how does it affect what follows in the novel? A very key moment in the novel is when Elizabeth is informed of the elopement of Lydia and Wickham by two letters from Jane (while she is visiting Pemberley in Chapter 46). The two letters instead of one create more suspense and anticipation. This chapter is very important because that single event changes everything and has far reaching effects on relationships (such as Elizabeth and Darcy, Lydia and Wickham, Jane and Bingley, the Bennet family and its distant relations), attitudes, and the development of characters in the story. It changes the perspective of many characters and the truth behind appearances begins to emerge. Everything in the novel builds up to this decisive moment of crisis where things could go either way; good or bad. The build up to this chapter is very crucial as Elizabeth and Darcy slowly come closer and are on the most civil terms before the news of the elopement breaks, which makes the situation sadly ironic. Elizabeth goes from rejecting him to having her prejudices lifted when he gives the letter, correcting her misconceptions and finally to respecting him and having a deep gratitude towards him: ‘She respected, she esteemed, she was grateful to him.’ Darcy even invites her to meet his sister and she

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