How does Orwell make this such a memorable moment in the novel?
In this extract, Winston observes and comments on the general populace in Airstrip One, muses over the people he knows and whether they were likely to be vaporised, and gets increasingly suspicious of Julia investigating him. Orwell makes this a memorable moment in the play by using language to describe the Outer Party members, revealing Winston’s thoughts on the criteria needed to be vaporised, and showing the skeptical society under the rule of the Party.
Orwell effectively uses literary devices to describe the Outer Party members and convey the setting of 1984. This can be seen when Winston states that “beetle-like” men “flourish[ed]” under the Party. The use of the simile “beetle-like” shows that the men were like insects, both mentally and physically. They had a short stature and were easily intimidated by the Party, thus completely becoming subservient to the Party. This is also emphasized by the verb “flourish[ed]”, which implies that these people were extremely well-suited to the environment, thus proving that the environment under the rule of the Party was deteriorated and rotten, as beetles are also suited to such kinds of environments. Moreover, Orwell also describes the Outer Party members as “eyeless creature[s]”, implying that they were not only lifeless (as eyes usually describe liveliness) but also blind to the Party’s lies. The noun “creature” shows that the Outer Party members were no longer human as they were completely devoid of personal feelings and thought. The well constructed setting of the totalitarian world of 1984 reminds the reader of the dead society under totalitarian rule, thus making it memorable and significant in the novel.
