Furthermore, Orwell uses Winston’s appearance to show the degradation of civilization in the world of 1984. Winston is described as “frail”, showing that he is weak physically, and it may also show that he may not be eating much, possibly due to lack of nutritional food or money. This is reaffirmed when Winston’s skin is described as “rough” due to “coarse” soap and “blunt” razor blades. This shows that necessities like soap and razor blades needed for hygiene, were of either low quality due to its rough texture or lacking in supply that it became nearly useless respectively. Due to this, the reader may form an impression that the other citizens, under the rule of the Party, may also face such serious problems,thus proving that the world of 1984 is definitely challenging to live in.
Additionally, Orwell reveals the constant surveillance of citizens, through various means, in the world of 1984. This is first seen through the posters of Big Brother with the captions underneath in bold: “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU”. Along with the eyes of Big Brother that “follow” the citizens everywhere, this shows the constant state of unrest that is resulted from constant surveillance of the citizens everywhere. Moreover, Orwell describes that acts of monitoring were also conducted openly, through the use of telescreens or police patrols. This can be seen when Orwell describes the police helicopters as “bluebottle[s]” and that they “snooped” into people’s windows. The use of the simile “bluebottle” signifies that the helicopters may be harmless, but they were definitely annoying like flies. The use of the verb “snooped” shows how secretly or quickly the helicopters investigated the citizens. The reader would come to understand that there was no moment of secrecy that citizens could have, as they all were constantly monitored, which leads to a restless life in the world of 1984.
Consequently, Orwell shows how the behaviours of citizens were monitored to such a deep extent, that it became natural instinct. This can be seen when Orwell mentions that “every sound” was overheard. Even though it is an exaggeration, the determiner “every” shows the inexhaustible range of sounds, no matter how low, were still heard. Moreover, Orwell also mentions that “every movement was scrutinised”. The use of the verb “scrutinised” implies the extent to which every movement was critically examined, to see any signs of unorthodox behaviour. Thus, the control of facial expressions and behaviour was a “habit that became instinct”, like Winston’s “natural sanguine” face. This implies to the reader that any unorthodox behaviour, like a pessimistic expression, was looked down upon, and any individual that exhibited such traits were heavily punished, since it is obvious that the citizens were clearly afraid, so much that this behaviour control “habit” became “instinct”.
To conclude, Orwell effectively uses language and tone to convey the dark dystopian world of 1984 at the start of the novel, to not only evoke interest from readers, but also warn them that the real world could also become bleak and gloomy like in 1984, under the rule of Totalitarian regimes.
