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1984 Study Guide9 chapters | 79 lessons
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You've probably heard of symbols and symbolism before, but in a literary sense, what does it mean? Symbolism means that a person, place, or thing is used by the author to represent a larger, more abstract idea. This is often used to bring to mind an important theme at work.
Here's a real world example: Hearts have become a symbol of love and passion, which are big ideas that are really hard to define, and hard to explain. But a heart is a concrete thing, so it's easier to draw a heart instead of writing a long description of what the word 'love' really means.
Symbols abound in George Orwell's incredibly famous 1984, his dystopian novel still read around the world. In this lesson, you'll learn about three major symbols at work in the book: the glass paperweight, telescreens, and Big Brother.
The glass paperweight is an important symbol in the novel, and represents Winston's failed attempts to connect to and understand the past. This may sound odd, because in today's world, if you have a question about a particular event or object you can search online or even read about it. But this isn't the case for the citizens of Orwell's novel. The government rewrites history so often and has such control over its citizens' minds and memories that the real past is completely lost.
So you could see why owning this glass paperweight is important for Winston. After he purchases it, he often wonders where this beautiful object came from and struggles to understand the past it belongs to. What was its purpose? Why was it made? Winston asks the man he buys it from and is enthralled to learn that sometimes things were made once for sheer beauty.
Winston leaves the glass paperweight in the room he rents, and the room becomes a safe place, where he can imagine the past and try to work out his own memories. Is the past as he has been taught a lie? What are his own thoughts? Can he trust his memories?
But the rented room is raided by the police. As Winston is arrested, the glass paperweight symbolically shatters. Winston's attempt to discover the truth and reconnect to the past is destroyed with the paperweight.
Telescreens are exactly what they sound like: screens in the walls of your house that monitor your every move. They're even in your bedroom to watch you while you sleep, and in the bathrooms at your job. In short, telescreens are everywhere, and they provide an excellent symbol for government surveillance, which is one of the things Orwell strongly warns against in this novel.
Not only this, but did you know that these telescreens can also speak to you? Pretty terrifying. They often use this function to keep people in line and warn them when they've committed some violation. They also transmit important government news and information, and are used to lead morning exercise routines that are required for all citizens. What a great symbol for not only government surveillance, but the manipulation of technology by the government.
Telescreens are everywhere in the novel, constantly observing Winston. When he and Julia meet out in the wild forest, they choose this place because they can be unobserved by telescreens, symbolizing moments of complete freedom for them, both emotionally and physically, as they confide in each other without fear of reprisal. Winston must also write in his journal in the one corner of his apartment that cannot be seen by the telescreen, again both a physical and symbolic gesture of secrecy and privacy.
Also symbolically, Winston and Julia are arrested after a painting of St. Clement's Church falls to reveal a telescreen behind it, one that has been observing their movements in their 'secret' rented room all this time. Nowhere is safe when the government is always watching.
And speaking of always watching you, you've come to the big kahuna of symbols in this novel. Big Brother is both the symbolic face of the Party in the actual book, as well as an overall symbol for readers of totalitarian governments and their dangers. Within the novel, Winston is never sure whether or not Big Brother actually exists, or whether he's a full-on symbol, a fiction crafted by the Party. However, you can probably assume Big Brother isn't real, since people only ever see him on telescreens and on propaganda posters.
Big Brother's catchphrase, 'Big Brother is Watching You' is plastered everywhere, along with a picture of Big Brother's face. Scary, huh? Not to the people of this society. Big Brother is presented as a loving leader, a leader who cares deeply about you. He's like your older brother, who may have to keep you in line from time to time, give you a noogie, all that kind of stuff, but ultimately he loves you and protects you.
Big Brother, then, is the face of the Party. He symbolizes everything they want and need, and everything they communicate to the world and their nation. He's always present, like any totalitarian government, and all citizens must love and devote themselves to him, and, therefore, the government. History is rewritten constantly to demonstrate Big Brother's omnipotence and glory. Big Brother is everything, but that's okay. He's all you'll ever need.
Symbolism in literature means that a person, place, or thing is used by the author to represent a larger, more abstract idea. Symbols abound in George Orwell's incredibly famous dystopian work, 1984. In this lesson, you read about three major symbols at work in the book: the glass paperweight, telescreens, and Big Brother. The glass paperweight symbolizes Winston's attempts to connect with the past. Telescreens symbolize constant government surveillance and the manipulation of technology. And Big Brother symbolizes the Party and the dangers of totalitarian regimes.
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1984 Study Guide9 chapters | 79 lessons
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