!984 Analysis

Christina Hall
August 2, 2010
DYP English III
Summer Reading
1984 Analysis
The ability to see patterns in everything became Foster’s vision while reading novels. Three of the main patterns that are demonstrated in Orwell’s 1984 are politics, seasons, and violence.   In the chapter “It’s All Political” from Foster’s novel How to Read Literature Like a Professor, the main concept of his thinking is that “nearly all writing is political on some level” (Foster 111).   Applying this idea to Orwell’s 1984 gives the reader the opportunity to see the theme of the novel: “the sexual act...was rebellion” (Orwell 68).   By having sex with another citizen was one way of showing emotion and passion which the Party and Big Brother cannot control.   Due to the threat of emotions overtaking the citizens, the Party has discouraged family life and ultimately taken away privacy by placing televisions in homes, in the streets, and even in restaurants.   The process of Winston Smith’s rebellion began as being “...a secret, involuntary thought; the second had been the opening of the diary. He had moved from thoughts to words; and now from words to actions” (Orwell 159).   Unable to stop his revolt, he brings in another person to join him on his journey. Julia, a beautiful woman in her twenties, also happened to secretly despise the Party and Big Brother, thus creating political controversy.
Another concept that Foster presented in his novel was that along with the climate of the seasons there is another meaning to them on a deeper level.   Foster gave the reader a reference point that most people have heard of.   “...spring has to do with childhood and youth, summer with adulthood and romance and fulfillment and passion, autumn with decline and middle age and tiredness but also harvest, winter with old age and resentment and death” (Foster 178).   Once we realize that there is a pattern in this cycle within a novel, we look for more clues that lead us to a conclusion.   Orwell set the...