Monday, September 22, 2008

Writing Prompt 2 9/19

1984 by George Orwell is one of the most influential books ever written. Orwell uses the power of Big Brother, and Winston's desire to break free to demonstrate a classic tale of rebellion. Although Winston ultimately fails 1984 is still a prime example of someone trying to free himself from the power of others.

On one side there is Winston Smith a common man. He is not strong or handsome of anything special and Orwell did that so the audience would feel a connection. On the other side there is Big Brother and the Party members. They make up the government and decide what people do, when they do it, and how. To make matters even worse if you so much as think about fighting the power you will become an unperson.

Winston realizes early on that something isn't right with the governments way of doing things and decides he wants to escape. However, as much as he would like to escape he knows he will eventually get caught. Orwell did this to foreshadow the down fall of Winston to O'Brien and the Party. Winstons tries his hardest to escape and even becomes obsessed with it, but "Big Brother is always watching you" and the Party has so much power that he really didn't have a chance.

Orwell writes for the common man, he feels for the underdog in society, and 1984 no different. He uses Winston's failure to escape Big Brother to further solidify the strenght of government and how dangerous it can be. A prime example of this would be when Winston is in room 101 and O'Brien threatens to have rats eat off Winston's face.

The struggle for Winson to escape Big Brothers power is what makes 1984 so memorable. It gives the audience a disturbing look at the possibilities of what can happen with to much power. No other book is a more perfect example of a power struggle than 1984 by George Orwell.

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