Context 1984 Flashcards
George Orwell wrote 1984 during…
World War II, having seen the rise of Hitler and Stalin. Orwell feared that totalitarianism could easily take over the U.S. and Britain and wrote the novel as a cautionary tale.
His own experiences in the 1930s and 40s, such as…
his involvement in the Spanish Civil War and the Russian Revolution made him intensely opposed to totalitarianism.
Big Brother was created as an amalgamation…
of many dictators, reflected in his appearence. Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini were all big influences. Not just on the appearance and character of Big Brother but also influenced the ‘Party’ regime.
Influences for 1984 also come from Orwells own experiences, such as…
his time working in the propaganda section of the BBC during WW2 which inspired the ‘Ministry of truth’ and Winstons number (Orwell was given a similar one at the BBC)
Winston smith is based off…
an extremely ‘normal’ perseon at the time, even the name was very common
This emphasises the fact that Winston was a very normal person in an unusual circumstance, forcing him to live this dangerous life.
It also helps the reader to relate to Winston as he’s not some ‘hero’.
The “spies” are very similar to…
Hitler youth. With similar tales of children selling out their parents as “socialists” to the party.
The “thought police” are very similar to…
The Gestapo (a german secret police service), wholistened totelephonecalls, intercepted letters etc.
Another example is the NKVD who basically did the same thing but in russia.
Slogans from 1984 such as ‘War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength’ is very similar to…
“Kinder, Küche, Kirche”, The Nazi party
This translates to “Children, Kitchen, Church”, the party ideals for a woman.
This is similar to the Party’s ideals in 1984 as they see childbirth as a woman’s “duty to the party”
The public hangings in 1984 are very similar to…
The Moscow show trials from 1936-38 in which there were public hangings of party opposition.
When did Orwell publish 1984?
1949 (but wrote it in 1948)
Orwell was diagnosed with…
tuberculosis, the pain of which was a big influence for 1984, an example of this is the very graphic torture scenes in the ministry of love.
Orwell went to…
Spain to fight Franco in the civil war in 1937
Orwell worked in the…
propaganda department in the BBC
(he had an “employee number” similar to Winstons number 9935)
In 1922 Orwell joined the…
imperial police in Burma. But returned a few years later to England due to guilt of his part in the British empire
Orwell was born in…
India (under British rule) in 1903
