1984 References

Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid's Tale. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1986. Print.

"Cogito Ergo Sum." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 04 Sept. 2011.<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cogito_ergo_sum>.

Cold War." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 04 Sept. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War>.

"Fender - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster  Dictionary." Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. Web. 04 Sept. 2011. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fender>.

"Hob - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary." Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. Web. 04 Sept. 2011. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hob>.

Layton, Julia. "Discovery Health "Does Singing Make You Happy?"" Discovery Health "Health Guides" 2 June 2009. Web. 04 Sept. 2011. <http://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/human-nature/happiness/singing-happy.htm>.

London Paddington Station." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 04 Sept. 2011.             <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Paddington_station>.

Rene Descartes. 09 Dec. 2002. Web. 04 Sept. 2011. <http://renedescartes.com/>.

"Saint Sebastian." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 04 Sept. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Sebastian>.

"The Underground Railroad." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service.  Web. 04 Sept. 2011. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2944.html>.

"World War II." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 04 Sept. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II>.

1984 12

 “‘I think I exist,’ he said wearily. ‘I am conscious of my own identity. I was born and I shall die. I have arms and legs. I occupy a particular point in space. No other solid object can occupy the same point simultaneously.” (214)

   

         Rene Descartes was a famous philosopher. He used reasoning to find a simple answer to the complicated question that all philosophers ask: “do I exist?”  He said the fact that you are asking yourself that question, and doubting your existence, proves that one exists. “I think, therefore I am,” he wrote. Descartes also said that the mind is what matters most, and is the only thing we can prove exists. Orwell alludes to this quote when Winston says, “I think I exist.” He does this because of the contrast between these two belief systems. Descartes believed in free-thinking, new ideas, and concrete evidence that can at least be worked out by reasoning. Big Brother’s society controls thoughts and changes the past, making nothing certain.

"Cogito Ergo Sum." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 04 Sept. 2011.<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cogito_ergo_sum>.

Rene Descartes. 09 Dec. 2002. Web. 04 Sept. 2011. <http://renedescartes.com/>.

1984 11

“Then listen carefully. You’ll have to remember this. Go to Paddington station....” (96)

           Orwell references a real place, Paddington station, when Julia uses it as a landmark to tell Winston how to meet up with her in secret. Paddington station is known historically as the first underground railway in the world. Orwell might have used Paddington station in this context because an ‘underground railway’ sounds a lot like an ‘underground railroad.’ There was a secret society called the Underground Railroad in the late 1700s and 1800s that helped smuggle black slaves out of the south and into safety. This could represent the secret meetings that Julia and Winston were planning. Also, the fact that Paddington station still exists in Oceania shows that it is impossible to completely destroy history. No matter what, there is always something left. 

London Paddington Station." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 04 Sept. 2011.             <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Paddington_station>.

"The Underground Railroad." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 04 Sept. 2011.             <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2944.html>.

1984 10

“...Winston succeeded in transferring his hatred from the face on the screen to the dark-haired girl behind him....  He would tie her naked to a stake and shoot her full of arrows like St. Sebastian.” (16)

   

         St. Sebastian was a Christian saint, who was tied to a post and shot with arrows by the Roman emperor. He was then found and healed by St. Irene, but is clubbed to death by the emperor after he goes off seeking revenge. Orwell’s reference to St. Sebastian mirrors the course that Winston and Julia’s relationship ends up taking. First, he fantasizes about killing her on multiple occasions. But when their affair begins, he realizes he loves her and she comes back into his life in a very different way. But when they are captured by the thought police things change. At first, their love holds strong. But then they receive the ultimate torture and are forced to betray each other. After this their love can never be the same. She is once again, just another person. 

"Saint Sebastian." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 04 Sept. 2011.             <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Sebastian>.

1984 9

“‘We are the dead,’ he said.

‘We are the dead,’ echoed Julia dutifully.

‘You are the dead,’ said an iron voice behind them.”  (182)

  

          In the end of 1984, everything is taken from Winston and Julia. Every belief and thought, and even their love and loyalty for one another was tortured out of them. In this scene, Orwell foreshadows their fate. Early on in 1984, Winston and Julia realize that with their rebellion, they might as well be dead. They have accepted the fact that they will eventually be caught and killed. So even this saying, “we are the dead,” that Winston and Julia repeat often when they are alone together was taken and turned against them. 

1984 8

“‘How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?’ ‘Four.’ ‘And if the Party says that it is not four but five—then how many?’ ‘Four.’  The word ended in a gasp of pain....” (206)

     

       In this scene, Orwell emphasizes the controlling nature of the inner-party when O'Brian is trying to make Winston believe he is holding up five fingers, when he is actually holding up four. This seems very extreme to us today, but things like this were an actual concern at the time when 1984 was written. The fear was that the Communists would take over and begin a totalitarian government, like the one in Oceania, controlling everything—people, thoughts, the past, and the future. In fact, there were reasons for this fright. World War II had just ended, so the memories of Hitler’s fascist regime were still on people’s minds. Also, the Cold War had just started and Soviet Russia and the Communists had become a new enemy.

"World War II." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 04 Sept. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II>.

"Cold War." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 04 Sept. 2011 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War>.

1984 7

“There was another crash. Someone had picked up the paperweight from the table and smashed is to pieces on the hearthstone.  The fragments of coral, a tiny crinkle of pink like a sugar rosebud from a cake, rolled across the mat. How small thought Winston, how small it was.” (183-184)

  

          Winston had bought this small paperweight at the antique store, a while back. Orwell wrote that he found it beautiful because of “the air it seemed to possess of belonging to an age quite different from the present one.” When it is destroyed, it represents the power of the Party over the past. Like many other things and memories from the past, the Party destroys the paperweight. This small piece of coral also could represent the human heart and soul. It is so fragile, but protected by the person to whom it belongs. But somehow the party has found a way to break that protective barrier and basically remove ones heart and soul, just like they broke the glass around the frail piece of coral. 

Photo cred:   "Dive Cairns Great Barrier Reef Australia Coral Seven Natural Wonder Marine Park."Dive Great Barrier Reef Diving Australia Tours Trips Travel North Queensland. Web. 06 Sept. 2011  

1984 6

‘It was a church at one time. St. Clements Dane, its name was.’ He smiled apologetically as though saying something slightly ridiculous and added: ‘Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St. Clement’s.’...      ‘That was a rhyme we had when I was a little boy. How it goes on I don’t remember, but I do know it ended up, here comes a candle to light you to bed, here comes a chopper to chop off your head’.” (83)

           Here, Orwell foreshadows a very importance scene later in the book. In this scene, Winston and Julia are gazing out of the window when a voice suddenly comes out of this picture of St. Clements. It is the thought police. It turns out that there had been a telescreen behind the picture the whole time. Right before the thought police seize Winston and Julia, the voice in the telescreen says, “Here comes a candle to light you to bed, here comes a chopper to chop off your head!”

1984 5

“...but the room had awakened in him a sort of nostalgia, a sort of ancestral memory. It seemed to him that he knew exactly what it felt like to sit in a room like this, an armchair beside an open fire with your feet in the fender and kettle on the hob, utterly alone, utterly secure, with nobody watching you, no voice pursuing you, no sounds except the singing of the kettle and the friendly ticking of the clock.” (82)

           Orwell chose a very interesting hideout for Winston and Julia. He had them rent a small, old-fashioned, shabby room positioned over an old antique shop. By placing Winston in this room, which is a fairly familiar and comfortable setting for the reader, Orwell emphasizes how The Party has separated Winston from real life. He appreciates this old bug-ridden bed and the smelly furniture so much because of the way The Party makes him live. The proles are closer to real life than the ministry people. The fact that Winston appreciates all of these old comforts also shows how separate he is from the Party, because true believers would never find themselves in a place like this. This is similar to the part in Handmaids Tale when Offred plays scrabble for the first time. She appreciates the whole experience much more than one normally would.

"Fender - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster  Dictionary."Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. Web. 04 Sept. 2011. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fender>.

"Hob - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary." Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. Web. 04 Sept. 2011. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hob>.

Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid's Tale. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1986. Print.

1984 4

“Everything will be dead inside you. Never again will you be capable of love, or friendship, or joy of living, or laughter, or curiosity, or courage, or integrity. You will be hollow. We shall squeeze you empty, and then we shall fill you with ourselves.”  (211)

   

         This brings back Orwell's frequently quoted saying, ‘we are the dead.’ Before Winston was captured, he used this saying as a metaphor to both how the party is taking over and what committing thoughtcrime reduces you to. It is a conscious decision that one makes, knowing you will be caught and killed. This quote brings even more meaning to ‘we are the dead.’ O’Brien is saying the party truly makes people dead, at least inside. They empty people of themselves, which literally makes them ‘the dead.’

1984 3

“Then He suddenly ripped down his shorts.... Parsons used the lavatory, loudly and abundantly. It then turned out that the plug was defective and the cell stank abominably for hours afterwards” (193).

  

          Just like the Party has changed society in Orwell's Oceania, the Party has changed the people trapped inside his Ministry of Love. In previous societies, the Two Minutes Hate would not be accepted; this public display of hatred would never have been tolerated. But the way Parsons shamelessly uses the toilet in Winston’s cell shows how much The Party has affected those who have committed thoughtcrime. This necessary ritual was previously a private thing, out of common courtesy and a desire for privacy. The fact that Parsons has no shame shows what these people have been reduced to: vessels of the Party. 

1984 2

“‘Do you remember,’ he said, ‘the thrush that sang to us that first day, at the edge of the wood?’ ‘He wasn’t singing to us,’ said Julia.  ‘He was singing to please himself. Not even that. He was just singing.’

The birds sang, the proles sang, the Party did not sing” (18).

           Orwell's quote represents the one thing that Winston thinks will bring the downfall of Big Brother and the Party. All societies that have lasted, like the proles and the birds, have one thing in common: a happy understanding of life. So they sing because they are happy, or at least content. The Party is not happy or content. The whole society is based on hatred and oppression, so what reason do they have to sing? Even the songs the children sometimes sing are controlled by the Party. And isn't he base of most societies the pursuit of happiness? This is not the case for the Party, whose only goal seems to be complete control. Studies have shown that singing actually has the effect on ones brain that exercising does. It increases the endorphins released into the brain, making one feel happier. 

Layton, Julia. "Discovery Health "Does Singing Make You Happy?""Discovery Health "Health Guides" 2 June 2009. Web. 04 Sept. 2011. <http://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/human-nature/happiness/singing-happy.htm>.

1984 1

“As he looked at the woman in her characteristic attitude, her thick arms reaching up for the line, her powerful marelike buttocks protruded, it struck him for the first time that she was beautiful. It had never before occurred to him that the body of a woman of fifty, blown up to monstrous dimensions by childbearing, then hardened, roughened by work till it was course in the grain like an overripe turnip, could be beautiful” (181).

            

            In Orwell's 1984, this singing woman strikes Winston as beautiful because, unlike him, she has truly lived. She has had a normal life with children and housework and singing and dancing, and she is so content and healthy. This woman has lived the life that people are supposed to live, and Winston might even look up to her. She symbolizes everything that the party is not. She is the old way of living, which is clearly a happier existence because she is still singing, unlike anyone in the Party.

The Handmaid's Tale References

"Angel | Define Angel at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. Web. 05 Sept. 2011. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/angel>.

"Definition of Crowning Glory from Cambridge Dictionary Online: Free English Dictionary and   Thesaurus." Cambridge Dictionary Online: Free English Dictionary and Thesaurus - Cambridge University Press. Web. 04 Sept. 2011. <http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/

crowning-glory>.

"Freedom | Define Freedom at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. Web. 05 Sept. 2011. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/freedom>.

"Guardian | Define Guardian at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. Web. 05 Sept. 2011. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/guardian>.            

Harvard University. Web. 05 Sept. 2011. <http://www.harvard.edu/>.

"Idiom: Waste Not, Want Not." Using English. Web. 05 Sept. 2011. <http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/waste+not,+want+not.html>.

"Illegitimi Non Carborundum." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web.  05 Sept. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegitimi_non_carborundum>.

"Martha | Define Martha at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. Web. 05 Sept. 2011. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/martha>.

"Red." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 04 Sept. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Red>.

"The Scarlet Letter." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 04 Sept. 2011 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scarlet_Letter>.

The Handmaid's Tale 11

“Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.” (52)

   

         Offred finds this Latin saying scratched inside of a cupboard in her bedroom. She supposed it was put there by the handmaid that had previously lived in the house, and she used is as a kind of prayer throughout the book. It made her feel as though she finally had something real to say. When she asks the commander what it means, he laughs and says it’s a kind of joke that translates into “don’t let the bastards grind you down.” Atwood uses this to symbolize what this whole society is like.  Everything in Offred’s life has to do with religion, but this prayer that she has been saying to herself ends of being a joke. 

"Illegitimi Non Carborundum." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 05 Sept. 2011.             <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegitimi_

            non_carborundum>.

The Handmaid's Tale 10

 "A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere as long as it stays inside the maze." (165)

           Atwood uses this quote to let the reader question the true meaning of freedom. A rat in a maze believes he it free because he is allowed to run in whatever direction he chooses, and this is all the rat has ever known. But he is not free. This rat is still trapped inside of a maze, and still under the complete control of humans. This symbolizes how Gilead works. The people living in Gilead can roam free within its walls, but are constantly being watched by the eyes. And they all know that escaping would be impossible. But future generations will believe this is freedom, because this is what they will have been told all their lives. They have nothing to compare it to. Offred, on the hand, remembers her other life, when she had a job and money and freedom. But even our society’s freedom can be questioned: we have laws to follow, authority figures patrolling town, and consequences for those who disobey. According to dictionary.com, freedom is “the power to determine action without restraint.” I don’t think we have that, even living in “the land of the free.” So maybe it’s impossible to have a working society with complete freedom. We will always be trapped within some kind of maze.

"Freedom | Define Freedom at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and             Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. Web. 05 Sept. 2011.             <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/freedom>.

The Handmaid's Tale 9

“Doctors lived here once, lawyers, university professors. There are no lawyers anymore, and university is closed.” (23)

           Harvard is a place full of intellectual freedom and originality. New ideas are known to begin there, and even the word ‘Harvard’ is well known to represent intelligence. Atwood chose this location for Gilead because of the contrast between the two societies. Gilead bans any kind of intellectual and original thoughts, keeping them at bay with the threat of death or banishment, while Harvard encourages thought like this. 

Harvard University. Web. 05 Sept. 2011. <http://www.harvard.edu/>.

Photo cred:  Web. 06 Sept. 2011.<http://www.harvardasda.org/Harvard_ASDA/Opportunities/

Opportunities.html>

The Handmaid's Tale 8

“I look at the one red smile. The red of the smile is the same as the red of the tulips in Serena Joy’s garden, towards the base of the flowers where they are beginning to heal. The red is the same but there is no connection.” (33)

           

         Offred looks at the red blood on the white cloth over the man’s head and is automatically reminded of the red of tulips as they begin to heal. But she knows there is no connection—this blood represents the opposite of healing. But to this society that Atwood has created, the blood does represent something healing. They believe that hanging these sinners and law-breakers in full view of everyone will somehow do Gilead some good—maybe by frightening people into conformity or giving them something to hate.

The Handmaid's Tale 7

“Was taken, by a guardian, one of those with the red armbands who are in charge of such things.” (59)

“She’s in here usual Martha’s dress…” (9)

“A block past All Flesh, Ofglen pauses.... (30)

           Gilead is a theocratic society, meaning the government contains and is based on religion. Atwood emphasizes this with the names of everything—most having some religious origin. Guardian, Martha, and All Flesh are all somehow religious. This is especially true about the Eyes. They watch over the people at all times, representing the ever-watchfulness of God, and they punish people for wrong doings. Even their symbol, the winged eye, is also a symbol for God.

"Guardian | Define Guardian at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com | Find             the Meanings and             Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. Web. 05             Sept. 2011.             <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/guardian>.            

"Martha | Define Martha at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com | Find the             Meanings             and             Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. Web. 05             Sept. 2011.             <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/martha>.

"Angel | Define Angel at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com | Find the             Meanings and             Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. Web. 05             Sept. 2011.             <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/angel>.

The Handmaid's Tale 6

“I avoid looking down at my body, not so much because it’s shameful or immodest but because I don’t want to see it. I don’t want to look at something that determines me so completely.” (63)

           

         Women’s bodies used to be thought of as beautiful. They were something to show off, admire, and desire; but a body was only a small piece of what made a woman herself. There was the mind and the personality. In this society, atwood has turned the body into something very different. It is merely a machine, a baby-making machine, and this is all woman (especially the handmaid’s) are for. Offred clearly hates what her body has been turned into and doesn’t lay her eyes on it because she knows it should not be all that defines her.  

The Handmaid's Tale 5

“We play two games.... I hold the glossy counters with their smooth edges, finger the letters. The feeling is voluptuous. This is freedom, an eyeblink of it.”  (139)

            The imagery and sensual language that Atwood uses here shows what this means to her. It seems like sex has, in a way, been replaced by this banned intellectual freedom. Offred is taking the details in this way and soaking up the wondrous feeling of scrabble because this game represents what this society is missing most: intellectual freedom and thought.

The Handmaid's Tale 4

“Aunt Elizabeth kneels, with an outspread towel to catch the baby, here’s the crowning, the glory, the head...”  (126)

            Atwood uses the words “crowning” and “glory” in two ways here. “The crowning glory” is a common phrase used to describe something that one is very proud of. This makes complete sense, because having a child is the one thing a Handmaid can be proud of.  “Crowning” also is a stage of birth, when the top of the baby’s head first appears. This definition also works because a woman has just given birth.

"Definition of Crowning Glory from Cambridge Dictionary Online: Free English Dictionary                 and Thesaurus." Cambridge Dictionary Online: Free English Dictionary and Thesaurus - Cambridge University Press. Web. 04 Sept. 2011. <http://dictionary.cambridge.org/ dictionary/british/crowning-glory>.

The Handmaid's Tale 3

“This is the kind of touch they like: folk art, archaic, made by women, in their spare time, from things that have no further use. A return to traditional values. Waste not want not. I am not being wasted. Why do I want?”  (7)

Offred begins her thoughts with the phrase, waste not want not, a common idiom meaning the less one wastes, the less one will find themself in need or want of something. Then Atwood applies this phrase to Offred herself when she asks, “I am not being wasted. Why do I want?” Atwood might make this attribution because the Handmaids are considered no more than objects and this idiom is usually used to refer to objects, rather than people.

"Idiom: Waste Not, Want Not." Using English. Web. 05 Sept. 2011.             <http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/waste+not,+want+not.html>.

The Handmaid's Tale 2

“A chair, a table, a lamp. Above, on the white ceiling, a relief ornament in the shape of a wreath, and in the center of it’s blank space, plastered over, like the place in a face where the eye has been taken out.”  (7)

Notice the stark way Atwood describes Offred's room. She uses adjectives like “white” and “blank,” but mostly keeps them to a minimum. This language could symbolize the emptiness Offred feels in her life and the absence of anything intellectually stimulating.  

The Handmaid's Tale 1

“Everything except the wings around my face is red: the color of blood, which defines us.... The white wings too prescribed issue; they are to keep us from seeing, but also from being seen.”  (8)

            When Offred says “the color of blood, which defines us,” Atwood is referring to the fact that a Handmaid’s life and job revolves around their reproductive systems. But as in the red “A” in The Scarlet Letter, the red color of the Handmaid’s clothing also represents and symbolizes adultery and shame. And in a way, they are committing some kind of adultery; they have sex with another woman’s husband once a month. In contrast with the rest of their clothing, the white of the wings that the Handmaids wear around their faces could represent purity—with the purpose of making the adultery appear less sinful.

"Red." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 04 Sept. 2011.             <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red>.

"The Scarlet Letter." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 04 Sept. 2011.             <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scarlet_Letter>.