Works Cited

 "Big Brother is Watching You." Web. 30 Aug 2010. <http://thechinadesk.files.wordpress.com/2007/09          /bigbrother.jpg>.

 "Biography: Joseph Stalin." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 25 Aug 2010.
      <http://www.pbs.org/redfiles /bios/all_bio_joseph_stalin.htm>.

"Charlemagne." Wikipedia.Web.
     <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagne>.

Gotta Love Security. Web. 25 Aug 2010.
      <http://parranormal.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/security_big1.jpg>. 

  "Julius Caesar." Wikipedia. Web.
       <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar#Assassination>

"Oranges and Lemons." Wikipedia. Web.
      <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oranges_and_Lemons>.

 Orwell, George. 1984. Secker and Warburg, 1949. Print.

"Paddington Station." Wikipedia, Web.
          <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Paddington_station>.

"Rene Descartes." Catholic Encyclopedia. Web.
            <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen /04744b.htm>.

"Rene Descartes." Wikipedia. Web.
      <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Descartes>.

"Snakes and Ladders." Wikipedia. Web.
       <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakes_and_ladders>.

"Stalin Victory." Web. 25 Aug 2010.
    <http://www.kommunisten-online.de/historie/stalin_victory.jpg>. 

"...the tiddlywinks climbed hopefully up the ladder and then came slithering down the snakes again, almost back to the starting point." (296)

             This allusion to the game Snakes and Ladders is a metaphor for the lives of the citizens in 1984. In Snakes and Ladders (or Chutes and Ladders,) the player often finds their game pieces slithering back to the bottom of the board. Every time a citizen of Oceania attempts to tear down Big Brother and The Party through thoughtcrime, they are either vaporized or brainwashed. They are sent back down to the bottom of the proverbial ladder.
           The artwork on the Milton Bradley edition of the board shows children doing a good deed to achieve a reward at the top of the ladder. The theme of that particular board  is morality, which The Party definitely tries to ingrain into society. This could be a coincidence, or it could be just another reason why Orwell chose this particular game to reference.

Source: "Snakes and Ladders." Wikipedia. Web. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakes_and_ladders>.

"I think I exist," he said wearily. "I am conscious of my own identity." (259)

         This quotation is a subtle allusion to Rene Descartes's famous quote "I think, therefore I am." Descartes was the first philosopher to try to defeat skepticism and arrive at a set of fundamental principles that no one can doubt. He felt that the senses were limited, and that what was in one's mind was what mattered the most. Orwell picked this quotation because Descartes was the opposite of Big Brother and The Party. Rather than history being fluid and malleable, Descartes wanted fundamental, stable truths. Descartes was in strong support of human thought and emotion, much unlike Big Brother and The Party. Orwell made this reference to suggest that thought and stable truths are important.




Sources: "Rene Descartes." Catholic Encyclopedia. Web.
            <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen /04744b.htm>.

   "Rene Descartes." Wikipedia. Web.
      <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Descartes>.

"The fragent 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 always was!" (223)

      The Thought Police breaking the coral paperweight is symbolic of Julia and Winston's romance being smashed to pieces when they are arrested. The color of the coral, pink, symbolizes compassion, trust, and love- things that The Party is against. These traits were strongly present in Julia and Winston's relationship as well. Winston is just now realizing how small the paperweight is. This symbolizes the fact that he is just now realizing how small and fleeting their relationship was. Like a sugar rosebud on a cake, their relationship was sweet, small, and temporary.

"If you can feel that staying human is worth while, even when it can't have any result whatever, you've beaten them." (166)

      In this passage, Winston points out that the key to beating The Party and Big Brother is to feel that staying human- meaning thinking for oneself- is worthwhile. The word "feel" is emphasized to point out that having feelings is the most important part. This is because the only feelings that The Party and Big Brother want one to have are hate, fear, and love for Big Brother. Orwell is saying here that in society, expressing one's emotions and "staying human" is the answer to preventing a society like the one in 1984. 

"Perhaps it was only when people were somewhere near the starvation level that they had anything to sing about." (142)

           This reference to the prole woman singing outside is Orwell's way of saying that one does not need money or power to be happy. The fact that the proles seem more content than the Party members shows that Orwell supports the everyday person, and a simpler way of life. It also shows, however, that ignorance truly is strength. The proles have no idea whatsoever that they are being brainwashed and controlled by The Party. The ones who are smart enough to even attempt  know better are vaporized. This could be Orwell's subtle longing for a more simple way of life- perhaps he feels that he himself would be happier if he was oblivious to all the corruption in the world.

"...Go to Paddington Station---" (115)

            Orwell uses this allusion to Paddington Station in London because it was the original site of the Metropolitan Railway, the world's first underground railway. The fact that Paddington Station still stands in a world where Big Brother and The Party control everything shows that even when facts are covered up and changed, history can never fully be erased. The fact that it was an underground railway suggests a further connection- "underground" implies secret and possibly dangerous, much like Julia and Winston's affair.


Source: "Paddington Station." Wikipedia, Web.
          <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Paddington_station>.