Characterization Practice – Part 2, Chapter 8 from “1984”

In the novel, “1984” by George Orwell, several examples of characterization are shown. Characterization is the way that we see a character based on their personality and is able to reveal something about the person and communicate that to the reader. There are two types of characterization. One is direct and the other is indirect. Direct characterization tells the reader or audience exactly what the character is feeling and their personality based on what they say, think, their effects on others, their actions and their looks, like how their dressed and their facial expressions. An example of direct characterization from the novel is, “his solid form towered over the pair of them, and the expression on his face was still indecipherable. He was waiting, somewhat sternly, for Winston to peak, but about what? Even now it was quite conceivable that he was simply a busy man wondering irritably why he had been interrupted” (Orwell 182). This quote tells us that O’Brien is getting quite impatient and is irritated that Winston and Julia have interrupted him. The author is doing that by communicating with us directly and using what O’Brien is thinking and his actions to describe the way he feels and his personality in this particular chapter. Indirect characterization doesn’t describe a character in a straightforward way, but we as the readers, are shown something about the character and can use inferring to determine what they are feeling. There are many ways to incorporate indirect characterization into a story and here is a great example from “1984,” “at the far end of the room O’Brien was sitting at a table under a green-shaded lamp, with a mass of papers on either side of him. He had not bothered to look up when the servant showed Julia and Winston in” (Orwell 180). This quote doesn’t tell us exactly what O’Brien is thinking when the couple walk in, but we can infer that he is very busy and preoccupied with what is going on at his desk and barely notices them, or perhaps he is somewhat annoyed. We can interpret this and many other examples of indirect characterization in plenty of different ways because the author is not stating exactly how and when or what the character is feeling, so there’s really know right or one answer. Characterization gives a character life and is necessary to give any character a meaning or purpose in a story, book, TV series, movie or any other form of media. It tells us so much about a character whether this is done directly or indirectly.

Propaganda in 1984

Propaganda is almost like a form of false advertising. It’s making someone believe something else and change their opinions, using careful and thoughtful techniques. Propaganda appears throughout the novel, “1984” in several ways. It’s used through Big Brother and the idea that he is watching you, tele-screens, two minutes of hate, the incorrect slogans, these are just some of the many examples that are shown throughout the book. A big propaganda technique that is used is fear. The society that these people live in is scary and people are constantly afraid of saying the wrong thing or doing something that the government and Big Brother would not approve of. Therefore, they will believe these posters and follow the rules because they are scared of what will happen to them if they don’t. Another technique that is used is bandwagon. In this society, pretty much everyone is the same. You might not have the same views or ideas as everyone else, but you’re going to participate and do the same things as them because everyone is doing it and you want to jump on the bandwagon. Lastly, I would say that the cause-and-effect mismatch is used. When reading the slogans in “1984,” they say things like “war is peace” and “freedom is slavery” which is obviously not true. But they’re making you believe these things through switching up their choice of words and how they put it. So, they’re only talking about the actual words and not everything else that happens in between, for example, the millions of lives that are lost to war every year.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zqhyb9q/articles/zhw3jhv