Frederick Warburg wrote that Orwell allows his reader no flickering candlelight of hope. How far do you agree with this view? 'Nineteen Eighty Four' George Orwell

Essay by ewar999 November 2006

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George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four is a dystopia following the life of Winston Smith, a rebel, and the world in which he lives. Orwell does not give his reader much hope for the future, although there is a small amount.

There is a source of hope in this novel through the 'proles' because Proles and animals are free. Therefore they are beneath suspicion and in the perfect place to revolt. Winston recognises this and writes in his diary if there is hope, it lies in the proles. Orwell is saying here that amongst all of this hopelessness lies a small shred of hope, the 'proles'. Throughout the book the figure of a 'prole' woman is used by Orwell to show us that there is some hope, Winston sees her as beautiful not because of how she looks but because of what she represents, freedom. He also gives us, the readers, a sense of hope for Winston and the future through this 'prole' woman she embodies the hope of revolution but without realisation this can never happen.

The second main source of hope lies with the Brotherhood, an underground movement which opposes the Party, led by Goldstein. Goldstein first appears on page 13 as the Enemy of the People who, after being condemned to death... mysteriously escaped and disappeared. He commanded a vast shadowy army...dedicated to the overthrow of the State called The Brotherhood. Goldstein and his army are a great source of hope for both Winston and us throughout the novel. However, when Winston is incarcerated in the Ministry of Truth our hopes of a secret movement working for the overthrow of Big Brother and his regime are dashed. O'Brien reveals, 'I wrote it. That is to say, I collaborated in writing it. No book is produced individually, as you...