1984 Rhetorical Analysis

1984, written by George Orwell in 1949, is a dystopian novel written from the point of view of a common citizen named Winston Smith. 1984 is a year where there is a totalitarian government, ruling by the name of “Big Brother,” in the country of Oceania. Winston begins the story by writing his thoughts into a diary, which is banned by the Party, knowing that he will eventually become found out and put to death. The novel covers his story, along with his experiences with Big Brother. Overall; however, the novel produces a highly foreboding tone of hopelessness, shown through literary devices such as: irony, paradoxes, and the tone. The first example of the literary devices used is irony. The definition of irony is the use of words that mean the opposite of the literal meaning, or what the words actually say. There are three forms of irony: verbal, situational and dramatic. Situational irony is when the characters think one thing is going to happen, but then the opposite happens. Dramatic irony is when the audience knows something, but the characters do not. Verbal irony is when the character says …show more content…
First, an example of verbal irony is in the Party’s own slogan, “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength” (Orwell 2). This slogan shows how contradictory the Party itself is. An example of dramatic irony is the constant war going on between the three countries: Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia. The quote “It is a warfare of limited aims between combatants who are unable to destroy one another, have no material cause for fighting, and are not divided by any genuine ideological difference,” shows that the only reason the countries are fighting is to keep the ruling party, Big Brother, in power; hence the slogan: “War is Peace” (189). Finally, an example of situational irony is Julia’s intimate affairs when she goes on her Junior Anti-Sex League trips. This is how irony is used throughout the