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1984 Study Guide

This document provides a summary of the novel 1984 by George Orwell. It includes a list of the key characters - Winston Smith, Julia, and O'Brien - and notes they parallel or contrast each other in developing the plot and themes. Settings in the novel depict a dirty and crowded city, representing the state of the dystopian society. Themes explored include totalitarian government control, rebellion, and restricting individualism.

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210 views2 pages

1984 Study Guide

This document provides a summary of the novel 1984 by George Orwell. It includes a list of the key characters - Winston Smith, Julia, and O'Brien - and notes they parallel or contrast each other in developing the plot and themes. Settings in the novel depict a dirty and crowded city, representing the state of the dystopian society. Themes explored include totalitarian government control, rebellion, and restricting individualism.

Uploaded by

angela
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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AP Literature 1

1984 by George Orwell


Novel summary:

Key character list: with a solid analysis of each of the characters. Include specifics about their persona, how the parallel
with, or contrast other characters and how Dostoevsky uses them as tools to develop his plot and themes.

Winston Smith :

Julia  –

O’Brien-

Big Brother 

Settings: Where Raskolnkov lives indicates the social and fiscal circumstances. But the city itself - St. Petersburg is
represented in Dostoevsky’s novel is dirty and crowded. Drunks are sprawled on the street in broad daylight,
consumptive women beat their children and beg for money, and everyone is crowded into tiny, noisy apartments. The
clutter and chaos of St. Petersburg is a twofold symbol. It represents the state of society, with all of its inequalities,
prejudices, and deficits. But it also represents Raskolnikov’s delirious, agitated state as he spirals through the novel
toward the point of his confession and redemption. He can escape neither the city nor his warped mind. From the very
beginning, the narrator describes the heat and “the odor” coming off the city, the crowds, and the disorder, and says
they “all contributed to irritate the young man’s already excited nerves.” Indeed, it is only when Raskolnikov is forcefully
removed from the city to a prison in a small town in Siberia that he is able to regain compassion and balance.

Themes:
-Religion/redemption: Raskolnikov’s journey from committing murder to actual redemption; several instances of biblical
references especially poignant with Sonia. Sonia finds strength and is the ultimate force that enables Raskolnikov to
confess and it is their love that redeems and gives Raskolnikov peace.
-Nihilism vs
-The power of punishment: often physical punishment is not a necessity, one’s own mental and psychological experience
is enough to punish oneself.
-Subjects and different responses to poverty and the necessity of an outlet for one’s suffering
a. Dounia- attempts to save herself with a marriage, but is saved through
b. Sonia- prostitutes herself/’religious maniac’
c. Raskonokov- murders but overcome but his innate goodwill and his demeanor/actions will give him
away as Porfiry says
d. Svidrogailov- murderer ( he and Raskonov are similar ) but Svidrogailov is more sneaky and has become
cold hearted
e. Razhumizin- he overcame his poverty and is jolly and resourceful
- The power of choice: each character chooses their own path to destiny and comes out differently from similar
situations.

Key quotes:

- "I did not bow down to you, I bowed down to all the suffering of humanity," he said wildly and walked away to the
window.
-"There are three ways before her," he thought, "the canal, the madhouse, or... at last to sink into depravity which
obscures the mind and turns the heart to stone."
AP Literature 2
-“ The old woman was only an illness.... I was in a hurry to overstep.... I didn't kill a human being, but a principle! I killed
the principle, but I didn't overstep, I stopped on this side.... I was only capable of killing. And it seems I wasn't even
capable of that...Principle? Why was that fool Razumihin abusing the socialists? They are industrious, commercial
people; 'the happiness of all' is their case. No, life is only given to me once and I shall never have it again; I don't want to
wait for 'the happiness of all.' I want to live myself, or else better not live at all. I simply couldn't pass by my mother
starving, keeping my trouble in my pocket while I waited for the 'happiness of all.' I am putting my little brick into the
happiness of all and so my heart is at peace. Ha-ha! Why have you let me slip? I only live once, I too want.... “
- Ordinary men have to live in submission, have no right to transgress the law, because, don't you see, they are ordinary.
But extraordinary men have a right to commit any crime and to transgress the law in any way, just because they are
extraordinary.

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