Juxtaposition In 1984

Words: 805
Pages: 4

From knowing to breathe and blink to desiring human contact, human instinct is one part of life that everyone can relate to. However, under totalitarian governments, human instinct is limited. These controlling governments limit freedoms and prevents aspects of human instinct from being successfully completed. Due to the extent of harsh control these governments tend to exhibit, these instinctual quirks are prevented. In George Orwell’s 1984, the depiction of a cold scene in the stereotypically lovely month of April symbolizes that oppressive governments exhibit an overarching and harsh control over society; by freezing natural processes, totalitarian regimes limit human instinct.
George Orwell uses dirty diction and passive kinetic imagery
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Orwell uses temperate juxtaposition to establish how the natural world and its functions are frozen. Orwell depicts the scene as a “bright cold day in April”. The contrast between the words bright and cold demonstrates how in totalitarian governments, the government can control all aspects of life. By making a day in April broth bright and cold simply by living under a totalitarian government, The weather symbolizes the harsh and strict nature of the government; the government can do whatever it wants because it is so oppressive. The ability to speak out is limited due to their human instinct being so frozen and numb. The population passively accepts the climatic contradiction, much like how they passively accept the cold and harsh government. Orwell demonstrates how dismal and capricious life under an oppressive government truly is. Orwell further expressive how the government freezes all aspects of life through its unmelting control through the use of intrusive thermal imagery. While depicting what life at home is like, Orwell states that “through the shut window-pane, the world looked cold”. The use of intrusive thermal imagery establishes just how much control the government has over society. Even when safely inside locked doors and windows, the coldness of the world the totalitarian government created is still present. The natural and private aspect of home life is “frozen” and halted in a sense by the government's intrusive