Narrative viewpoint and the representation of power in George Orwell’s 'Nineteen Eighty-Four'
Authors
Brigid Rooney
Abstract
This essay considers how ‘perspective’ and ‘choice of language’ in George Orwell’s novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, position the reader and contribute to the text’s representation of power, powerplay and people power. The aims of this essay can be restated in the form of two key questions. What specific features of the narrative in Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four construct the text’s representation of power, and of powerplay? How do those features position the responder to think and feel about political power and about whether there can be people power?
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