CLASS: ENG3()nfr
STUDENT NAME: Zack Van Toor
MODULE:
TEXT CONNECTION: 1984 Icke and Macmillin
t refers to
DECLARED PIECE: Analytical
SELECTION OF FORM: Essay
REFERENCING: MLA8
WORD COUNT: 918
DATE DUE: Friday 9th of March 2018
DATE SUBMITTED: Friday 9th of March 2018
CRITERIA ASSESSED:
The play 1984 by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan an adaption of George Orwells nineteen eighty four is a
dystopian text. The texts presents the reader with an imagined world controlled by an authoritarian government;
which is looked at through the perspective of a protagonist attempting to defy it (Winston). Throughout the text
many dystopian characteristics are shown with the major three being the idea of the four ministries,
propaganda/media and the big brother figure. These three characteristics are used to warn future generations of a
worst case scenario. They also prove that the text is a dystopian genre fiction.
Throughout the text the idea of four ministries is raised. This is done by having a party that consists of four parties -
love, peace, plenty and truth. Each one of these ministries controls a different part of the governing party. The
ministry of love controls law and order. The ministry of peace is the army. The ministry of plenty controls rationing
and the ministry of truth controls propaganda. The most important of these is the ministry of love. This ministry
enforces loyalty and love to the party leader (Big Brother) through brutal means. This includes torture, brainwashing
and room 101 which holds the prisoners worst fear. The ministry of love enforces law through constant surveillance
of the population and punishes people for thought crime. An act of thought crime is committed when a citizen has
an illegal thought. Meaning they hold unspoken beliefs that are against or doubtful of the party. The text follows
Winston (the protagonist) on a rebellious journey where he attempts to bring down the party by writing for the
future. Winston creates a diary that changes the way people think and view the governing party hoping to create a
rebellion in the future. But as said in the text ‘The party is invincible, it will always exist…’ and that is exactly what
happens. The party work with people Winston trusts in order to watch him from the inside. The woman Winston
believes is his true love even betrays him in the end. This shows the power and strength of the party and its
ministries. These ministries are also a dystopian characteristic. This is because they show an imagined authoritarian
government that over controls, surveys and punishes its people. These ministries are also seen through the eyes of a
protagonist attempting to defy them which again shows a dystopian characteristic. As a whole the ministries scare
the reader making them interested and enticed in the play. This is done by confusing ...
