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Summary of criticism of Orwell’s '1984' by Sue Lodoff
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Summary of criticism of Orwell's '1984': ‘Composing Nineteen Eighty-Four: The Art of Nightmare’ by Sue Lonoff - contains key ideas and quotes from critic
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‘Composing Nineteen Eighty-Four: The Art of Nightmare’ by Sue LonoffWhat’s the big idea?
- Lonoff begins by admitting that whilst the novel is (at least now) well-respected and
beloved, it has often been attacked by critics due to supposedly not being well-
written. Indeed, Orwell himself felt that he had “ballsed it up rather.”
- Lonoff argues, though, that the novel succeeds despite, or perhaps because of the
tensions between Orwell’s literary artistry and political intent, and the novel is far
more rigidly structured than many might imagine.
- She then goes on to examine Orwell’s structuring and writing of the novel, looking
back through various drafts to detail the thought processes behind the text.
- Lonoff states that the structure of the novel contrasts the masculine and the
feminine, with Part 2 and its focus on Julia, Winston’s mother and the prole
washerwoman offering a respite from the masculine brutality of its sandwiching
pages.
- She likes Winston’s state at the end of the novel to ‘premature senility’, with the
character essentially growing up and maturing too quickly from an ignorant child to a
burnt out geriatric over the novel.
- Lonoff likens Orwell’s choice of rats as Winston’s Room 101 punishment to the way
that the Party treats humanity like vermin.
- She goes on to talk about how Orwell ‘filters’ the action through the perspective of
Winston, although the third person perspective allows the reader access to parody
and satire and to draw conclusions “that are far beyond the reach of any character.”
- Through redrafting and revisions, Orwell pared his language down to the minimalistic
and impactful prose that is a trademark of the novel.
- Lodoff concludes that, actually, it is a really good book (which is probably why she
spent sixteen pages writing about it).
What are the five (or more) most important quotations?
- “To some readers, it seems not to be a novel at all; it is a fantasy or satire or tract for
the times, a history lecture done up as a prophecy.”
This explores the didactic criticisms of Orwell’s work; he was more interested in
making a political point than in writing a coherent or enjoyable work of literature.
- “The age, [Orwell] felt, did not permit a leisurely pursuit of art; politics had to be
paramount. Increasingly, he wrote to give insight into power, to examine political
corruption. Ideas launched his efforts. He meant to move his audience.”
Here, Lonoff reflects upon Orwell’s shifting priorities, moving away from his more
narrative focussed earlier novels due to feeling that contemporary society was in too
dangerous a place to not be instructed.
- “‘Nightmare situation’ could describe Winston’s daily life; the context – a society
governed by the Party; the real-world threat that drove Orwell to write; and the
totalitarian ethos that he satirizes.”
Lonoff reflects upon the notion that Nineteen Eighty-Four, despite its realism and
clear grounding in the real world, is best understood as a ‘nightmare’.
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