A Rhetorical Reading of George Orwell's 1984 : The brainwashing of Winston in the light of ethos, logos and pathos

Sammanfattning:

The aim with this essay is to cast a light upon the brainwashing carried out by the totalitarian Party in George Orwell’s dystopian novel, 1984, and induce a deeper understanding of its persuasive effect on Winston Smith, the main character. Winston passionately hates the Party and its leader Big Brother who govern the country Oceania in which he lives. However, after having undergone brainwashing that also includes torture, Winston surrenders to the ideology of the Party and at the end of the novel his hatred towards Big Brother has turned to love. In order to understand Winton’s conversion I carry out a close reading of the novel and apply the three rhetorical means of persuasion, ethos, logos and pathos, to the novel and demonstrate when and how these appeals are used on Winston. Against this rhetorical background the analysis shows that the Party’s usage of rhetorical appeals can explain why the brainwashing works successfully in its persuasive aim. This result also demonstrates that these three appeals play a prominent role over a course of several years in the Party’s indoctrination of Winston. Additionally, the presence of rhetoric proves that there is more than Winston being tortured to his conversion. Thus, Winston is not only tortured into repeating the principles of the party, he is also persuaded into actually believing in them and loving Big Brother by the Party’s strategic appeals to ethos, logos and pathos.