George Orwell's 1984

lition of human freedom. Many of the examples below come from one scene in the novel, the end of Part Two, Section III, in which Winston and Julia feel some satisfaction in their lives, in their physical relationship, and in their loving protection of each other. It is interesting to note that just at the one point in the novel when the reader might expect these characters to be active and in control, Orwell used language that continually undercuts any sense of Winston or Julia as an agent, a conscious initiator of an action. Central among the linguistic features that undercut agency is passive voice.
             Orwell was keenly aware of the potential that passive voice held for manipulating a hearer/reader: it allows the speaker/writer to hide the agent by neglecting to mention the agentive by-phrase. Orwell's fourth rule for clear writing was Never use the passive where you can use the active (CEJL 4: 139). Yet just two years after writing that rule, Orwell seemed to revise his thinking. In Pol
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George Orwell's 1984. (2000, January 01). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 03:02, October 11, 2026, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/20217.html