Question: How does Orwell foreshadow events in this novel?-Mashari
In George Orwell’s novel 1984, Winston Smith is shown as an increasingly rebellious character towards The Party—a totalitarian government that spies on its citizens and prosecutes those who question it. To keep the reader engaged, Orwell foreshadows key events in the story that support the underlying themes of the novel. Orwell’s foreshadowing is prevalent from the beginning to the end of the novel.
Early in the book, Winston is traumatized by the functions of his society—the excitement towards hangings, murder, and the willingness of children to report their parents to the government. His feelings are reflected in his very first diary entry, where he says:
theyll shoot me i dont care theyll shoot me in the back
of the neck i dont care down with big brother they al-
ways shoot you in the back of the neck i dont care down
with big brother—
(Orwell, 19)
In his first diary entry, Winston writes in a panicky matter. Through his entry, the audience sees a struggling member of society, traumatized by his surroundings and fearful of his potential death, yet still ignorant and unable to take action. Orwell then foreshadows Winston’s progression in his second diary entry, where he says:
To the future or to the past, to a time when thought is
free, when men are different from one another and do
not live alone—to a time when truth exists and what is
done cannot be undone:
From the age of uniformity, from the age of solitude,
from the age of Big Brother, from the age of double-
think—greetings!
(Orwell, 28)
Compared to the first diary entry, Winston’s writing has progressed dramatically. His text now follows a structure and contains sound grammar, which leads readers to see Winston as a newly optimistic citizen of an unjust society, and an intellectual; one that is trying to connect with others who have overcome the unjust society in which he lives. Through Winston’s impactful diary entry, Orwell was able to foreshadow his progression from an incapable, struggling individual in society, to a newly capable, intelligent one.
After Winston’s progression and realization of his existence in an unjust, manipulative society, he begins to question the regulations set in place. One of the regulations he questions is the prohibition of sexual relationships with women. He begins to recount his sexual encounter with a prostitute, who reminds him of his old wife Katherine (Orwell, 64). Winston also recounts that with both women, he felt no affection or desire, which demonstrates the effect the law placed on citizens of Oceania (Orwell, 65). Through this encounter, Orwell foreshadowed Winston’s encounter with a woman he loves, who is introduced later in the book.
One day while Winston was at work, he received a letter from a dark haired girl he hated that read: “I love you.” (Orwell, 108) Later, he met the girl that wrote the letter and discovered that her name was Julia (Orwell, 120). Over time, they continued to meet in places free of government surveillance through telescreens and ended up growing love for each other—or so they claimed.
In his novel 1984, George Orwell was successfully able to foreshadow future events in the book. He foreshadowed Winston’s progression and the beginning of his doubt of the government through his diaries, as well as his relationship with Julia through the recount of his sexual encounters with his wife and a prostitute. Orwell constantly foreshadows events in his novel, uncovering major events, while also resembling government control and spying in our current society.
Word count: 591
Works Cited
Orwell, George. 1984. Signet Classics, 2002.
Five Element Mountain 
It’s good, but I feel like you might’ve been able to reference some foreshadowing that occurs later on in the book as well. Just a question to throw out there: would you say Orwell uses foreshadowing in conjunction with flashbacks? And to what end?
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Great question. The flashbacks in the book are definitely used to foreshadow future events. For example, when Winston recalled his loss of his sister and mother, it can be said to foreshadow his meeting with Julia and/or his return to blindly following Big Brother at the very end of the book, after his torture by O’Brien. 🙂
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Do you think you could elaborate a bit on that? I don’t really follow you when you say that his mother foreshadows meeting Julia
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Sure. Winston realizes that he is capable of feeling emotions when he has the flashbacks of his mother and sister drowning. This can be seen to foreshadow his relationship with Julia, because with her his emotions also prevailed when he met her. It can also be seen to juxtapose the end of the book when he returns to Big Brother after his torture from O’Brien.
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I like how you used entries to support your blog great job!
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this is great! good idea using the entries.
i never actually thought about the foreshadowing in the book itself and i didnt really think about his progression that could be seen in his writing.
what do you think was his turning point? what made him begin to question everything? the doubt had to have been planted in his mind from long ago but when do you think he actually acknowledged that doubt?
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Great question. I think the moment Winston realized he lived in a corrupt society is when he encountered his neighbors, the Parsons family. At their place, Winston saw that the children were obsessed with the idea of reporting their parents to the Thought Police, as well as the idea of attending the latest hanging. This, in my opinion, is the specific event among the buildup of events that led to his transition to questioning and doubting his society.
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oh that is a good point, i was thinking about of it as more of a build up (like how he saw the change in society growing up because he could still remember times when it wasnt so corrupt)
i think when nostalgia kicked in he became aware of what actually was happening. why do you think he just gave in the way he did at the end if he believed that his society was corrupt?
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I think he gave in because he realized that there was nothing he could do, despite his trials and his initial motivation. He realized that the society he lives in is so corrupt to the point where it was unfixable.
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Well put together. I like the connections you made to the novel, and how each referred to a different theme; the first theme being oppression in society, and the second being love. My question to you is, why do you think Orwell foreshadows these main events in the novel? In other words, what purpose does it serve to the readers?
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As I said in the blog post, I think the foreshadowing serves to engage the readers by either juxtaposing what will happen next or hinting towards key events. Also, I feel like it clarifies the underlying themes, which would otherwise be harder to discover. That’s all I can think of, do you think foreshadowing serves any other purposes? I’m interested to know. Thanks!
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Yes, I think foreshadowing can also serve add suspense to the plot. In 1984, throughout the whole novel, Winston kept hinting to the idea that he might get caught for his actions. Then towards the end of the novel, while spending time with Julia, the place they are staying suddenly gets raided and they are taken to jail. By Winston mentioning that his actions are not abiding to the law, the reader can associate that he is doing something wrong and will potentially get caught for it. In another example, when he first noticed Julia, he thought she was an agent working for the party coming to get him. By Winston believing that, it also makes the reader believe that, but we later find out that she is not a spy, but rather his lover.
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Now that I think of it, that is true. Foreshadowing definitely adds suspense to the story. Nice
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Yes, I think foreshadowing can also serve add suspense to the plot. In 1984, throughout the whole novel, Winston kept hinting to the idea that he might get caught for his actions. Then towards the end of the novel, while spending time with Julia, the place they are staying suddenly gets raided and they are taken to jail. By Winston mentioning that his actions are not abiding to the law, the reader can associate that he is doing something wrong and will potentially get caught for it. In another example, when he first noticed Julia, he thought she was an agent working for the party coming to get him. By Winston believing that, it also makes the reader believe that, but we later find out that she is not a spy, but rather his lover.
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Great job Masharai overall. Why do you think Orwell is constantly foreshadowing events in this novel and what was the reasoning behind Winston’s dramatic writing changes? Why did Orwell make that change in the second diary?
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I feel like Orwell included the dramatic change in writing to demonstrate Winston’s progression and his realization of the corrupt society he lives in. As I said and Ali mentioned as well, Orwell foreshadows these events to give hints and add suspense to the novel.
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