Write an essay, at least 800+ words in length, including an introduction, a conclusion, and two body
paragraphs, about one of the topics below:
Recurring images and symbols are prevalent in Orwell’s novel, and he is certainly consistent in working
and reworking them as the story progresses. Why do the symbols/images that Orwell develops always
point to the past? Is the past a kind of glimmer of a utopia for Winston, for whom reality is a living
nightmare? Choose TWO
dominant symbols or images in the book (ie: the mother figure, the Golden Country, the paper weight, the
proles, etc.) and show how they are handled by the author in the development of the novel’s theme (look
carefully at the context in which these symbols occur!). In considering a secondary source, when working
on this question, please have a look at “Nineteen Eighty-Four and the Literary Imagination”. He examines
the role of sentimentality about the past in Orwell’s book (as well as talking about how his setting is similar
to post WWII reality in England, which is what I concentrated on in class).
Sample Solution