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Literary Devices
Definition of Alliteration
Alliteration is a figure of speech in which the same sound repeats in a group of words, such as the “b” sound in: “Bob brought the box of bricks to... read full definition
Alliteration is a figure of speech in which the same sound repeats in a group of words, such as the “b” sound in: “Bob brought... read full definition
Alliteration is a figure of speech in which the same sound repeats in a group of words, such as the... read full definition
Book 1, Chapter 3
Explanation and Analysis—Golden Country:
Early in the novel, the narrator describes a dream in which Winston stands in a landscape he calls "the Golden Country." This landscape reappears at multiple points in the novel, both in dreams and the real world. As a motif, the Golden Country represents a world of purity, privacy, and hope, in which nature and life are untouched by Big Brother's totalitarian repression.
The reader first encounters the Golden Country in the third chapter of the first book, which begins with Winston dreaming sorrowfully of his mother. This mournful dream gives way to the Golden Country, bringing a marked shift in tone and mood:
Suddenly he was standing on short springy turf, on a summer evening when the slanting rays of the sun gilded the ground. The landscape that he was looking at recurred so often in his dreams that he was never fully certain whether or not he had seen it in the real world. In his waking thoughts he called it the Golden Country.
In this passage, which shows that the landscape is already familiar to Winston, the gleaming visual imagery combines with alliteration to reproduce Winston's dream state for the reader. In the first sentence, several words begin with a soothing /s/ sound. This soft, lulling sound continues in the rest of the passage, by way of vivid imagery and multiple sets of alliteration:
It was an old, rabbit-bitten pasture, with a foot track wandering across it and a molehill here and there. In the ragged hedge on the opposite side of the field the boughs of the elm trees were swaying very faintly in the breeze, their leaves just stirring in dense masses like women’s hair. Somewhere near at hand, though out of sight, there was a clear, slow-moving stream where dace were swimming in the pools under the willow trees.
These details become important later in the novel, when Winston finds himself in a landscape that closely corresponds with that of his dreams. The real Golden Country is where he and Julia meet for the first time, in the second chapter of the second book:
Winston looked out into the field beyond, and underwent a curious, slow shock of recognition. He knew it by sight. An old, close-bitten pasture, with a footpath wandering across it and a molehill here and there. In the ragged hedge on the opposite side the boughs of the elm trees swayed just perceptibly in the breeze, and their leaves stirred faintly in dense masses like women’s hair.
Winston is taken aback to realize that it is possible for the Golden Country to exist in the real world. The "close-bitten pasture," footpath, molehills, and hairlike elm leaves all correspond with the landscape he knows from his dreams. When Winston is able to access the Golden Country by way of his relationship with Julia, the reader understands that she is trustworthy and that their relationship will be pure and private.
Just as Winston loses access to Julia, he eventually loses access to the real Golden Country. The motif goes unmentioned for a long stretch in the novel, while Winston is tortured in the third book. Eventually, the reappearance of the Golden Country in his dreams brings the final level of torture. Finding himself in the Golden Country one night, with all of its familiar features, he wakes up with a "shock of horror" and screams Julia's name. This makes O'Brien see that Winston retains hope of a pure, private world beyond the reaches of the Party, and he brings Winston to Room 101.
Related Themes:
Book 2, Chapter 2
Explanation and Analysis—Golden Country:
Early in the novel, the narrator describes a dream in which Winston stands in a landscape he calls "the Golden Country." This landscape reappears at multiple points in the novel, both in dreams and the real world. As a motif, the Golden Country represents a world of purity, privacy, and hope, in which nature and life are untouched by Big Brother's totalitarian repression.
The reader first encounters the Golden Country in the third chapter of the first book, which begins with Winston dreaming sorrowfully of his mother. This mournful dream gives way to the Golden Country, bringing a marked shift in tone and mood:
Suddenly he was standing on short springy turf, on a summer evening when the slanting rays of the sun gilded the ground. The landscape that he was looking at recurred so often in his dreams that he was never fully certain whether or not he had seen it in the real world. In his waking thoughts he called it the Golden Country.
In this passage, which shows that the landscape is already familiar to Winston, the gleaming visual imagery combines with alliteration to reproduce Winston's dream state for the reader. In the first sentence, several words begin with a soothing /s/ sound. This soft, lulling sound continues in the rest of the passage, by way of vivid imagery and multiple sets of alliteration:
It was an old, rabbit-bitten pasture, with a foot track wandering across it and a molehill here and there. In the ragged hedge on the opposite side of the field the boughs of the elm trees were swaying very faintly in the breeze, their leaves just stirring in dense masses like women’s hair. Somewhere near at hand, though out of sight, there was a clear, slow-moving stream where dace were swimming in the pools under the willow trees.
These details become important later in the novel, when Winston finds himself in a landscape that closely corresponds with that of his dreams. The real Golden Country is where he and Julia meet for the first time, in the second chapter of the second book:
Winston looked out into the field beyond, and underwent a curious, slow shock of recognition. He knew it by sight. An old, close-bitten pasture, with a footpath wandering across it and a molehill here and there. In the ragged hedge on the opposite side the boughs of the elm trees swayed just perceptibly in the breeze, and their leaves stirred faintly in dense masses like women’s hair.
Winston is taken aback to realize that it is possible for the Golden Country to exist in the real world. The "close-bitten pasture," footpath, molehills, and hairlike elm leaves all correspond with the landscape he knows from his dreams. When Winston is able to access the Golden Country by way of his relationship with Julia, the reader understands that she is trustworthy and that their relationship will be pure and private.
Just as Winston loses access to Julia, he eventually loses access to the real Golden Country. The motif goes unmentioned for a long stretch in the novel, while Winston is tortured in the third book. Eventually, the reappearance of the Golden Country in his dreams brings the final level of torture. Finding himself in the Golden Country one night, with all of its familiar features, he wakes up with a "shock of horror" and screams Julia's name. This makes O'Brien see that Winston retains hope of a pure, private world beyond the reaches of the Party, and he brings Winston to Room 101.
Related Themes:
