'1984' & "Americanah" Comparative quotes

SHARED THEMES

- Identity

- Classism

- Alienation vs connection

- (Control of) Language

- Power dynamics (social hierarchy)

- Social criticism

CONTRASTING THEMES

- Dystopia vs Realism

- Individual vs systemic oppression

- Tone

- Structure

1984 motifs

- Doublethink

- The glass paperweight

- Urban decay

- Telescreens (surveillance)

Americanah motifs

- Hair

Americanah: "the smell of burning, of something organic dying which should not have died."

IDENTITY

- Fear of authenticity: hair motif → identity (migrant Nigerian identity)

- Olfactory Imagery: "smell of burning" → by making the experience tangible to readers, Adichie convey the feeling of self-destruction and unnaturalness

- "Burning": to eradicate → the death of her old identity to conform into a false one, meant to please others → false authenticity + racism

- Anthropomorphism: "something organic dying which should not have died"

- Mimicking a white woman's straight hair to be considered 'equal' in the workforce - societal pressure

- Post-colonial attitude + criticism

- Historical prejudice from slavery; second-class citizens to the Western white woman

- Nigerian vs American English; alienation

Additional:

- Confirmation bias --> her job gets taken by a white man - socio-racial stratification

1984: "You were abolished, annihilated: vaporized was the usual word."

CONTROL

- Tricolon/lexical set: underscoring the horrors and harsh reality of rebelling against BB's regime

- "Vaporized" - hyperbolic/metaphor of violence

- "Usual word": diction --> reflecting that murder is normal in their society, perverting the balance of nature vs nurture. It's meant to unnerve the Outer Party, thereby strengthening Orwell's purpose of warning against a totalitarian regime

- Conformity to survive; frustration and fear of death manifesting in physical ailment (metaphor)

- The fear of surveillance: motif of telescreens; dissension of rebellion

Americanah: "Obinze had always been struck by how important it was to her to be a wholesomely agreeable person, to have no sharp angles sticking out."

IDENTITY

- Imagery + Metaphor: "No sharp angles sticking out" --> her conformity to social settings and norms of being well liked, as opposed to authenticity and expression.

- Kosi as a wealthy, high-class woman → conforming to Nigerian society because of the clear hierarchical order

- Individuality is not encouraged → survival

- Kosi "represents" Obinze -> Obinze is unhappy in his marriage, yet he fakes his contentment when around others

- Falsification of authenticity to save face

Additional:

--> Aunty Uju referencing: "Ass-licking economy"

- Theme of conformity

1984: "His life, his death, and his resurrection"

IDENTITY

- Tricolon/hypozeuxis: representative of the cyclical nature of life perverted; the nature of rebellion in 1984

- Used to convey themes of sacrifice, renewal, or transcendence

- Metaphorical "death": connotes the death of individuality + succumbing to the status quo.

Americanah: "..., he felt a hollow space between himself and the person he was supposed to be."

IDENTITY

- Metaphor: "hollow space" --> highlight the emotional numbness/emptiness Obinze feels between his current self and their idealised, socially acceptable self.

- Further reinforces the fact that he does not love his wife, Kosi

- Suggests alienation and unfulfilled potential.

- Juxtaposition: "himself...supposed to be." --> a reflection of idealism vs reality

- Emphasizes Obinze's emotional conflict and the dissatisfaction he feels in life, despite being wealthy, married, and a father

- Suggests how it was all a form of distraction for his discontentment in life.

1984: "Your worst enemy, he reflected, was your nervous system."

OPPRESSION

- Idiom: "Your worst enemy" -->

- Paradox + Anthropomorphism/Personification: "enemy...your nervous system." --> describes the nervous system as an adversary, giving it agency.

- Underlines the internal struggle between himself (Winston) and his own body; reflection of his want for rebellion and the fear of BB.

- The nervous system is designed to protect you via fight or flight -- subverted so you cannot trust yourself

- Forces them to rely only on the word of BB

- Shows how internal conflict can be just as dangerous as external one

- Theme of surveillance and reality control

Americanah: "We live in an ass-licking economy. The biggest problem in this country is not corruption.... I'm lucky to be licking the right ass."

OPPRESSION

- Colloquialism → "ass licking"

- Imagery → recurrent theme of the exchange of sexual relationships as a means of maintaining class and/or earning money

- Satire: blatant conspicuousness of corruption in their culture; the economy is based on flattery and societal manipulation, all in benefit for the socioeconomic and political elites

- Social and cultural commentary on the corruption of Nigerian elite culture

1984: "The Party was the eternal guardian of the weak, a dedicated sect doing evil that good might come."

CONTROL

- Oxymoron: "doing evil that good might come." --> emphasises the Party's antagonistic actions and their warped philosophy on control

- Highlights their hypocrisy, ethical and moral corruption, underscoring their manipulation of language, truth, and logic to justify their oppressive actions.

- Irony: "eternal guardian of the weak" --> they are the source of oppression.

- Exposes their deceit and the absurdity of their propaganda.

WP: Orwell critiques the way authoritarian regimes often cloak their oppression in their language of "benevolence".

RR: Invokes audiences to question authority and recognize how the elites can abuse their power and connections for their benefit.

Americanah: "The only reason you say that race was not an issue is because you wish it was not. We all wish it was not."

CONTROL (Truth)

- Anadiplosis + Irony of idealism vs reality; thematic juxtaposition: "wish it was not." --> critique of those who dismiss or minimize racial issues.

- Dichotomy: Underscores opposing ideas; how racism "doesn't" exist through ignorance

- Denial of racial realities; ignorance of race perpetuates systemic racism

- By highlighting the gap between the wish for race not to be an issue and the reality that it is, Adichie underscores the need for educated honesty and awareness in discussions about race.

1984: "The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command."

CONTROL

- Paradox: "reject...your eyes and ears."--> inherently paradoxical as Orwell defies the nature of human intuition and survival instincts. The Party denies reality and forces the Outer Party to do the same-- to believe their truth instead of the objective reality.

- Emphasises the omnipresent nature of the Inner Party's control over truth and reality perception (telescreens, the 4 ministries, thought police, the news)

- Emphatic language: "their final, most essential command." --> conveys their absolute, non-negotiable philosophy of power

- Diction: "final" + "essential" --> leaves no room for dissent or the thought of it, essentially entrapping and enslaving Oceania under BB.

- WP: Danger of denying objective truth and the consequences of living in a society built on lies.

Americanah: "The language of the internet is American. The language of the world is American."

CONTROL (Language)

- Epistrophe: "America" --> draw attention to the rising dominance of Western hegemony in other cultures globally

- Underscores the pervasive influence of the American language (A. English vs N. English) and culture --> arguably correlating with its colonial history

- Adichie highlights the issue of cultural displacement and loss, emphasising how American norms have become the default, thereby overshadowing others.

1984: "Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end, we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it."

CONTROL (Language)

- Hypophora: Orwell communicates the importance of language on thought, and by having the Inner Party dictate their actions and words, the Outer Party and the proles are made vulnerable and reduced.

- Conformity through collectivism is established

Americanah: "The problem with America is that it doesn't know its own history."

CONTROL (History)

- Hypostatisation: "it doesn't know" + metaphor

--> By metaphorically addressing all the Americans by their country, she criticises the government's restriction of knowledge, education, and history towards its citizens.

- Meant to portray the government as the "good guys"

--> irony: due to its colonial becoming

1984: "Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past."

CONTROL (History + Truth)

- Anadiplosis: "controls the past" --> creates a cyclical structure/effect, reinforcing the interconnectedness of the past, present, future

- Rhythmic nature --> creates a hypnotic quality, which reflects the Party's control over Oceania (involuntarily follow the status quo in fear of torture and death)

- Orwell usues this to emphasise the Party's philosophy of power, providing the cyclical nature of history repeating itself and mirroring their control over the Outer Party and the proles.

- Suggests that control is an endless cycle of eradication and fabrication.

Context:

- O'Brien tells Winston that the past has no concrete existence and that it is real only in the minds of human beings. He argues that because the Party's version of the past is what people believe, that past, though it has no basis in real events, has become the truth.