Outline

Prescribed question: How has the text borrowed from other texts and with what effects?

Title of the texts for analysis: “The Birthday Party” by Harold Pinter and “Nineteen Eighty-
Four” by George Orwell

Part 3 - Literature: Text and context

Main focus:
The essay discusses how Pinter incorporated many aspects of “Nineteen –Eighty Four” in his
work “The Birthday Party” which include:

 The structural similarities between “The Birthday Party” and “Nineteen Eighty –
Four.”
 How the characters in “The Birthday Party” are similar to those in “Nineteen Eighty-
Four”.
 How the antagonists in both the works try to diminish the intellect of the
protagonists by subjecting them to a series of bizarre questions.
 The thematic similarities between the two texts.
 Specific evidence present in “The Birthday Party” convincing the audience that Pinter
had read “Nineteen Eighty Four” and used it as a source of inspiration for his play.

Bibliography:

Nineteen Eighty-Four, (Orwell, 1948)

https://skemman.is/bitstream/1946/8365/2/Magn%C3%BAs%20Teitsson%20BA-ritger
%C3%B0%20PDF.pdf. Date Accessed: 24 November, 2018

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“Nineteen Eighty- Four” is a futuristic dystopian novel written in 1949 by George Orwell. Set

in the year 1984, it primarily revolves around the protagonist, Winston Smith who rebels

against the authority of the Big Brother and is brutally tortured into breaking down;

eventually resulting in the disintegration of his identity. “The Birthday Party”, an absurdist

play by Harold Pinter and first performed in 1958, borrows from Nineteen Eighty-Four in

terms of thematic, structural, and stylistic features. This essay aims to explore the similarity

in the characteristics of the two texts and its effect on the audience.

The Birthday Party has a lot in common with Nineteen Eighty-four in terms of the way it is

structured by Pinter. Notably, Act 2 of “The Birthday Party” involves a scene where the

protagonist, Stanley is viciously tortured by Goldberg and McCann. They interrogate him by

subjecting him to a series of bizarre questions ranging from a medieval catholic heresy to

why the chicken crossed the road! This resembles the scene in Part 3 of Nineteen Eighty-

Four where O’ Brien is also seen torturing the principal character of the novel, Winston

Smith by hurling a range of questions at him. These questions can be seen as an attempt to

distance both the protagonists from what little sense of identity they seem to have.

Furthermore, both the works also feature the reconstruction of the protagonists by the

authorities. Act 3 of the “Birthday Party”, involves a scene in which Stanley is reconstructed

by Goldberg and McCann, moulding him into a person who can fit into the society. Similarly,

in Part 3 of 1984, there follows another scene in which Winston is reconstructed and

compelled to willingly accept and “love Big Brother”(Orwell 269).

The characters in the play are also borrowed from the novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four”. Stanley

is tormented by two sinister strangers namely Goldberg, a Jew, and McCann, an Irishman. It

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is not a mere coincidence that in Nineteen Eighty-Four, the two most notable authority

figures are similarly tagged. O’ Brien is an Irishman who exposes Winston as an enemy of

Oceania and tortures him both physically and mentally bringing him into conformity with

the ideals of the party. Emmanuel Goldstein, the probably fictional enemy of the state is

also a Jew just like Goldberg in “The Birthday Party”. Moreover, both the protagonists of

the novel are in their late thirties. This clearly, indicates towards the fact that Pinter used

Nineteen Eighty -four as a source of inspiration for his play.

Prominently, Pinter seems to have adopted the logical approach used by Orwell in Nineteen

Eighty-Four. During the interrogation Scene of the play, Goldberg and McCann are seen

asking Stanley questions like “Is the number 846 possible or necessary?” (Pinter 50) and

“How many fingers do you see?” (Orwell 226) This is analogous to the interrogation scene in

Nineteen Eighty- four where O ‘Brien tortures Winston by constantly subjecting him to

questions like “How many fingers, Winston?” (Orwell 226) and “two plus two make five”

(Orwell 73) which are meant to make him question his intellect. Thus, in both the texts, the

incorporation of such questions by the respective authors can be seen as a way of

representing the forceful alienation of the protagonists from their personal thinking,

freedom and their own constructed view of the world.

There is much specific evidence present in the Birthday Party that Pinter had read Nineteen

Eighteen Four and incorporated many aspects of it in his work. For instance, in the Birthday

Party, Goldberg is seen asking Stanley “What makes you think you exist?” (Pinter 52) This is

synonymous to the interrogation scene in Nineteen Eighteen Four where O’Brien says to

Winston, “You do not exist.” (Orwell 235) In addition, the two sinister powers are seen

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accusing Stanley of killing his wife and in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Winston confesses that he

had murdered his wife.

Another major parallel between Pinter’s work and the novel “Nineteen Eighty- Four is

apparent through the similarities in their themes. Both the works are an exemplification of

the relationship between the individual and the authority. Stanley, the protagonist in The

Birthday Party and Winston, the protagonist in Nineteen Eighty-Four epitomize all that is

negative in that relationship. Both the characters are representative of an individual, a non -

conformist whose identity is crippled by the society. Their only crime was to take a

rebellious stance against the authority, in the quest for peace and freedom, which is

ultimately debased by the oppressive forces of the irresistible authority. They are not

allowed to live in peace and forced to conform to the ideals of the society through physical

and mental torture. Thus, both the texts can be seen as a depiction of the vulnerable

condition of any individual facing the oppressive forces of the authority.

In conclusion, The Birthday Party can be seen as an absurdist reworking of the same themes

as “Nineteen Eighteen- four”. Both the texts feature an individual who puts up a futile

resistance by escaping from the conformity of a dominating authority and is eventually

knocked down, shattering his individuality. This individual is essentially the embodiment of

an everyman who experiences a force of brutality in today’s society. Despite the fact, that

the Birthday party is absurd in nature unlike Nineteen Eighty- Four which is essentially

political, it effectively serves to convey the same theme prevalent in Orwell’s work and

creates an emotional effect on the audience. This absurdism actually adds meaning to the

play in the context of Nineteen Eighty-four and allows Pinter to make the play more

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personal and relevant to all the members of the audience. The fact that the true motives

and identity of the authorities in the Birthday Party, Goldberg and McCann are not revealed

and the audience never gets to know what their ”organization” really is, allows them to

relate to Stanley on an emotional level.

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Bibliography

https://skemman.is/bitstream/1946/8365/2/Magn%C3%BAs%20Teitsson%20BA-ritger

%C3%B0%20PDF.pdf. Date Accessed: 24 November, 2018