A Study Of Conceptual Metaphors In Nineteen Eighty-Four

George Orwell is a distinctive novelist and a far sighted political prophet.Nineteen Eighty-Four is the most famous of all his works.This novel,written in 1948 describes the things happening in the near future,36 years after Orwell's time.Orwell,with his unique political views,vividly depicts a hypothetical totalitarian society that is suffocating and horrifying so as to warn possible dictatorial rule.According to the author's literature research,previous scholars have conducted a lot of meticulous researches on this novel,and have achieved fruitful research results.However,the previous researches mainly focus on the literary genre,the theme of the novel and its influence on other authors.Few scholars have studied it from the perspective of cognitive linguistics.In Nineteen Eighty-Four,Orwell uses some conceptual metaphors to make the novel more vivid and realistic.With the help of conceptual metaphor theory,its classification and working mechanism proposed by Lakoff and Johnson(1980),this paper is intended to analyze the conceptual metaphors in Nineteen Eighty-Four and tries to answer the following two questions.(1)Which kinds of conceptual metaphors are used in this novel?(2)What role do those conceptual metaphors play in expressing the theme?The research results mainly include the following two aspects.First,we find that there are some prominent conceptual metaphors in Nineteen Eight-Four.A total of 18 conceptual metaphors are listed in this paper.It includes 3orientational metaphors,6 ontological metaphors and 9 structural metaphors.Among the 18 conceptual metaphors,the typical metaphors are “up-down” and “central-peripheral”orientational metaphors,ontological metaphors which metaphorize “human”,“Party”,“telescreen” as containers and structural metaphors related to language,behavior,color and human.Second,the use of conceptual metaphors play a vital role in expressing the theme of Nineteen Eighty-Four.The use of conceptual metaphors can make the central thought of literary works more vivid and the analysis of metaphors can help people to understand the author's intentions better,lessening the distance between the writer and readers.We knowthat Oceania is a hierarchical society and the ruler has absolute authority.This is completely in line with the social characteristics of totalitarian societies.The most reflective of totalitarianism is the container metaphor.Container metaphors in this novel metaphorize people's memory and mind into containers,and those in power can make random changes to them and impose whatever they want on them.The novel also personifies the Party,making the party's control of the people more detailed and precise.In the structural metaphors used in the novel,language is a weapon that rulers use to control people's thoughts.And normal physiological activity is seen by the protagonist as rebellion against the Party.Orwell even uses strikingly colors and interesting animals,plants to vividly reflect the darkness and terror of Oceania.The research results of this thesis play a positive role in further understanding 1984 and even the style of the works of George Orwell.The study of conceptual metaphors in 1984 once again proves that conceptual metaphor is a basic way of thinking and plays an important role in literary creation.