How can I relate this Shakespeare quote to the book 1984 by George Orwell?

Question

Okay, I am in AP English and we recently read the book 1984 by George Orwell. For an assignment, we had to relate the following Shakespeare quote to the book:

This story shall the good man teach his son / And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by / From this day to the ending of the world / But we in it shall be remembered / We few, we happy few, we band of brothers / For he today that sheds his blood with me / shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile / This day shall be his gentle condition.

I am not good with Shakespeare, so it might as well be written in Greek. Can anyone relate this quote to the book?

Answer 1

I think the first line is key. "This story shall a good man teach his son."
1984 was written by Orwell in 1947, and he wanted to call it 1948, as a warning about the communists in Russia. His friends (or maybe publisher) convinced him to switch the digits to 1984. In any case, the book is meant as a warning against totalitarianism. So if a good man teaches his son, it acts as a warning.
Or, another take more in keeping with the whole Shakespeare quote is the idea of remembering the past, since in 1984 they were always changing the past by changing the official story of who they were at war with.

By the way, that is my favorite Shakespeare quote, from Henry V. The Kenneth Branagh version is excellent. I watch it every year on St. Crispins day.

Answer 2

Orwell's '1984' was indeed a 'cautionary tale' in that he was experimenting with the idea of total and unchecked power, or totalitarianism. When his book was written, it was in the context of the frightening events of the Bolshevik uprisings in Russia leading to Totalitarian-Communism (as opposed to Pure Communism, which is more or less just theory) and also the growth of Communism in Aisa and Africa. The Shakespeare quote can refer to two things - first, it appears to be a warning from one to another - a warning that the past must not be forgotten, and the past (or history) is best kept in a book, so there is a record of the past. The second, and possibly more interesting take is more complex. In '1984', when Winston Smith decides to join the resistance, and is shown Goldstein's book, we learn that there is (or at least, to Winston) SOME hope for the world - through Goldstein's resistance of Big Brother, there is salvation - that book will save him - it reveals the evil truths about Big Brother that fuels his desire to work against him. Sadly, the book is as 'real' as Winston's dreams of freedom.

I would say that both examples relate quite directly to the quote, so you may want to mention both.

Answer 3

Are you sure? One can relate anything to anything if you try hard enough, but this quotation doesn't seem to have much relevance to me. Oh, perhaps the band of brothers stuff contrasts to Smith's isolation, but it's a long shot. It sounds as if your teacher has lost the plot to me.