1984 #3 and #4 - The Bells of 1984

It comes up in this part of George Orwell's novel 1984 that the main character, Winston, has "never in real life heard church bells ringing" (99). The main reason that this is true is because under Big Brother there is no religion, therefore there are no churches; However, bells are used here as a symbol. Bells symbolize many things: celebration, awakening, victory. In this case, none of these have occurred in Winston's lifetime. There is no celebration, at least, not for long, and never genuine. It is always in praise of a new lie told by the Party that everyone swallows up and believes. There is no awakening, because "orthodoxy means not thinking - not needing to think. Orthodoxy means unconsciousness"; everyone is lulled into a hypnotic state of living and believing in whatever they are told to believe in and nothing else (53). They can't even try to think of anything different, because that would be thought-crime and punishable. There is also no victory, at least not true victory. The country of Oceania is always at war with someone, and while there are battles won, nothing is ever fully settled. These are reasons why Winston is only able to have "the illusion of actually hearing the bells, the bells of a lost London that still existed somewhere or other, disguised and forgotten" (99). Winston hears these bells in his mind; waking up to the fact that somehow and somewhere there is still hope for a future that is unlike the present. Also in the theme of bells, at the end of book one, the slogans of the Party are described as being "like a leaden knell" (104). They are echoing phrases that are heavy and solemn, not at all like the clear, beautiful sounds of church bells.