The Workable Trap in Nineteen Eighty—Four Seeing from Mr. Charrington’s Shop—a Heterotopic Space

【Abstract】In 1984， protagonist Winston falls into a trap set by the thoughtpolice and finally be successfully brainwashed. According to Michel Foucaults Heterotopia concept， the seemingly safe place—Mr. Charringtons shop is actually full of uncertainties and connects with the outer space. Then， there is no wonder that Winston is arrested in the shop.

【Key words】Mr. Charringtons shop； Heterotopia； uncertainty； connection

The novel is set in the year 1984 in London in Oceania. Within this state， there is no law and only one rule：absolute obedience in deed and thought. The hero， Winston Smith is employed as a worker to falsify records. Despite overwhelming pressure to confront to the system， Winston secretly reacts against it. Emboldened by love， he and his lover Julia ask OBrien to put them in touch with an opposition force called the Brotherhood. The encouragement they receive from OBrien turns out to be a hoax. They are arrested and separated. Both are broken under interrogation and betray each other. Finally， Winston discovers that he learnt to love Big Brother.

In Nineteen Eighty-Four， Orwell portraits a state where everyone is under the surveillance from pervasive telescreens， which are in working place， streets， canteen， even at home. It seems that people are monitored anytime anywhere. However， Partys surveillance still has one exception， since Party doesnt have interest in proles and the place they live in， in proles living areas， it is supposed to be no telecreens and the police. Mr. Charringtons shop is such a place. It is located in proles area， and supposed to be no danger at all. Besides， the owner of this shop， Mr. Charrington is nice and trustworthy. Winston bought his diary and paperweight here， and rented an upstairs room as he and Julias love nest for a long time. However， they are caught by the thoughtpolice in this place.Why can Winston be exposed in such a safe place？ How does Orwell make it workable？ Michel Foucaults heterotopia concept explains these.

Heterotopia is a concept in human geography elaborated by Michel Foucault to describe places and spaces that function in non-hegemonic conditions. It is a real existence in the world. Mr. Charringtons shop stays away from the Partys control area in this novel and can be seen as a heterotopia place.

Heterotopia has two significant traits， the first one is its uncertainty. As Walter Russell Mead has written， “Utopia is a place where everything is good；dystopia is a place where everything is bad；heterotopia is where things are different.” Heterotopia can be used to describe places that have more layers of meaning or relationships to other places than immediately meet the eye. One can not determine the real situation of the heterotopia. Winston cant 100% make sure Mr. Charringtons shop is safe， although he finally regards it as a safe place out of intuition. He mistakenly uses this shop to realize his dream of making a real utopia place possible. Out of this analysis， his exposure becomes possible.endprint

The second trait of heterotopia is its connection with outer environment. In this novel， the description of Mr. Charringtons shop is to heighten the awareness of the degree to which the contrasting city is grimy and perilous. It is in this way that Mr. Charringtons shop is relational to all other spaces in the book. A typical verification of this trait is the moment when Winston and Julia are caught in Mr. Charringtons shop. Winston “wonder whether after all he and Julia had mistaken the time—had slept the clock round and thought it was twenty-thirty when really it was actually eight-thirty on the following morning”. Unlike the rest of Oceania， this space operates in twelve-hour time because of the antiquity of its clocks. The clock in Mr. Charringtons shop is a subtle connection with outer spaces.

Charringtons shop is also where Winston discovers the symbolic paperweight， that is itself a microcosmic heterotopia. On the one hand， Winston regards it as an object “belonging to an age quite different from the present one”. The paperweight connects with “the present world” because of its difference with the present. On the other hand， the rainwatery surface of the glass paperweight is a distorting lens. So， it indicates that Winstons sense of the past towards this paperweight is incomplete and false. As a microcosmic heterotopia， the paperweights uncertainty is obvious here.

Foucaults heterotopia offers a theoretical support for the trap set by Orwell and make it more workable. With the traits of its uncertainty and connection with outer space， Mr. Charringtons shop is neither a safe place nor an independent holy land. Instead， it is more like a space of alternative control， and cooperates with Partys obvious controlling institutions.

作者簡介：杜敏（1992.9-），女，漢族，山西大同人，碩士研究生在讀，現就讀于天津外國語大學研究生院，英語語言文學專業。endprint