The Struggle in Nineteen Eighty-four (1984)
In a world controlled by a higher power, constantly living in fear of
doing or saying something wrong, thoughts can be incriminating. Even worse,
any unpure thoughts may make you disappear. Constantly being watched, and
observed without knowing. A telescreen watching every facial expression and
recording any abnormal body language and movement everywhere you go. Even in
your home there is no escape. You are unable to get away or turn off the
power of the Telescreen and "Big Brother". This novel is of a man's struggle
against a totalitarian government that controls the ideas and thoughts of
its citizens.
In the novel 1984 by George Orwell the government used advanced mind reading
techniques to discover the thoughts of the people and punish those who show
signs of rebellion against the government. The novel is supposed to be a
prophetic story, however, it was somewhat wrong in predicting the date when
this government would rein. Although some themes described in the book are
now realities, some are not going to happen for some time to come and this
is why this novel continues to be overwhelming to us today.
Perhaps Orwell's purpose for writing 1984 was to express his feelings of
how the governments would come to control everything and anything they
wished to do. It is also possible that he wanted to tell of how mind control
and torture techniques could be used to make an individual or an entire
nation do what the government wanted. This story shows the danger of a world
in which the government has too much control. The novel shows how the
government controls its people, eliminating their individuality and the
essence of everything that makes a human a human.
"And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed-if all records
told the same tale-then the lie passed into history and became truth. 'Who
controls the past' ran the Party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls
the present controls the past.'" (Page 37)
Though this society is efficient, it means little since the people cannot
enjoy freedom and therefore have no rights. This quote emphasizes how if you
don't recall anything about the past you will be easily controlled by the
government and you will no longer have any concrete evidence.
In this novel, Orwell used the image of a man who stood in a shadow that
covered his face. This was to make him anonymous and unrecognizable. This
figure was called "Big Brother", and was placed on posters everywhere with
the saying "BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU." This was used to let the people
know that no matter where they go, they could not escape the watching eyes
of the controlling government. "If the Party could thrust its hand into the
past and say this or that even, it never happened-that, surely, was more
terrifying than mere torture and death." (Page 37)
The government itself was very mysterious and had several parts that were
very suspicious to the main character, Winston, who worked in one part of
the government. It was divided into four parts. The ministry of Truth, where
Winston worked, where he was in charge of education and the arts. The
ministry of peace, which was in command of war. The ministry of plenty,
which was controlled by economic affairs and finally the ministry of love,
which concerned itself with law and order.
Orwell also uses detailed description of technology to show how the
government controlled its ' citizens. "Thoughtcrime does not entail death:
Thoughtcrime is death." (Page 30) He constantly refers to telescreens that
are in all areas even in homes. They were placed there by the government in
order to see what is being said and discussed by the citizens. He also tells
of an occurrence that happens everyday called, "The Two Minutes of hate."
This event happens everyday at a specified time in which people assembled in
front of a large telescreen where pictures of terrible events in their
history
would be shown with the face of a man who is their equivalent to Adolph
Hitler. The mans name was Emmanuel Goldstein and was considered an enemy of
the people. The assembled people go through several different reactions,
some boo him, and others scream and become violent.
George Orwell accomplished his goal of telling how he viewed the world of
the future. He used excellent description of places, events, and people. He
used the perspective of several individuals through Winston's interaction
with them, and their discussions. He also used his imagination extremely
well to describe the technology that is used to control the people of the
world. Even today we are manufacturing devices that Orwell described like
the telescreens. He also used comparisons of the real world to the world of
his story. The image of Emmanual Goldstein was an excellent likeness to
Hitler and Orwell did an excellent job of making this novel realistic at a
relaxed pace. It is in this way that we can better understand what the
author was trying to say and the ideas that he wanted to convey throughout
the novel.
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