Satirical Analysis of 1984 In Nineteen Eighty-four, communism is introduced. During a time when much of the Western world was lauding communism as a step towards human progress in the development of equality in government, Orwell clearly and definitively spoke out against the practice. Most of party members are working class. They are uneducated and unaware of what is happening; thus they are completely under the Party’s control. Therefore, the party then can remove any possibilities of rebellion. Through the novel, Orwell uses satire to warn us about surveillance, physical and psychological intimidation, and isolation. Orwell, through the characters, predicts what our future will be like if the totalitarian society remained in power. …show more content…
Since Winston is an intellectual man, he is able to make out the truth. He dreams about a girl ripping off her clothes. It represents the idea of throwing away the expectations that are brought on by the Party and Big Brother. He writes “down with Big Brother” in his diary. Telescreens and pictures of Big Brother are everywhere. Therefore, it is impossible to not be heard and seen. The Party can check on citizens whenever and wherever, since each individual is documented. There is no freedom of speech in the community of Oceania. An example of this fact is Winston. He is incapable of expressing his personal ideas about the Party. Orwell is clearly worried about our lack of privacy. Orwell predicts that our future will be governed by one ruler and that one ruler will watch every move we make. In the society of Oceania, love, sex, joy, happiness, personal documents, thoughts, etc, are completely forbidden. Winston lives in the world in which optimism is impossible because he is always being controlled by the thought police. Anyone who betrays the Party will be vaporized and their files will be rewritten. They never existed and will never
Diction: While George Orwell used fairly simple and uncomplicated diction to tell the story many of his words still have a very powerful diction. In the first chapter the protagonist Winston is attack by the smell of “boiled cabbage and old rag mats”. This is the first indication to the nature of the living conditions of our protagonist. However, Orwell also uses his diction to create the atmosphere of Oceania with lines like “the world looked cold. Down in the street little eddies of wind were whirling dust and torn paper into spirals, and though the sun was shining and the sky a harsh blue, there seemed to be no colour in anything”. These lines contain powerful words like cold, torn, and harsh and these worlds help paint the picture of what kind of story we are reading.
Returning to his diary, Winston then expresses his emotions against the Party, the Thought Police and Big Brother himself; he questions the unnecessary acts by the Party and continuously asserts rebellion. Winston soon realized he had committed the crime of having an individual thought, “thoughtcrime.” The chapter ends with a knock on Winston’s door. Significant Quotes “From where Winston stood it was just possible to read, picked out on its white face in elegant lettering, the three slogans of the Party: WAR IS PEACE FREEDOM IS SLAVERY IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH” (Orwell 7). “But there was a fraction of a second when their eyes met, and for as long as it took to happen Winston knew— yes, he knew!
He purchased a small journal from a shop and began to write in it out of view of the telescreen in his house, which allows anything in front of it to potentially be seen or heard. At first he had some difficulties as he could only manage to write jumbles of some of his memories, but then he began to write things like “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER (Orwell, page 18).” He later had an encounter with one of his fellow coworkers, O’Brien, which got him thinking that there might be others out in the world who see things the way he does, including O’Brien himself. Winston eventually decides that his diary will become a sort of letter to O’Brien, and to a future or past where things might have been different. In these diary entries he wrote things such as, “To the future or to the past, to a time when thought is free, when men are different from one another and do not live alone—to a time when truth exists and what is done cannot be undone…(Orwell, page 28).” This refers to how citizens think and act the same and previous events are not written as they happened, but altered to Big Brother’s benefit. He also wrote, “Thoughtcrime does not entail death: thoughtcrime IS death (Orwell, page 28).” This can be further explained by Winston’s previous thought, “The consequences of every act are included in the act itself (Orwell, page 28).” Winston
The point Orwell is trying to get across is that this mistreatment of the working class is not tolerable and must be disbanded (121). His solution to the problem is Socialism. He wants to show that a Socialist society can be implemented globally and benefit especially the lower classes. The problem he faces is that Socialism is quickly being phased out of the conversation and being replaced by the likes of Fascism (171). He is convinced that a Socialist movement is inevitable and a “historic necessity” (172). One problem he addresses is the correlation in the minds of the people to Socialism and Communism (175). While Communism is about control over the people, states Socialism is about justice, liberty, and receiving better wages for fewer hours while having no one bossing you around (176). Orwell even goes to the extent of saying that Fascism is a product of Communism (187). The biggest point Orwell attempts to give in my opinion is that there is no way the ideals he seeks (mentioned before as justice, liberty, etc.) cannot be achieved without a Socialist movements he calls “progress” (214). The “progress” he speaks of includes the de-centralization of power in the class system and the progression of machines and other means
When Winston writes down the phrase “down with big brother,” he participates in ThoughtCrime. Committing ThoughtCrime requires having thoughts displaying hate or defiance towards the Party. Participating in ThoughtCrime always leads to death, so if someone had seen Winston’s journal, then he would immediately go to The Ministry of Love, a place of torture, horror, and death. Furthermore, Winston also rebels against the party by becoming lovers with Julia and secretly meeting up with her multiple times. In this society, no two people can love, show affection, or have pleasurable sex without major consequences.
Orwell has real concerns about the way in which society worked, particular when considering hierarchies and the way the powerful manipulate information. As can be seen there is a strong hierarchy system in the novel 1984 with references to poor and wealthy classes, the proles being lower class and the inner party members being higher class. Orwell spent time in boarding school, wasn’t wealthy and saw disparity between people who had and hadn’t, there are many references towards headmaster and control “ When he spoke it was in a schoolmasterish kind of way” (3.5.297). Orwell also used Hitler’s actions as a leader and incorporated them into 1984; this is evident through the propaganda of Big Brother, dictatorship and the way the Inner party was able to manipulate society to change their beliefs. “The German Nazis and the communist came very close to us in their methods…” (3.3.276) Orwell’s values and beliefs about communism and democracy have strongly been developed through his trepidation in power and historical references to Hitler.
Though the problems that Orwell fears do exist and have been present throughout the history of the United States, they are not as likely to ruin us as a society as Huxley’s predictions. In Orwell's negative utopia or dystopia, there is a totalitarian government that controls every aspect of its citizens’ lives including their private life, what they think, and what they believe. In 1984, a political body known as the Party rules the state Oceania. One technique that the Party utilizes to control the people of Oceania is psychological manipulation in which the government uses propaganda and doublethink to send contradictory messages such as...
In 1984, George Orwell explores the many facets of a negative utopia. Orwell seems to focus on the measures that the government takes to maintain a public of plebeians who have no personality or identity and believe that they are not unique individuals, but instead are part of a greater senseless mob of people who constantly work for a hostile and oppressive government which is involved in incessant wars. These people are taught to love. They then learn to fear their government because they believe all of the propaganda that is constantly instilled into their minds. They willing follow their government without contest for the duration of their meaningless lives. The government controls all forms of the media (thus denying the people the basic right of free speech) and use it to personify the government (known as “big brother”) .The government therefore seems omnipotent, or all knowing and always correct. Forecasts are changed from one week to the next always proving the government was correct. As was mentioned before, many of the rights that present day Westerners take for gran...
Orwell shows the Party has taken strict measures in order to maintain the established status quo that suppresses the majority of Oceania. They have shaped and constructed history so that children grow up as servants to the party. Propaganda stating how rich and prosperous Oceania is the news of the day even though real conditions show buildings are dilapidated and resources are sparse.
He aimed to create a “what if” novel, about what would happen if totalitarian regimes, such as the Nazis and Soviets, were to take over the world. If totalitarianism were to happen, the leader would be the brain of the whole system. Orwell emphasizes the theme of individualism versus collective identity through Winston, the protagonist, and his defiance to the Party and Big Brother, with a frightening tone, surreal imagery and a third person limited point of view.
To begin, there are many things that people are afraid of. In some cases, that fear is because of a person. In Orwell’s book called 1984, that happens to be the case amongst the citizens of Oceania. As Orwell states
Nineteen Eighty-Four was written in the past yet seems to show very interesting parallels to some of today’s societies. Orwell explains many issues prominent throughout the book in which his main characters attempt to overcome. He shows how surveillance can easily corrupt those in control and how those in control become corrupt by the amount of power. Those with power control the society and overpower all those below. The novel shows what could potentially happen to our current society if power ends up leading to corruption.
George Orwell’s intent in the novel 1984 is to warn society about the results of a controlling and manipulative government by employing mood, conflict, and imagery.
Even though 1984 was published in 1949 this idea of totalitarianism and government control is still relevant today because people are starting to notice how the government is monitoring and interfering more and more with our everyday lives. In 1984 the party's slogan which everyone is almost brainwashed to believe is "War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength" which to them is normal making anything they say acceptable, even if it is completely incorrect, just like the idea of 2 + 2 = 5. I think with this idea Orwell really makes you think and glad that life isn’t actually like this. In New Zealand life definitely isn't like what it is in the book, at least for me. For example if i wanted to think my own thoughts or write in a diary and not having someone or thing watch my every move I can, but people like Winston can't which this story makes me more grateful for what I can
Totalitarianism is when the government seeks to have control over all facets of human life such as what is seen in North Korea in present times. Orwell is against the idea of totalitarianism as it oppresses the lower classes and is oppressing the individuals for the needs of the state. This totalitarianism is what builds the Soviet Union scheme by lessening the working class and maximizing the “mind workers” power. The “mind workers” are the pig and they represent to core of the Soviet Union and more educated of the animal farm. Orwell first created the idea to criticize all acts of totalitarianism, as he believes in freedom for the working class. Since the working class did not have the power to step up against the revolution this idea worked as a governmental approach for many years and is still adopted in many parts of the world to control the public opinion and keep them