The Importance Of Capitalism In 1984

1984, George Orwell’s dystopian novel written in 1949 details a society, in which nearly

all freedoms, including the freedom of thought have been taken away. The protagonist, Winston

Smith meets Julia, a woman who he forms an extramarital relationship with. Together they

believe they can take down “Big Brother”, a system implemented to control the populace, by

joining a group of Rebels led by a mysterious man known as Emmanuel Goldstein. The entire

plan falls through when O’Brien, the same man who “helped” Winston and Julia enter the

organization, turns out to be a member of the “Thought Police” and works to capture the two.

The novel ends, when after unknown days of physical and psychological torture, Winston is

brainwashed

However, in truth, the proletariat is the group kept in the greatest ignorance. The

members of the outer/inner classes like Winston are often the ones guilty of “thought crime” or

thinking against the government. The proletariat is allowed to engage in the societal evils banned

by the inner and outer parties such as drinking in pubs. In setting the novel up like this, Orwell

exposes both the bad sides to Capitalism and Communism. Much like he noted when describing

WWII, Orwell is “supporting the better of two evils”. The capitalist proletariat is much better off

working for the Outer/Inner Parties as the proletariat at least has more freedom to live out

individual life.

Orwell conveyed his purposes very effectively in demonstrating both the evils that exist

in a socialist economic system and a capitalist economic system. Even more so than socialism,

the biggest evil Orwell is trying to exemplify is that of the totalitarian dictatorship. “Big

Much like the historical

dictators/totalitarian governments at the time, the system in 1984 can make the people believe

whatever the leader wants them to. The only presuppositions that the author has are noted in the

development of the characters, as the reader is supposed to assume that the majority of people

are content with the system of his argument. Orwell truly prevents any contradictions that could

be made towards his work by pointing out the evils of both sides of his argument. Orwell

maintains a stable argument all throughout 1984 and addresses all his points through the medium

of a fictitious novel

The uniqueness of the fairly horrifying story of 1984 is what truly gives it long lasting

appeal and timeless messages. Historically and ideologically speaking, it differs certainly with

pro-socialism literature at the time but coincides with pro-capitalist literature. The story, not the

messages are what make this an unusual piece of literature. The good points of this book