1984, by George Orwell

1629 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Dystopian society george orwell

The dictionary defines doublethink as the acceptance of two conflicting ideas to be true. It is interesting to note that the word, doublethink, was coined in 1949 by author, George Orwell, and is still used today. It is one the central elements of his dystopian novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, which is filled with a myriad of doublethink situations and slogans used by the oppressive government. The concepts of betrayal and doublethink go hand in hand when trying to analyzing the Party in the Orwell’s novel. Loyalty to the government is established by getting people to betray everyone else in their lives. This contradiction is echoes back the ideas of doublethink. The government of Oceania seeks out to create an atmosphere that breeds betrayal amongst its citizens to establish loyalty to one thing: the Party. By instilling unwavering loyalty in the population the Party gains power, the only thing they truly wish to attain. This reflects the Party’s philosophy that true power is only be established by having complete power over the people. Thus, the people are conditioned by government by means of brainwashing and torture to betray anyone as long as it is in the name of Big Brother. This destroys any private loyalties a person may have to any individual or group. One can see this concept in the novel when Parsons is ultimately ratted out to the Thought Police by his own daughter, who has been trained, like the rest of the children in the society, to betray her own parents for the Party. Winston Smith finds himself selling out the one person he never thought he could: Julia. After being tortured in the Ministry of Love he trades his loyalties with Julia for Big Brother. Finally one can examine deception in the dramatic scene of the skull... ... middle of paper ... ...ir own families. One can even go as far as saying that no one in the novel has anyone they can call a friend. On top of that, any relationships that are developed are violently severed. In this hostile social climate people are quick to sell each other out and to trust only the Party. Loyalty to anything, but Big Brother, is illegal and is remedied by means of brainwashing and torture. In the world of George Orwell’s dystopian novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, loyalty is only built upon betrayal. It can be seen in the cases of the Parsons, Winston and Julia, and the skull-faced and chinless man. One cannot be an ideal citizen of the Oceania without betraying others. It has become a part of everyday life for almost all Party members and is perpetuated by the authorities of the state. To them it is just another doublethink philosophy designed to dominate the population.

Show More
Related

  • George Orwell's 1984

    892 Words  | 2 Pages

    Thinking back into history, many important events have occurred in history since the publication of 1984 by George Orwell in 1949. In no specific order there would be the Holocaust, The creation of the United Nations, NATO (North Atlantic treaty Organization), and even The Iron Curtain being established. After 1984 was published huge events also occurred in history. There was the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Korean war, the Vietnam War, the creation of the Berlin Wall, and the destruction of the Berlin wall, Joseph Stalin dies, and Khrushchev gains power....etc, etc. No matter when a book is published the events in history will always surround it, such as this book.

    Read More

  • 1984, by George Orwell and Gattaca, by Andrew Niccol

    987 Words  | 2 Pages

    Nineteen Eighty-Four written by George Orwell and Gattaca directed by Andrew Niccol are prophetic social commentaries which explore the broad social wrong of a totalitarian government. Both texts depict a futuristic, dystopian society in which individuality is destroyed in favour of faceless conformity. Niccol and Orwell through the experiences of their protagonists reflect the impact isolation from society has on individuals. The authors of both texts also use their protagonists Winston, who cannot understand the rhetoric of the government party and Vincent, who is trapped, unable to achieve his dreams because of his imperfect genome, to demonstrate individual rebellion against society and explore the significant social injustices of a totalitarian state.

    Read More

  • Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

    1080 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by author Ray Bradbury we are taken into a place of the future where books have become outlawed, technology is at its prime, life is fast, and human interaction is scarce. The novel is seen through the eyes of middle aged man Guy Montag. A firefighter, Ray Bradbury portrays the common firefighter as a personal who creates the fire rather than extinguishing them in order to accomplish the complete annihilation of books. Throughout the book we get to understand that Montag is a fire hungry man that takes pleasure in the destruction of books. It’s not until interacting with three individuals that open Montag’s eyes helping him realize the errors of his ways. Leading Montag to change his opinion about books, and more over to a new direction in life with a mission to preserve and bring back the life once sought out in books. These three individual characters Clarisse McClellan, Faber, and Granger transformed Montag through the methods of questioning, revealing, and teaching.

    Read More

  • Rebellion In The Novel 1984

    1213 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the novel 1984, written by George Orwell, there is a place called Oceania where the government is Big Brother. The government, the Party, and the Thought Police are constantly oppressing the citizens of Oceania. Most of the people don't know that they are being oppressed, but the two main characters, Julia and Winston, realize the oppression and don't stand for it. Winston and Julia absolutely hate the Party, and are constant breaking its “rules”. Julia is self-centered and resists the Party by doing rebellious acts that only affect her in a positive way. Similarly, Winston also does small acts of rebellion in the beginning of the book in ways that only relate to him. Later, Winston rebels for a greater cause, joining the Brotherhood to

    Read More

  • 1984 a Novel by George Orwell

    720 Words  | 2 Pages

    The novel 1984, by George Orwell, made me paranoid. It made me suspicious of our government's power and intentions. I became aware of the potential manipulation which the government could impose upon us. I came to see that the people I believe to be wholly dedicated to the well-being of society, the people I rely so heavily on to provide protection and security have the power to betray us at any given time. I realised that in my naivety I had gravely overlooked the powerful grip government has over society, and what it can do with that power.

    Read More

  • 1984 By George Orwell

    1084 Words  | 3 Pages

    Things to know: 1984 was a book written about life under a totalitarian regime from an average citizen’s point of view. This book envisions the theme of an all knowing government with strong control over its citizens. This book tells the story of Winston Smith, a worker of the Ministry of Truth, who is in charge of editing the truth to fit the government’s policies and claims. It shows the future of a government bleeding with brute force and propaganda. This story begins and ends in the continent of Oceania one of the three supercontinents of the world. Oceania has three classes the Inner Party, the Outer Party and the lowest of all, the Proles (proletarian). Oceania’s government is the Party or Ingsoc (English Socialism

    Read More

  • George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four 1984

    490 Words  | 1 Pages

    it has operatives all over keeping an eye out for cops or law enforcement, this

    Read More

  • Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

    970 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, irony is used to convey information and it contributes to the overall theme of the novel. Written during the era of McCarthyism, Fahrenheit 451 is about a society where books are illegal. This society believes that being intellectual is bad and that a lot of things that are easily accessible today should be censored. The overall message of the book is that censorship is not beneficial to society, and that it could cause great harm to one’s intelligence and social abilities. An analysis of irony in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury shows that this literary technique is effective in contributing to the overall theme of the novel because it gives more than one perspective on how censorship can negatively affect a society.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Maslow's Hierarchy Of Needs In 1984 By George Orwell

    770 Words  | 2 Pages

    The dynamic of a typical Oceanian family is seen in the Parson’s children, who display no affection towards their parents. The children participate in activities condoning the mentality of the Party, such as watching the public executions of Thought Criminals and dressing up as spies, which, according to Winston is “not altogether a game” (24-25), which is seen when Parsons daughter eventually turns him in as a Thought Criminal. Instead of being a connection that nurtured family relationships, children born into the party have no learned loyalties to their parents, but instead have devotion to the Party. Orwell states that the purpose of a family ‘system’ “had become in effect an extension of the Thought Police” (136). In Big Brothers mission to eliminate all sense of love from the mentality of the Party members, the family is no longer a source of interpersonal love, but instead its purpose is to further enhance the Party’s

    Read More

  • Totalitarian Society In Society

    1023 Words  | 3 Pages

    “The first thing you must realize is that power is collective. The individual only has power in so far as he ceases to be an individual. You know the Party slogan: "Freedom is Slavery". Has it ever occurred to you that it is reversible? Slavery is freedom. Alone—free—the human being is always defeated. It must be so, because every human being is doomed to die, which is the greatest of all failures. But if he can make complete, utter submission, if he can escape from his identity, if he can merge himself in the Party so that he IS the Party, then he is all-powerful and immortal. The second thing for you to realize is that power is power over human beings. Over the body—but, above all, over the mind” (Orwell 273). O’Brien argues that the Party and “Big Brother” had control over reality externally due to the fact that nothing exists outside the mind, and in cases of freethinkers, they would be taken care of by the teachings of “doublethink”. Doublethink is the power to hold two completely contradictory beliefs, for example holding up four fingers and claiming that you have five up, and simultaneously making one accept both of them. So if a society was entirely based off of the idea of doublethink as it’s way of forcing lies and reasons of hate on people, then it could work. But the one counter-argument to that

    Read More

  • 1984 George Orwell Love Analysis

    823 Words  | 2 Pages

    Love is an emotion affecting people's everyday lives. In the book “1984,”, George Orwell introduces his readers to this idea, with a compelling portrayal of this important feeling. In Orwell’s totalitarian society of Oceania, the ruling party attempts to demolish all love for anyone except Big Brother who controls them. The affection that normally exists between individuals, in Oceania, warps to exist between individuals tortured and those torturing them. This is demonstrated by familial bonds and affection between siblings, wives, mothers, fathers and children, changing and creating an opportunity for the government to monitor its citizens. In contrast the interactions between the main character, Winston and his oppressor, O'Brien exhibit true love. Real connections between regular human beings in Oceania are virtually non existent due to actions taken by the government to destroy these bonds.

    Read More

  • Use Of Situational Irony In George Orwell's '1984'

    1057 Words  | 3 Pages

    “They’ve got you too!” Winston reported as he saw O’Brien. “They got me a long time ago.” O’Brien said “with a mild almost regretful irony”. (238) His use of situational irony opens the eyes of readers and reveals just how conniving or deceiving the government can be. When O’Brien, who Winston and the readers see as someone ethical, is revealed to be part of the government, it results to be much more difficult to trust any of the other characters. Orwell also uses verbal irony when the Ministry of Love is brought up. “One did not know what happened inside the Ministry of Love, but it was possible to guess: tortures, drugs, delicate instruments…” (167) When the Ministry of Love captures and imprisons Winston, O’Brien states that the purpose of the Ministry of Love is not to punish those who did crimes but to “cure [them]”. (253) He confesses that the government occupies itself in trying to fix and cleanse their citizens, but one may say that it’s a twisted kind of way for the government to care about their citizens, to maybe even ‘love’

    Read More

  • Winston’s Struggle in 1984

    1726 Words  | 4 Pages

    George Orwell creates a dark, depressing and pessimistic world where the government has full control over the masses in the novel 1984. The protagonist, Winston, is low-level Party member who has grown to resent the society that he lives in. Orwell portrays him as a individual that begins to lose his sanity due to the constrictions of society. There are only two possible outcomes, either he becomes more effectively assimilated or he brings about the change he desires. Winston starts a journey towards his own self-destruction. His first defiant act is the diary where he writes “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER.” But he goes further by having an affair with Julia, another party member, renting a room over Mr. Carrington’s antique shop where Winston conducts this affair with Julia, and by following O’Brien who claims to have connections with the Brotherhood, the anti-Party movement led my Emmanuel Goldstein. Winston and Julia are both eventually arrested by the Thought Police when Mr. Carrington turns out to be a undercover officer. They both eventually betray each other when O’Brien conducts torture upon them at the Ministry of Love. Orwell conveys the limitations of the individual when it comes to doing something monumental like overthrowing the established hierarchy which is seen through the futility of Winston Smith’s actions that end with his failure instead of the end of Big Brother. Winston’s goal of liberating himself turns out to be hopeless when the people he trusted end up betraying him and how he was arbitrarily manipulated. It can be perceived that Winston was in fact concerned more about his own sanity and physical well-being because he gives into Big Brother after he is tortured and becomes content to live in the society he hated so much. Winston witnesses the weakness within the prole community because of their inability to understand the Party’s workings but he himself embodies weakness by sabotaging himself by associating with all the wrong people and by simply falling into the arms of Big Brother. Orwell created a world where there is no use but to assimilate from Winston’s perspective making his struggle utterly hopeless.

    Read More

  • 1984 Dehumanization Analysis

    949 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1984, George Orwell presents an overly controlled society that is run by Big Brother. The protagonist, Winston, attempts to “stay human” in the face of a dehumanizing, totalitarian regime. Big Brother possesses so much control over these people that even the most natural thoughts such as love and sex are considered taboo and are punishable. Big Brother has taken this society and turned each individual against one another. Parents distrust their own offspring, husband and wife turn on one another, and some people turn on their own selves entirely. The people of Oceania become brainwashed by Big Brother. Punishment for any uprising rebellions is punishable harshly.

    Read More

  • Betrayal In George Orwell's 1984

    956 Words  | 2 Pages

    Authors often use their works as a way to express their own opinions and ideologies. However, it is the skill of the author that determines whether these ideas are combined with the plot seamlessly, making a creative transition of ideas from the author’s mind, to the reader’s. There is no doubt that George Orwell is a masterful writer, and one of his most popular works, 1984, clearly expresses his negative views of the Totalitarian government. A common theme in the dystopian society in 1984 is betrayal: The Party is very intolerant towards any form of disloyalty, and anyone who plots against them or Big Brother will eventually either betray their own mind and accept Big Brother as their leader, or be betrayed and revealed to The Party by one of their so-called comrades. Overall, Orwell is using this constant theme of betrayal to show how alone and alienated the protagonist (Winston Smith) is in his quest against Totalitarianism, thus showing how flawed and hopeless the political system is.

    Read More

More about 1984, by George Orwell

Open Document