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Themes in 1984 george orwell
Themes in 1984 george orwell
Freedom and security 1984 george orwell
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Throughout the book 1984, by George Orwell, society was constantly being monitored and limited in their freedom. Orwell wrote this book to depict the most absolute and powerful totalitarian government. It showed people of his time how this could all be a possibility in the near future and the risks of accepting this form of control. He was able to create an extreme portrayal of the extent rulers would go to, to obtain total power over everyone. In the book, the government had set up a world of lies and deception, which people had to believe or else their life was at risk. However, there was Winston Smith, a unique man in this newly organized world that suppressed individualism. As the book progressed, the structure and plot of the story unveiled Orwells worry with the challenges Winston faced as he struggled to find the truth about the society he lived in. Book One uncovered how the government attempted to restrict any kind of expression to gain absolute control, but there are still strains of people who were unwilling to be subordinate to it’s power, such as Winston. Im the first few chapters, Winston, an seemingly ordinary worker in the Records Department took his first step of rebellion by writing in a diary. Just this simple act of writing your thoughts into a book could be dangerous, because it would generate individual thoughts. It was very true too as seen in this quote “ His pen had slid voluptuously over the smooth paper, printing in large neat capitals- DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER ” Unknowingly, he had written this down, and this was a thoughtcrime of high caliber. Even if he had tried to stop himself, his inner thoughts couldn’t help but want to defy the government. The party had destroyed all records of the past and altered... ... middle of paper ... ...ge turning point, because once he screamed to have the torture be done to Julia, that completely severed the bond they had created. In the end Winston said that he loved Big Brother, thus proving that even love couldn’t withstand the power of hate and fear. George Orwell saw this society as a real possibility and portrayed the risks of letting it take control. The government would limit society in everything ranging from what they could own, to what they could even say. Their physical power had been achieved through force already, but there was still those few people who would develop their own thoughts. This is why they wanted control of the mind, because this would stop rebellious ideas from forming and new ideas to flourish. It seemed as if Love actually could be the force that would topple down their infrastructure, but the mind was too weak.
The theme of how pointless resistance is against powerful established totalitarian governments like Ingsoc is brought out most clearly through the use of the three literary elements of diction, point of view, and symbolism. Everything from the glass paperweight to the very words Winston speaks spells the letters of inevitable defeat. A thoroughly converted Winston Smith appears at the end of the novel, joining in the cheers and shouts of those celebrating the most recent military victory headed by Big Brother. Grimly realistic, and a literary warning to the political world during the mid-20th century, George Orwell uses 1984 to paint a clear picture of the unequivocal omnipotence a totalitarian government may wield if nothing is done to stop it immediately.
In the dystopian text, 1984, by George Orwell the reader is exposed to an environment where the government or ‘party’ exerts complete control over the public. They maintain this power through the use of technology and depriving the public of any privacy or personal opinions. Throughout the novel we experience different character’s views and uses of technology; O’Brien’s use of technology to establish control, Charington use of technology to prevent rebellion against the party and Winston and Julia’s avoidance of technology to try to establish their own lives, away from the control of the government.
In 1984 many government issues take place, for instance propaganda, secret police, brainwashing, and a wide manner of other devices to oppress their populations. The idea is to illustrate the dangers of totalitarian government whether it be Communist, Fascist, or otherwise. Totalitarianism is an imposing form of government which the political authority exercises control over all aspects of life such as their sex life, and health in general. “If you can feel that staying human is worth while, even when it can't have any result whatever, you've beaten them” (George Orwell, 1984). Also psychological manipulation and mind control are a big controversy in 1984. Psychological manipulation is a social influence that moves towards the behavior of others through deceptive, or even abusive tactics. “And so it was with every class of recorded fact, great or small. Everything faded away into a shadow-world in which, finally, even the date of the year had become uncertain” (book 1, chapter 4). The author, Orwell wants the readers to think that the government monitors and controls everything that the humans do, and that basically everything that people do are against the law.
George Orwell’s dystopian novel, 1984, set in Airstrip One, originally named Great Britain, is a fictional story that describes a time where England is overruled by English Socialism. The story’s point of view is through the main character, Winston Smith, who is an intelligent member of the middle class. The audience is walked through the later stages of his life, where his intellectual thought is most prominent. Throughout the book, Winston goes through everyday life, as well as visits many places that are described in great detail. Every place he goes has varying effects on him and other individuals surrounding him.
The mind reading of this society is one of the biggest aspect as it made you feel unsafe at any given time. A society like this could rise as more virtual equipment is being developed, and could be the beginning of technology that could read your mind in the nearing future. This would affect the role of the government and laws as they being in your mind could make you believe whatever they wanted like “2+2=5.” The government could also achieve this method by not exactly reading your thoughts but by brainwashing, you like in North Korea where they see there leader as a god and everything he does is perfect, like a big brother type figure. This way they don’t know your exact thoughts but they make you believe in what they want you to believe in assuring them your thoughts are with them due to the consequences if you deny them. The whole mind reading described by Orwell could be obtained by many methods and some countries might have already achieved without the technological advancement.
Although, with the realization that Winston was dead in the eyes of the thought police. A relationship built on sexual impulses, love, and rebellious actions and thoughts against Big Brother was like waving a red flag above their hands for the thought police. Despite this fact, their relationship continues for a few months and it wasn’t until they gained entry into the brotherhood with the help of O 'Brien , did the thought police finally captured them. By installing the relationship between Julia and Winston, George Orwell is presenting how totalitarianism and manipulation works hand in hand. Totalitarianism because they understand they will be punished for their thoughts and actions, and manipulation due to the fact that even though the thought police could not see them they getting caught
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...
By enforcing these simple laws and regulations, the government is able to keep a tight grip on its people, with few ever releasing themselves from its grasp. Winston Smith, on the other hand, seeks to know the truth behind the government, he is constantly questioning everything and repressing all the ideas forced upon him. Winston “seeks truth and sanity, his only resources being the long denied and repressed processes of selfhood” (Feder 398). All identity is gone in this place called Oceania, and for the sake of Big Brother and its continuous control of the people, it will never exist again. In 1984, the absence of identity strips the people of all creativity and diversity, as well as takes away any chance the society has to advance as a people or in the area of technology.
In the novel, 1984, the government of Oceana goes to extreme measures to keep control of their people. Almost every public and private place in Oceana has a telescreen, or a large TV that displays government propaganda. These telescreens have cameras that spy on the private lives of citizens in Oceana. If someone acts suspicious, they appear to vanish overnight. I chose this topic because it’s a recurring topic in the book and can be related to our society.
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.
In the 2nd part of 1984 Winston is meets a girl named Julia. At first Winston believes Julia will turn him in for committing Thought Crime. Then Julia passes Winston a note and they meet each other. The Party also does not allow association that is not goverernd. This is the start of an affair between the two, because they are not married and free love is not allowed. Winston is rebelling fully by his association with Julia. The 2nd section Winston fully rebels, he joins an underground resistance, and he believes that his life is better because The Party is no longer controlling him. At the end of this section Winston learns that he has been set-up and followed by the Thought Police the whole time. He and Julia believed that they were resisting and rebelling but had actually been entrapped by the Thought Police.
...ia, for the safety of his own. Winston soon becomes freed as the Party got the better of him. He has completely surrendered his own thoughts and ideals to the Party. When he meets Julia again, they both lost their ability to love again. They have no private lives to share just as the shattered paperweight. They are both faithful to the Party’s ideals and its control over reality.
Orwell shows the reader that a bond so strong as love can be broken when a human feels their survival is threatened. After being badly tortured in the Ministry of Love, Julia and Winston finally meet again. However this time the two are not in love, instead they dislike each other. Julia tells Winston that she realized she cares more about her own survival than her love for someone else,
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.