George Orwell’s ominous novel 1984 grasped the world’s attention, and it continues to do so today. The shocking plot of a man succumbing to a totalitarian regime with unlimited government surveillance is not all that far off from today’s society. The FBI-Apple encryption dispute opened up the public to the clash between the government and private companies over data privacy. Edward Snowden’s leaks revealed that all U.S. citizens can be watched by the government without their prior knowledge. 1984’s cautionary tale on the dangers of totalitarianism needs to be understood now more than ever before. 1984’s story takes root in another story, as it bears a strong resemblance to a famous myth: Daedalus and Icarus. The woeful tale is about Daedalus …show more content…
As a result, Icarus falls to his death due to the wings, which become “the cure that proves as deadly as the ailment” for him (Foster 61). The same goes for Winston in 1984 as well. In Room 101 he tells O’Brien that a photograph of some Party members’ false confessionals “exists in memory”, and soon after becomes brainwashed into compliance (Orwell 247). Winston failed to follow the directions of the Party and Big Brother, resulting in him being tortured and brainwashed. His “cure” from totalitarianism, creative thought, is ultimately what contributed to his demise. The recurring theme of repercussions for disobeying authority is displayed in many stories following 1984. One example is Dave Eggers’s 2013 novel The Circle, in which Mae Holland works for a tech company …show more content…
One of the most important symbols is the glass paperweight Winston buys at the junk shop. He describes the paperweight as being “the room he was in, and the coral was Julia’s life and his own, fixed in a sort of eternity at the heart of the crystal” (Orwell 147). This paperweight symbolizes several aspects of Winston’s life, not just any one moment, because generally “a symbol can’t be reduced to standing for only one thing” (Foster 105). The coral inside the paperweight represents the fragility of Winston’s relationship with Julie. Later in the novel, the coral is broken by the Thought Police, just like Winston’s relationship with Julie is broken by O’Brien when he relinquishes his loyalty to Julia in Room 101. The paperweight itself is frozen in time, just like the Mr. Charrington’s room. Winston feels like the room is a place where he can be free from the changes and dangers of the outside world. That ends when the Thought Police break in there and smash the paperweight, effectively destroying Winston’s conception of having a private life in a totalitarian society, both figuratively and literally. In fact, for most of his life, Winston has been under the watch of the government via telescreens. It is a product that signifies how “technological progress only happens when its products can in some way be used for the diminution of human liberty” (Orwell 193). The telescreen symbolizes “the wrongs of those in power”
In Oceania, love is cast aside and adoration for Big Brother is put in its place. Two people, Winston and Julia, developed a love for one another that is distinct from relationships in Oceania. These lovers must meet in secret and pretend that they do not know one another while they are in public. Due to their circumstances, the two experience isolation from the other citizens as a result of their strong emotions. In 1984, the glass paperweight that contains the small coral represents the fragile relationship of Winston and Julia and their forbidden love life.
I thought the first few chapters of 1984 were a bit ridiculous. In what world would a government ever act like that and get away with it? It's just way too extreme. But as I continued reading I realised that the government is doing some of these things already, even if it’s in a subtle way. One major example of this is internet spying. In the past few months there have been several controversies surrounding governments using the internet to spy on business, organizations, individuals and even civilians of their own nations. One recent example of this is the case of Edward Snowden, a former technician for the Natio...
One reason for Winston's rebellion, and eventual downfall, is his knowledge that the party will ultimately capture and punish him. With constant surveillance of Party members, any sign of disloyalty could lead to an arrest; even a tiny facial twitch. As soon as he writes Down with BB' in his diary, Winston is positive that the Thought police will quickly capture him for committing thought crime. With this wisdom, he allows himself to take unnecessary risks, such as trusting O'Brien and renting the room in Mr. charington's shop to host his secret relationship with Julia. Because he has no doubt that he will be caught no matter what he does, he continues to rebel, and brings his own struggle to an end.
Fitzpatrick, Kathleen. "An overview of 1984." Literature Resource Center. Detroit: Gale, 2016. Literature Resource Center. Web. 23 May 2016.
Winston barely remembers his mother as she disappeared in one of the purges when he was young, presumably killed off. Winston has one dream in which his mother and sister are sinking down through water, coming to the conclusion that “they were down there because he was up here” (Orwell, p.38), meaning his mother loved him so much that she died for him. Winston does not necessarily grasp the concept that his mother loved him, but he instinctively feels a connection to her. Even with only the vaguest memories Winston continues to draw strength from those memories of his mum, a sense of a past life and hope for the future. As Winston tastes freedom, his memories become stronger, and so does the mother of his memories; she grows from an unfortunate casualty of Winston’s actions to an independent woman who “possessed a kind of nobility…simply because the standards that she obeyed were private ones” (Orwell 207).
Winston works for 1 of the 4 government agency’s, The Ministry of Truth. In his job he re-writes old news articles so they show that The Party has always been and will be in control. By re-writing everything in print, The Party effectively changes history. The only proof of actual history is in the minds of the people who were there. Winston realizes that there is something wrong with this, yet he doesn’t know what. The re-writing of history is all he has ever known. It is most likely Winston’s job that leads him to rebel against The Party.
Lynch, Sean. " 1984: An Alternative Analysis of the Classic Dystopian Novel. " Understanding the Weakness of the. WordPress.com, 9 Sept. 2012.
The first idea that is consistently shown in this novel that supports theme is torture. In the last part of the book especially torture is used to break Winston down until he is nothing but skin and bone. “They slapped his face, wrung his ears, pulled his hair, made him stand on one leg, refused him leave to urinate, shone glaring lights in his face until his eyes ran with water; but the aim of this was simply to humiliate him and destroy his power of arguing and reasoning.” (Orwell 241) Torture
The novel 1984 is a futuristic portrayal of the world in the year 1984. The main characters Winston and Julia fall in love with each other but are caught and purified of all their wrong doings. In the end they betray each other because of the pressure of the party. The party is a group that controls society in these ways: Manipulation of Reality, Invasion of Privacy, and Desensitization.
When George Orwell’s epic novel 1984 was published in 1949 it opened the public’s imagination to a future world where privacy and freedom had no meaning. The year 1984 has come and gone and we generally believe ourselves to still live in “The Land of the Free;” however, as we now move into the 21st Century changes brought about by recent advances in technology have changed the way we live forever. Although these new developments have seamed to make everyday life more enjoyable, we must be cautious of the dangers that lie behind them for it is very possible that we are in fact living in a world more similar to that of 1984 than we would like to imagine.
he is a man with a tragic flaw. Winston's fatalism, selfishness and isolation ultimately lead him to his
1984, a novel by George Orwell, represents a dystopian society in which the people of Oceania are surveilled by the government almost all the time and have no freedoms. Today, citizens of the United States and other countries are watched in a similar way. Though different technological and personal ways of keeping watch on society than 1984, today’s government is also able to monitor most aspects of the people’s life. 1984 might be a dystopian society, but today’s condition seems to be moving towards that controlling state, where the citizens are surveilled by the government at all times.
Complications arise from this. He thinks the paperweight is safe, but if it mirrors the table, the paperweight likely mirrors Winston in it, which will help the government in tearing him down. For now, Winston is ignorant to that and has hope in the paperweight as it is his protector and he can live in it. Winston talks appreciatively of the paperweight to Julia and says, “it's a little chunk of history that they've forgotten to alter. It's a message from a hundred years ago if one knew how to read it” (128). Winston believes that the paperweight is a sign of hope from the past, that it will aid his rebellion because the Party did not catch it to change it or destroy it. A conflict arises as Winston believes the coral and paperweight will help him. The Party knows the paperweight will not and that they must destroy him. Winston's hope in such a frail object shows he is very ignorant and very dull. The paperweight changes from the past to Winston's life and hope when he thinks, “the paperweight was the room he was in and the coral was Julia's life and his own”
Ultimately, common ideas found in the novel 1984, totalitarianism, surveillance, and lack of privacy are also ubiquitous in modern society and government. Big Brother and modern day government have been able to control its citizens through surveillance equipment, and fear all for a little more power. There is much to learn from such an undesirable form of society much like the one of Oceania in 1984. Examining Big Brother government closely, alarming connections can be made to real-world government actions in the United States and the cruel world within Orwell's book.
At this moment, Winston feels powerless against the seemingly unstoppable Party, knowing that his life is at the mercy of O’Brien. Thus, Winston’s already weak willpower continues to wither away, rendering him more vulnerable to further reformation. The final procedure in completely transforming Winston’s personality occurs in the dreaded Room 101. To achieve his ultimate goal of breaking Winston’s loyalty towards Julia, O’Brien exploits Winston’s deepest fear of rats in a rather gruesome manner.