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Symbols in 1984 by George Orwell
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George Orwell in the novel 1984 brought a sinister view of how life would be like under constant control. The astounding novel 1984 is a satire of Satanism. He deeply regards Oceania’s totalitarian impulse by keeping people in Oceania suppressed. Orwell’s world in Oceania emphasizes total brainwashing over the people of Oceania. They are taught at a young age to obey orders and pay loyalty to the government. Orwell embeds a basis where people were always under the government’s control. The motto “Big Brother is watching you” depicts an absolute ruler that rules over all the people. This furthers the concept that government obtains all power over its people. In the novel 1984 the themes of censorship,propaganda,and worship of Big Brother are all existent in our modern day. In essence, these themes provide the government full control. …show more content…
In this novel, Winston Smith, the main character works in the Ministry of Truth which distorts the truth. Many of the information disputed out of the telescreen were all falsified so the public remain clueless. Relating to modern day, China’s censorship on the internet doesn’t allow people to comprehend the truth. In China, truth is distorted by the government and revised such that gives the Chinese government full control. “ And the Records Department after all was itself only a single branch of the Ministry of Truth, whose primary job was not to reconstruct the past but to supply the citizens of Oceania with newspapers,films,textbooks,telescreen programs,plays,and novels. The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie becomes truth. Just once in his life he had possessed-after the event: that was what counted-concrete unmistakable evidence of an act of falsification.” ( Orwell
Deception and a blatant contradiction of facts in the spirit of impunity form the foundation of the construct of modern dictatorship and draconian governance. Leaders with this attitude treat the public office and nation as personal property and deploy the state resources at their disposal for selfish use. Their behavior takes the form of frivolous “surveillances, monitoring, and other control structures founded on lies and ambiguities” (Dean and Orwell 23). The same scenario is exactly what happens at Oceania. The nation is governed by the party headed by the big brother (“Gordon State College” n.p.).
The novel 1984 is one that has sparked much controversy over the last several decades. It harbors many key ideas that lie at the root of all skepticism towards the book. With the ideas of metaphysics, change, and control in mind, George Orwell wrote 1984 to provide an interesting story but also to express his ideas of where he believed the world was heading. His ideas were considered widely ahead of their time, and he was really able to drive home how bleak and colorless our society really is. Orwell wrote this piece as a futuristic, dystopian book which contained underlying tones of despair and deceit.
George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four portrayed a fictional character named ‘Big Brother,’ whom acted as the enigmatic dictator in a totalitarian state (Orwell, 1949). In the society where every citizen is under the surveillance of ‘Big Brother,’ most conform to the rulings and orders of the authorities out of fear, with the exception of a few.
In George Orwell’s novel 1984, he illustrates how those who are being oppressed by totalitarian power, soon become isolated and emotionally modified by society, resulting in their loss of individuality and personal expression. Overall, Big Brother was the largest oppressive power of the society, and all of the citizens’ right’s were taken from them, due to this overwhelming government. Orwell’s warning was to alert those that if we are not careful with our decisions of who runs our country, then this terrifying event could have possibly occurred during 1984. War, is not peace, and freedom, is not slavery.
Orwell explores the social impact of government through the means of Big Brother and how it affects social conformity. Big Brother is a character presented in the novel which exercises restriction and maximum control of the mass. Winston writes, “Down with the Big Brother” (Orwell 19). From the beginning of the novel, readers see Winston’s extreme disgust with the government.
In the book 1984, Orwell uses the ominous Big Brother to depict what a government with all control would feel like; giving the reader a real sense of how powerless a population would really be under an all-controlling regime. Winston, the main character in the novel, sees posters throughout London with a man gazing down underneath contains the words “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU.” Even though Big Brother is virtually everywhere, Winston secretly questions whether or not he actually exists. Orwell uses Big Brother to symbolize the vagueness of a totalitarian government, what it is like to leave all power in the hands of government officials, and then just simply take their word for what they say or what they do. Although the term Big Brother can in one way be considered as a reassurance of protection, the following words “big brother is watching you” also insinuates that he is an open threat. Although this story takes place after Big Brother has risen to power, Orwell does not fail to emphasize that this power was not taken; it was given, as power always will be. The only way Big Brother, or a totalitarian government can truly work, is only after we give them the power to take that kind of control. When looking back at history, we can see similar situations as with Adolf Hitler...
...ailed as a system of government. Perhaps in Orwell's socialist commentary he failed to take notice of the trends being embraced by capitalism. Behavioral psychology states that reward is a far greater incentive than punishment is a deterrent. In society today thought control is much more pleasant, subtle, and diverse than it was in Orwell's vision.The media, television, the internet, computer games, and movies serve to indoctrinate us into the norms of society in a way which is much more complex than Big Brother's propaganda. We are depoliticized, kept away from the real issues by superficial diversions, much like the proles. Big Brother may not exist, but his name is everywhere. Perhaps Aldus Huxley's Brave New World would have better served as a predictor of modern society's fall. Orwell predicted that the truth would be concealed and that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley thought that the truth would be drowned in irrelevance and that what we love will ruin us. Orwell's political commentary and philosophical issues are still relevant, but we live in a world far more complex than he could have ever predicted. Big Brother isn't watching. He doesn't need to. We're watching him.
Imagine being watched by your own government every single second of the day with not even the bathroom, bedroom, kitchen and all the above to yourself. George Orwell’s 1984 is based on a totalitarian government where the party has complete access over the citizens thoughts to the point where anything they think they can access it, and control over the citizens actions, in a sense that they cannot perform what they really want to or else Big Brother, which is the name of the government in the book 1984, will “take matters into their own hands.” No one acts the same when they are being watched, as they do when they are completely alone.
1984, a dystopian novel, was written by George Orwell. Winston Smith, the protagonist, lives in a society where people have restrictions both mentally and physically. The story takes place in Oceania in the year 1984. Citizens of Oceania do not lead personal lives because the people are constantly being observed by telescreens. Thinking individually or thinking against the Party, which is the government of Oceania, is considered thoughtcrime. People are vaporized for doing such things.
Also, "Nineteen Eighty-four depicts the horrors of a well-established totalitarian regime of whatever type with great power and skill and force of imagination." (Davis). The book 1984 was written in futuristic setting to depict what a well established totalitarian government would look like. In the book, George Orwell crafted many ways of how big brother controls society and creates fear. In the book “Big Brother is watching you” (Orwell) is a common phrase that appears throughout the book. The phrase is creating fear in the society, it gives a sense that Big Brother and other party members are watching and he or she is not alone. As well keeping the people in the society in place, so he or she does not “rebel” against big brother or the party. The quote “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.” (Orwell), to have freedom a person in the society has to believe that two plus two does equal four. While Big Brother and the party wants he or she to believe that two plus two equals five, the party wants the society to believe everything that they say, the party does
George Orwell’s haunting dystopian novel 1984 delves into the closely monitored lives of the citizens of Oceania as the Party tries to take control of society. In totalitarianism, propaganda and terrorism are ways of subjugation with a main goal: total obedience. He aimed to create a “what if” novel, 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.
1984 by George Orwell is an extremely negative outlook on a futuristic, seemingly utopian society. People inhabiting the land of Oceania are enslaved to the government, most without even realizing it. The Party uses its many members to enforce its methods of control on the population. While a bit extreme, Orwell was attempting to warn people about the dangers of totalitarianism.
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.
The novel 1984 by George Orwell presents the readers an image of a totalitarian society that explores a world of control, power, and corruption. The main idea of government control presents itself in the novel by protecting and listening to the people of Oceania. However, Orwell suggests giving too much power to the government is a mistake because eventually the decisions they make will not be about the people anymore but rather themselves. In 1984, the power and corruption the party has is overwhelming for the people. There are no ways around the beliefs of the Party, the party attempts to control and eventually destroy any mental or physical resistance against their beliefs. The agenda for the party is to obtain mind control over its people and force them to adore their leader. The methods the Party uses to achieve its goal are: the use of constant propaganda and surveillance, the rewriting of history, and Room 101.
The government has made society today feel the need for protection. In the 1984 novel by George Orwell, the people are basically free to do what they want, but they are constantly watched by different surveillances used by big brother. Some of the surveillances used in the novel included helicopters that patrolled the area, hidden camera-like things in the TV screens called telescreens, by the thought police, and by simple posters of Big Brother's face looking at the people.