George Orwell's 1984

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1984
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.
In this novel the party manipulates reality in one way through the use of changing the past. They do this by rewriting the past to make everyone believe that everything they are taught really happened. When this is done people are lead to believe what they are told is the truth when in reality it is not. Another way the party takes control of existence is by bringing life and death to non-existent people. One such instance is the creation of Comrade Ogilvy. Winston creates this man with the intention of pure fantasy. He makes Comrade Olgilvy a war hero and a patriot that dies in battle but in all fact this man never existed. The final way the party controls the lives of the people is through a process called vaporization. Vaporization is the process by which every record of everything you have ever accomplished is wiped out and your one-time existence is forever forgotten.
The Invasion of Privacy is also used to control people. Devices called Telescreens are setup everywhere for the use of your entertainment and the party’s. They are objects that not only allow you to watch them and hear them like a television but in return you yourself are watched and heard by the party. Other ways in which privacy is taken away is by the use of little sound devices called “Bugs.'; In one scene Winston and Julia are talking and Julia says, “I bet that picture’s got bugs behind it'; (Orwell 122)1. When she says this she is implying that the party is listening to everything they say and do. The final way the party invades privacy is by The Thought Police. The Thought Police are members of the party that control life through the telescreens and bugs. When you are caught by them for a crime you must then go to prison for as long as it takes to purify or make you sane enough to work for the party once again.

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