1984: From Socialism to Dystopia

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Recommended: Analysis of the party in 1984 by George Orwell

George Orwell wrote 1984 to make a political statement about Socialism (Davison 1). In this novel, the author extrapolates the socialist movements of the 1920s to the point where they control three “superstates” that make up the world. The novel follows the story of Winston Smith, who is a middle class worker in Oceania, the superstate controlled by The Party. He is a non-conformist, who disagrees with the ideals and the actions of The Party, and decides to take action against it. The Party is the evolution of English Socialism, but unlike the latter, whose main focuses are equality, individual rights, production for the needs of the people, and co-operative ownership, The Party’s only goal is power (Orwell 36). The only motivation behind its every action is to maintain the absolute power they hold. Orwell uses multiple literary devices to prove the severity of the consequences of such actions to reveal this system’s flaws. The conclusion can then be drawn that The Party’s singular goal of ultimate power leads to dystopian life for the people, which contradicts the basic foundation of the socialist movement that the Party was based upon. Orwell uses the setting to express the effects of the Party’s reign in Oceania. The Party shows their dominance and power by making the four buildings of The Party “startlingly different from any other object in sight” and “completely dwarf the surrounding architecture” (Orwell 4). This is done to remind the people that The Party holds ultimate power and the people hold none. In addition, the setting also reflects the dystopia the people are living in. Due to the Party’s desire to keep the people in poverty in order to keep them concerned about survival rather than politics, the residences of th... ... middle of paper ... ... starting objective of essentially removing power from any selects group’s hands to keeping all power in the hands of a select few. Therefore the conflict in this novel clearly represents the penalties of The Party’s place in power. In summation, through the use of the literary elements of setting, character, and conflict, George Orwell highlights The Party’s flaws, and states that their sole focus on ultimate power leads to a dystopian society in which the socialist basis of the Party is contradicted. All of the potential flaws shown in socialist leadership make one ponder the question: what will happen if capitalism ends up controlling the world? Works Cited Davison, Peter. “George Orwell’s Letter on Why He Wrote ‘1984’.” The Daily Beast. The Daily Beast Company, 12 August 2013. Web. 4 May 2014. Orwell, George. 1984. New York, USA: Penguin Group, 1950. Print.

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