Having studied George Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty-Four', I intend to discuss the type of Government envisaged by Orwell and to what extent his totalitarian Party, 'Ingsoc', satirises past regimes. I will also discuss Orwell's motive in writing such a piece and how his writing style helps it become clear.The main theme of Nineteen Eighty-Four concerns the restrictions imposed on individual freedom by a totalitarian regime. Orwell shows how such a system can impose its will on the people through manipulation of the press, the elimination of democracy, constant supervision (courtesy of the Telescreens) and more. Orwell also shows how the state has more subtle methods for imposing its authority, such as the manipulation of language and control of the media.
Propaganda also plays a central role within the Party's infrastructure and it is used to gain support for Big Brother, stir patriotism and induce hate towards the chosen "enemy" country. Workers in the Ministry of Truth work to change the past, making Big Brother seem to have always been right. Also, the Party seeks to stifle any individual or "potentially revolutionary" thought by introducing a new language, Newspeak, the eradication of English and the deployment of "Thought Police" who terrorize Party members by accusing them of "Thought Crime" (ie. to think a crime is to commit a crime). The introduction of this new language means that eventually, no-one is able to commit thought-crime due to the lack of words to express it.
This is a frightening concept – the restriction of your thought could destroy your personality if the ability to think for oneself was erased.Words are a weapon as far as the Party are concerned, but the war is not physical; it is a war against truth - The Ministry of Truth, minitrue, re-writes history and falsifies documents, the Ministry of Peace, minipax, makes war,"It's a beautiful thing, destruction of words... You haven't a real appreciation of Newspeak, Winston... Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we will make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it." (Syme to Winston -p46)Nineteen Eighty-Four may not be known to everyone, but there are certain phrases and expressions that have actually gained common usage in the English Language. Examples of this would be Newspeak, thought-crime, Big Brother, unperson and doublethink.
All of which relate to the State's frightening power to alter reality.
Thinking back into history, many important events have occurred in history since the publication of 1984 by George Orwell in 1949. In no specific order there would be the Holocaust, The creation of the United Nations, NATO (North Atlantic treaty Organization), and even The Iron Curtain being established. After 1984 was published huge events also occurred in history. There was the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Korean war, the Vietnam War, the creation of the Berlin Wall, and the destruction of the Berlin wall, Joseph Stalin dies, and Khrushchev gains power....etc, etc. No matter when a book is published the events in history will always surround it, such as this book.
it has operatives all over keeping an eye out for cops or law enforcement, this
George Orwell has created two main characters that have conflicting traits believe in the idea of love in a world where it is forbidden. Although both are secret rebels of the Party and share the same hatred for the Party’s totalitarian power, Julia and Winston display a remarkable number of differences between each other. The differences between them include their morality, their motivation towards the rebellion, and their personalities.
Tragic events occur daily around the globe in 2015, these occurrences have become routine. The world has considerably changed in the past five years; this is mainly due to the Arab spring (A term that symbolizes the fall of oppressive regimes in the Middle East. While in the Middle East the Arab Spring is TAKING PLACE, in America gun control is a major issue. One of the many letters written by George Orwell in Nineteen Eighty Four is that of oppressive governments and the basic freedoms of humanity. This specific article and 1984 share similarities in how both discuss the nature of humans. The main themes they discuss are: Death, Loss of innocence, as well as hope.
1984 is about a parallel world 35 years into the future, in which all nations have been combined into three major countries: Oceania, Eastasia, and Eurasia. London still exists, but it is now a part of Oceania, governed by an entity called the Party, headed by a dominant figure called “Big Brother”. The Party's one goal is power; power over everybody and everything in Oceania. There is constant surveillance; devices called telescreens are put in people's homes to monitor thoughts, actions and broadcast Party propaganda continuously, with no way for the person to turn it off or change the channel. Free thinkers are not tolerated, and the "Thought Police" are sent to capture the culprits. The Party is developing an official language called “Newspeak,” whose goal is to simplify language by eliminating as many "extra" words as possible and reducing vocabulary to a small number of basic words, thus narrowing the range of thought.
Many frightening works of literature have been written about the possibilities of controlled thinking. Through the years, systems of government have arisen that parallel those written about in a frightening way. Dating back to the Nazi rule in Europe, people have been using propaganda to control people’s thought. Such propaganda is dangerous because nothing in society can function properly. An example on the subject of education by James Baldwin, “It is very nearly impossible to become an educated person in a country so distrustful of the independent mind”. Without free thought, there would be no original art, poetry, or music. It’s very apparent that the freedom of the human mind is not to be taken lightly, and It’s a liberty I’d gladly
The author of the novel 1984, George Orwell, is a political critic. Therefore, he used very precise descriptions of situations and words to provide the reader a clear understanding of the entity he is criticizing. When Winston describes the destruction of past records to create new ones to Julia, he says: “Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book has been rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street and building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And that process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.” (pg. 162). Here, instead of only saying “Every record has been destroyed or falsified”, Orwell describes in-depth which materials exactly were destroyed. This provides the reader a better picture of the situation in Oceania because instead of only thinking that paper records were rewritten, now the readers know that even street names were constantly rewritten, which makes the people’s lives more problematic due to the learning curve involved with new street names. This description of rewriting of records really shows to what extent the government is willing to go to achieve full control of the past and gives the reader a very scary feeling on a totalitarian system. Orwell also uses some unique word choice to express the feelings of his characters. When Winston describes Syme, he alleges that he is a “venomously orthodox” (pg. 52). Instead of using an adjective like ‘extremely’, Orwell takes it to another extent by applying the adjective ‘venomously’. Use of this adjective provides a darker feeling about Syme because the word venom is usually associated with ...
Another aspect of control that is presented in 1984 is Newspeak, the ‘official’ language of Oceania. Language is the main connection to human thought. Therefore, the party limits and shifts the vocabulary available to use for Oceanians; constantly perfecting it making it harder to speak freely. The party introduced Newspeak to replace the English language. They had a goal in hopes of no one forming thoughts that would be seen as rebellious and or questioning the party’s power. The party seeks a narrow range of thought altogether so thoughtcrime wou...
The book “1984” written by George Orwell shows the life of an average person in a totalitarian state. The book explains the problems and dangers of a totalitarian government (Big Brother) staying in control and holding power over people. For a totalitarian government, especially in this novel to remain in control over their citizens, they need to get into the heads of everyone by “brainwashing” them. Big Brother successfully achieved that by manipulating the English language, rewriting world history, and by constantly reminding everyone that the government is watching them.
The book, 1984 by George Orwell, is about the external conflict between Winston Smith and Big Brother; and the internal conflict between the two ideas, democracy and totalitarianism. Orwell wrote the novel to show society what it could become if things kept getting worse: he sensed of the expansion of communism when he wrote the novel. The conflict between democracy and totalitarianism at the year of 1945 created two characters, Winston Smith and Big Brother, in orwell's mind. Big Brother is the embodiment of all the ideals of the totalitarian party. In contrast to Big Brother, Winston Smith keeps the idea of democracy emphasizes freedom, he has to hide his own thought because the Big Brother's party will punish him by death if the party finds it out. George orwell criticizes of Big Brother's society by describing it as a dark and a gloomy place. It warns that people might believe that everyone must become slaves to the government in order to have an orderly society, but at the expense of the freedom of the people.
Topic 1: What warning does the novel carry for readers at this point in time about where their society is heading?
The Party seemed to have complete and utter control over the citizens of Oceania. Each morning, citizens were forced to work out and were watched through the telescreen present in their rooms (Orwell 31). Workers such as Winston were all forced to participate in the Two Minutes Hate where they were all required to watch a very provocative video that stirred everyone up. There were extreme consequences if one did not participate in the Two Minutes Hate or even the work out every morning. Through the ever-present telescreens, the Thought Police were able to watch every single person at any given time which created a huge amount of fear in people (Orwell 2). Orwell tried to show people that a totalitarian regime would seek to fill everyone with fear in order to ensure obedience from all. The threat of the Thought Police was mentioned frequently throughout 1984 by Winston. He was constantly afraid that the Thought Police would discover all of his traitorous actions and thoughts, and as a result, make him disappear (Orwell 64). Through the use of telescreens and the Thought Police, Orwell demonstrated the theme of totalitarianism and showed his readers the negative effects that a totalitarian society can have on a
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 the novel 1984, George Orwell predicts the world’s future, when human rights, such as freedom of speech, do not exist anymore. Everyone has to obey the government. The government controls its citizens’ lives. No one speaks up against the government yet because they do not even have a chance to make up a thought about it. The government dominates the citizens’ thoughts by using technologies and the thought polices to make sure no one will have any thoughts, that is against the government. George Orwell wrote:“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows,” (Orwell.2.7.69) the government tries to control Winston knowledge and change it to fit into the purpose of the Party. To Winston, O’Brien said: “Whatever the Party holds to be truth is truth. It is impossible to see reality except by looking through the eyes of the Party.” (Orwell.3.2.205). As a citizen, no one get to look at or tal...
Nineteen Eighty-Four, by George Orwell, is a superb novel with outstanding themes. One of the most prominent themes found in this novel is psychological manipulation. Citizens in this society are subject to ever present signs declaring “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” (Orwell 1). Along with psychological manipulation, physical control takes place. The Party not only controls what people in Oceania think, but what they do as well.