The novel 1984, written by George Orwell in 1949, details the life of a one Winston Smith and his constant, life long battle to defeat Big Brother. This dystopian vision of the future serves as a reminder to the reader that anything can happen, but it is up to humanity to shape what kind of future is wanted in the end. Although Orwell’s novel is rather convincing to the people of this time, it serves only as a warning to one of many outcomes that the world could face. This book was Orwell’s idea of how life could have ended up; had people not realized that there is always a way to change what we do not like in life. Through the author’s many literary techniques, he was able to weave in meaning and importance to simple everyday objects …show more content…
The singing lady represents the feelings of hope and free spirit, to a world filed with secrets and lies. The singing lady does not concern herself with what others think of her life and show Winston and Julia that there is hope left in the world. Through their love affair, they exude signs of happiness and true love, not the love that if forced upon them by Big Brother. Although the singing lady is just one person is a large society of proles, she stands out in the book because of her outlook on life; free to do what she wants and never giving up because of what the government tries to tell her. She brings a sense of normality to the area that Winston had not felt in many years. The society of proles are also not concerned with the way that the government is run and Big Brother’s grasp on every aspect of their lives. Winston believes that “if there is …show more content…
One key idea that all three of these values have in common is that one can never have all three together at the same time. This fact is evident while reading 1984 because no one always knows everything. Big Brother cannot always keep tabs on what everyone is thinking, while Winston does not know everything that goes on behind the scenes of the society. If one looks closely enough, it can be imagined that the proles contain the knowledge and freedom of the society. They are allowed to do as they please as long as they are smart enough to stay out of the spotlight. The Outer Party has more of the freedom and power, but not much knowledge as to what happens behind the scenes of the society. As Winston’s last hope for freedom, Emmanuel Goldstein revealed in his book The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism, that “the Ministry of Peace concerns itself with war, the Ministry of Truth with lies, the Ministry of Love with torture, and the Ministry of Plenty with starvation” (216). Winston soon learns that the society that he had always hated was a lie, and it fuels his fire of rebellion even more. His lack of knowledge was one piece that forced him to detract from the totalitarian ruled society. Finally, the Inner Party enjoyed the power and knowledge of the
The theme of how pointless resistance is against powerful established totalitarian governments like Ingsoc is brought out most clearly through the use of the three literary elements of diction, point of view, and symbolism. Everything from the glass paperweight to the very words Winston speaks spells the letters of inevitable defeat. A thoroughly converted Winston Smith appears at the end of the novel, joining in the cheers and shouts of those celebrating the most recent military victory headed by Big Brother. Grimly realistic, and a literary warning to the political world during the mid-20th century, George Orwell uses 1984 to paint a clear picture of the unequivocal omnipotence a totalitarian government may wield if nothing is done to stop it immediately.
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.
In the novel 1984, written by George Orwell, there is a place called Oceania where the government is Big Brother. The government, the Party, and the Thought Police are constantly oppressing the citizens of Oceania. Most of the people don't know that they are being oppressed, but the two main characters, Julia and Winston, realize the oppression and don't stand for it. Winston and Julia absolutely hate the Party, and are constant breaking its “rules”. Julia is self-centered and resists the Party by doing rebellious acts that only affect her in a positive way. Similarly, Winston also does small acts of rebellion in the beginning of the book in ways that only relate to him. Later, Winston rebels for a greater cause, joining the Brotherhood to
Through different experiences, beliefs, values and ideas, individuals can evolve identity through human nature, in society and critical life experiences. Human nature is elucidated dystopically in the works of George Orwell’s novel, 1984, and James McTeigue’s visual, V for Vendetta, which represent divergent societies, bound by totalitarian oppression and degrading human constructs. Published in 1948 by George Orwell, 1984 is a novel set in a future society, scarred by eternal war, ubiquitous government surveillance, controlled history and tyrannical manipulation by the superstate. Winston Smith, a diligent Outer Party member, inconspicuously rebels against the English socialist, ‘Ingsoc’ Party and despot leader, ‘Big Brother’, by regaining
Things to know: 1984 was a book written about life under a totalitarian regime from an average citizen’s point of view. This book envisions the theme of an all knowing government with strong control over its citizens. This book tells the story of Winston Smith, a worker of the Ministry of Truth, who is in charge of editing the truth to fit the government’s policies and claims. It shows the future of a government bleeding with brute force and propaganda. This story begins and ends in the continent of Oceania one of the three supercontinents of the world. Oceania has three classes the Inner Party, the Outer Party and the lowest of all, the Proles (proletarian). Oceania’s government is the Party or Ingsoc (English Socialism
The approach towards freedom is hard to achieve against a totalitarian government but possible to win with the people’s belief. 1984 by George Orwell and James McTeigue’s V for Vendetta portray the same idealism of the anti-heroes, Winston and V. An anti-hero is “a protagonist who lacks the attributes that make a heroic figure, as nobility of mind and spirit, a life or attitude marked by action or purpose” (“Antihero”). Winston is not courageous, peaceful, and self-centered along the path of freedom for Oceania, whereas the anti-hero, V is violent in his actions, impatient and careless in his pursuit to free London from the totalitarian government. As a matter of fact, V and Winston have the opposite behaviours; this is significant because it helps to compare the approach of the anti-heroes toward freedom. At the end of 1984 and V for Vendetta, the result of their approach is different from each other; Winston gives up on the liberation of Oceania, while V dies knowing that London is freed from Norsefire Party. In 1984 and V for Vendetta, the different behaviours of the anti-heroes, Winston and V, illustrate their approach to attaining freedom from the totalitarian government.
In George Orwell’s 1984, the ruling body, known as the Inner party, gains complete control over the people in their country. In all the homes, apartments, business offices, and town squares, there are telescreens. The telescreens give the ruling body the ability to invade the people’s privacy, and create fear into their lives. The ruling body of 1984 is afraid of unionization between the people and their ideas. They believed that if people got together and talked about their ideas about the parties, they would realize that their way of life had not always been like this, ruled by the Inner Party. The Inner Party controls everything that the people in their society does, thinks, says, and acts. Winston Smith, the main character of this novel, begins to realize that he has thoughts from his past and that the...
The book 1984 describes a future society in which Winston Smith lives as a member of the Outer Party, the organization which rules the state of Oceania, where Winston lives. The year 1984 is an arbitrary year, since Winston cannot be sure of the past or present, due to the fact that the Party and Big Brother are in the continuous process of manufacturing history, much like revisionists, in order to control the minds and the memories of the citizens of Oceania. Orwell describes the citizens in Oceania as "cut off from contact with the outer world, and with the past, the citizen of Oceania is like a man in interstellar space, who has no way of knowing which direction is up and which is down" (164). Winston eventually falls in love with a fellow Party member, Julia, which is implicitly forbidden by the Party, and connects with a member of the Inner Party, O'Brien, who Winston believes is a member of a society resisting the Party, called the Brotherhood. The book describes the relationships between the three, and also describes the society in which they live and how it came into being. Winston rebels against a world in which there are no connections, no individuality, only uniformity and conformity. He wonders how and why the modern society should be the way it is, and seeks "the original motive, the never-questioned instinct that first led to the seizure of power and brought doublethink, the Thought Police, continuous warfare, and all the other necessary paraphernalia into existence" (179). O'Brien reveals that the Party did not seek power because human beings could not govern themselves, as Winston thinks, but for the sake of power itself, which he describes as not the means but the end. This is comparable to the reasons the...
Most of George Orwell’s 1984 is written through the eyes of Winston. We gain insight through his thoughts and feelings. We can only reflect on what he allows us to understand. Because of this, we share a close connection with him. We feel love as he builds relationships and we hurt as bonds are broken. Surveillance and big government are two large ideas that are often spoken of when 1984 is referenced. Although extremely important, internal changes Winston experiences teach us invaluable lessons about ourselves and should not be overlooked. Those overarching themes allow us to look out and contemplate our surroundings and the smaller ones us allow us look within ourselves. George Orwell’s 1984 sheds light on the effects of an abusive government
The novel “1984” is a story about people striving for a utopian society. This fictional world depicts a hopeless and nightmarish state. The main character Winston is a meaningless member in the party, the party uses a totalitarian authority to enforce perfect conformity amongst its members. In 2017 there are many similarities and differences between the book and today’s society. George Orwell might have wrote “1984” in the 1940’s but, he may not have been far off from predicting the truth in 2017.
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.
George Orwell creates a dark, depressing and pessimistic world where the government has full control over the masses in the novel 1984. The protagonist, Winston, is low-level Party member who has grown to resent the society that he lives in. Orwell portrays him as a individual that begins to lose his sanity due to the constrictions of society. There are only two possible outcomes, either he becomes more effectively assimilated or he brings about the change he desires. Winston starts a journey towards his own self-destruction. His first defiant act is the diary where he writes “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER.” But he goes further by having an affair with Julia, another party member, renting a room over Mr. Carrington’s antique shop where Winston conducts this affair with Julia, and by following O’Brien who claims to have connections with the Brotherhood, the anti-Party movement led my Emmanuel Goldstein. Winston and Julia are both eventually arrested by the Thought Police when Mr. Carrington turns out to be a undercover officer. They both eventually betray each other when O’Brien conducts torture upon them at the Ministry of Love. Orwell conveys the limitations of the individual when it comes to doing something monumental like overthrowing the established hierarchy which is seen through the futility of Winston Smith’s actions that end with his failure instead of the end of Big Brother. Winston’s goal of liberating himself turns out to be hopeless when the people he trusted end up betraying him and how he was arbitrarily manipulated. It can be perceived that Winston was in fact concerned more about his own sanity and physical well-being because he gives into Big Brother after he is tortured and becomes content to live in the society he hated so much. Winston witnesses the weakness within the prole community because of their inability to understand the Party’s workings but he himself embodies weakness by sabotaging himself by associating with all the wrong people and by simply falling into the arms of Big Brother. Orwell created a world where there is no use but to assimilate from Winston’s perspective making his struggle utterly hopeless.
IN summation, Orwell’s “1984” has most certainly earned its stripes as a classic novel. It has forced my to question my beliefs, consider scenarios and who I am as a person and most importantly, made me question our world. As a result, I firmly believe The strength of a classic noel lies in its ability to make the reader analyse their values and beliefs whilst making them question the world in which we live. This is most definitely true for “1984”.
In the novel 1984, Orwell produced a social critique on totalitarianism and a future dystopia that made the world pause and think about our past, present and future. When reading this novel we all must take the time to think of the possibility that Orwell's world could come to pass. Orwell presents the concepts of power, marginalization, and resistance through physical, psychological, sexual and political control of the people of Oceania. The reader experiences the emotional ride through the eyes of Winston Smith, who was born into the oppressive life under the rule of Ingsoc. Readers are encouraged through Winston to adopt a negative opinion on the idea of communist rule and the inherent dangers of totalitarianism. The psychological manipulation and physical control are explored through Winston's journey, and with Winston's resistance and ultimate downfall, the reader is able to fully appreciate O'Briens reasoning, "Power is not a means, it is an end."
Authors often use their works as a way to express their own opinions and ideologies. However, it is the skill of the author that determines whether these ideas are combined with the plot seamlessly, making a creative transition of ideas from the author’s mind, to the reader’s. There is no doubt that George Orwell is a masterful writer, and one of his most popular works, 1984, clearly expresses his negative views of the Totalitarian government. A common theme in the dystopian society in 1984 is betrayal: The Party is very intolerant towards any form of disloyalty, and anyone who plots against them or Big Brother will eventually either betray their own mind and accept Big Brother as their leader, or be betrayed and revealed to The Party by one of their so-called comrades. Overall, Orwell is using this constant theme of betrayal to show how alone and alienated the protagonist (Winston Smith) is in his quest against Totalitarianism, thus showing how flawed and hopeless the political system is.