Abuse of power and control evidently plays a huge role in the dystopian society described by George Orwell in his startling novel , 1984. The political party in control despises any concepts they can’t control so they try to undermine the feelings of pleasure and love to gain more control over the people they govern. “Big Brother” does not want individuals to be forming relationships and bonds it could not possibly break or control because they fear that it could hinder someone's unconditional loyalty towards the party and it’s ideals. The pleasure and eroticism in sex doesn’t exist in this society; the party believes that all sexual acts should be of benefit for the party and the only reason of intercourse would be to create new party members. …show more content…
By careful early conditioning, by games and cold water, by the rubbish that was denied into them at school and in the Spies and the Youth League, by lectures, parades, songs, slogans, and martial music, the natural feeling had been driven out of them.” (P.47) Another reason why the party dissipated pleasure over the years of their ruling is to feel reassured that their people were loyal and that they stayed that way. In order to demonstrate loyalty towards the party, people followed the laws and orders of “Big Brother”. The biggest test of loyalty was to forget about all the pleasurable things in life and see no interest in them. This would filter out the people who were unloyal to the party and would allow the thought police and the Ministry of truth to vaporize those who were caught being unloyal. This allowed the party to form a society who strongly supported everything they said and stood …show more content…
The government does this to keep complete control over the cravings of the people. They control rations in order to keep the people from becoming too attached to objects that cause them pleasure. Humans tend to d rebell and participate in foolish acts in order to obtain object the might think they need a clear-cut example exists on page 164, “He knew that he was starving the other two, but he could not help it; he even felt that he had a right to do it. The clamorous hunger in his belly seemed to justify him." This incident portrays the idea that humans will do anything in order to obtain something they crave. These types of feelings made the government feel threatened. Nevertheless, winston knowing that he was hurting his family, he seemed to not care and continued with his rebellious act.
The act of suppressing pleasure isn’t a unique concept to 1984, however it greatly contributes to the story line. Various feelings are subdued or repressed by the government in order to keep the people they control in order. They are petrified by the fact that these feelings could possibly fuel rebellion and the people will no longer see them as a viable and trustworthy government. These concepts play a huge role in the book The Giver in which the society is governed by its own totalitarian government. “Big Brother” simply believed that love was too strong of a bond to possibly
People are too intimidated by the Party’s control to take any action against this overwhelming power. The telescreens and Thought Police assist the government in their force and intimidation to control. No one dares to make a subtle facial expression that may trigger the Thought Police. The telescreens could be watching and listening at any moment to catch one in an act of defiance. The Party’s cheapening of sexual pleasure is another point discussed where the threat of abuse keeps the inhabitants of Oceania in line. Even the idea of sexual pleasure was punishable by forced labor camps or abuse in Room 101. Sex to most people in Oceania has just become a chore that has to be taken care of periodically. People have sex just to provide children for the future of the government. The Party controls everything with this looming threat of abuse. Control over truth versus fact makes the strongest case for this constant threat. The Party mentally abuses one to influence them to accept everything the Party says as fact. If a person disagrees with the Party, the government can make the person’s life miserable both mentally and physically. This power and imminent menace of abuse keeps every citizen in line, whether they are rebellious or not. The warnings have been given to society, whether they take these warnings into account is left to the people. If they do not, Big Brother may be looming
With the power hungry Party and the most acknowledged face of Big Brother watching and monitoring everybody, the story of “1984” by George Orwell expresses the utmost control over their people and have the absolute power with their country Oceania. The Party believes that Big Brother will live on forever, because of the constant removal of those who are unfaithful and the rewriting of history. However, with the example of the main character showing disobedience against the Party, there is a chance for this type of ruling to fail and be destroyed by the people. The main possible cause of the fall of Big Brother is most likely the underestimation of the power of the people.
1984 examines a future under the rule of a totalitarian society. One of the unique notes about Orwell's 1984, is the views that Orwell presents on humanity, and human nature. Orwell presents humanity as divided into two sides- the dominant, and the submissive, with few quickly-eradicated anomalies in between. Human nature, however, is universal, and all humans
Love is both the foundation and the weakness of a totalitarian regime. At the heart of any totalitarian society, love between two individuals is eliminated because only a relationship between the person and the party and a love for its leader can exist. The totalitarian society depicted throughout the Orwell’s novel 1984 has created a concept of an Orwellian society. Joseph Stalin’s Soviet regime in Russia can be described as Orwellian. The imaginary world of Oceania draws many parallels to the modern day totalitarian regime established by Stalin. For example, in the novel it was the desire of the Party to eliminate love and sex, in order to channel this pent-up passion towards the love of Big Brother. Similarly, Stalin used propaganda
The books 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley are both connected in the way society controls people. Both these books illustrate control over their citizens through government intervention. People are constantly being watched either by telescreens or neighbors in 1984 while there is no privacy in Brave New World at all. In 1984, children are in a league of youth spies and send people to jail because they look suspicious. Brave New World’s children are created to be controlled for the sake of society. Sex is bad in 1984 because it promotes the idea of pleasure or selfish needs while Brave New World embraces sex to promote happiness. 1984 and Brave New World both control the people of society through privacy, sex, and children.
In George Orwell’s novel 1984, the nature of love and friendship in the nation of Oceania that Orwell writes about, the Party tries desperately to erase love for anything but Big Brother from the lives of its members. (Reese) 1984 displays that the party’s unlimited and absolute control of the people. For an example the telescreens are used to surveillance the people in their homes. The party has eyes in many places too. For instance the love of Winston and Julia somehow compromised by Mr. Charrington when he disclosed the relationship to the Party about them. Another example of the love in Oceania is the marriage of Winston and Katharine ended horrendously. (Reese) Winston thinks deeply about the condition of the world. (Notes) He said he wanted to throw her off of a cliff.
George Orwell’s 1984 is more than just a novel, it is a warning to a potential dystopian society of the future. Written in 1949, Orwell envisioned a totalitarian government under the figurehead Big Brother. In this totalitarian society, every thought and action is carefully examined for any sign of rebellion against the ruling party. Emotion has been abolished and love is nonexistent; an entire new language is being drafted to reduce human thought to the bare minimum. In a society such as the one portrayed in 1984, one is hardly human. In George Orwell’s 1984, the party uses fear, oppression, and propaganda to strip the people of their humanity.
Fear and pleasure, two very different things yet they are used to achieve a very similar goal between the two books. During wartime many things change throughout a nation, things that might seem odd or different from normal society, furthermore the government can get away with many things like rationing food and supplies because they are all going to a very good cause. This is what happened throughout the world wars and it is a generally accepted thing to do. What if, though, the war your country was fighting was not truly a war? What if it was just some scheme made by the superpowers of the world as a way of instilling fear into the population allowing for the government to come in and force things upon them? Unfortunately this tactic is used in “1984”, and sadly it appears to work excellently as a way of controlling the population.
George Orwell’s political parable, 1984, portrays an oppressive and dictatorial government, which thereby presents to the reader a palpable sense of danger and malevolence born out of the creation of a counter utopic totalitarian regime. Orwell’s nihilistic creation of Oceania, presents a world wherein every aspect of private and public life is abhorrently regimented and regulated by the autocratic ‘Big Brother’. The whole population at large is forced to conform to the ideals and beliefs of the tyrannical ‘party’ as a means of not only survival but also a means of being able to live an unabated existence. The party opposes all forms of individuality and
Power is the catalyst which establishes government, leaders, societal hierarchies and civilisation. It is an inseparable part of human nature, which is reflected in pop culture and literature. In an excerpt from 1984 by George Orwell, the theme of power and the abuse of power is privileged, and the allocation of the power in that society is discussed. Lord of the Flies, contrarily, depicts a scenario in which the individual has complete power, and constraints of authority and civilisation are removed. In the trailer, the composer uses film language such as dark music and jump shots to chaotic scenes to demonstrate the effects of complete freedom and the danger of it. Winston Churchill’s 1947 commentary that “Democracy is the worst form of
Set in a totalitarian state and ruled by a government known as the Party, sexuality is heavily regulated. It is the goal of the Party “to remove all pleasure from the sexual act” (Orwell 58). Moreover, marriage only had one purpose, “to beget children for the service of the Party” (Orwell 58). Thus, both men and women found their sexuality being regulated and limited. In “Sexuality as Rebellion in George Orwell’s 1984” Paul Bail states that “the only legitimate purpose of sexuality is for reproduction” (215). Therefore, sex is not an act “in which to take personal pleasure” (Bail 215). Unlike, Edna who lived in a society where sex was no intended to be pleasurable for women, it applied to everyone in Orwell’s novel. However, one woman who this affects, in particular, is Julia. A young woman, Julia is a member of the Junior Anti-Sex League, an organization created by the Party to help educate its citizens on their standards regarding sex (Orwell 111). Due to her involvement in this group, Julia is perceived to what Bail’s refers to as a “puritanical anti-sex fanatic” because it is her job to remind her society that sex is an act for the Party and not pleasure (215). Yet, upon meeting the protagonist of the novel, Winston Smith, it is revealed that she rejects the same ideas that she
“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown – H. P. Lovecraft.” Fear in 1984 is the main reason that society is like it is, people are afraid of the unknown and what may or may not happen if they oppose the rules. Thought-crime is one of the largest reasons why the 1984 society is so devastating, any opposition against rules or thoughts that seem “dangerous” will be acted upon and you will be vaporized or vanished. The words
As much as we citizens want to deny it, government corruption exists everywhere, whether it be a small group of greedy politicians or the system entirely. Is it shouted at the top of the mountains? Of course not, because it defeats the whole purpose of being corrupt, which is to quietly sweep away one’s imperfections and present themselves as honourable people. An appalling level of corruption and political power is described in the book 1984 written by George Orwell. Ingsoc, a political party, runs a totalitarian society, and with no resistance from their citizens, the government deceives them by changing the past and announcing fake news. Ultimately, they limit the thoughts and emotions of their citizens. Although 1984 tells a fictional
In George Orwell's novel 1984, we explore intimate human relationships, as experienced by the protagonist Winston Smith. Not many bonds are stronger than those developed among family, friends, and lovers. In Oceania, those bonds were made but they've always had a dim side to them, since the only thing you could openly be loving about was the Party and Big Brother. This limitation was one of the most necessary in order to achieve complete power and control over the citizens. The reason for this limitation was the never-ending need of the Party to dissolve all loyalties derived through sex, love, and family and redirect them to the Party itself. Another limitation enforced by the Party was the destruction of trust. The Party invaded the trust between parent and child, co-workers and most importantly between man and woman.
Additionally, the portrayal of this dystopian society controlled by a totalitarian government might have been understood well by contemporary audiences, mirroring the rules of totalitarian regimes such as Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy- the citizens have no influence on the government and have no freedom of choosing the rules that govern and control every part of their lives. Therefore, Winston blames the misery in his life totally and completely on the government and on Big Brother. In Winston’s case, we can see that the propaganda, deprivation, and strict rules fail to make him concur with the party and accept Big Brother- in this situation, the party has to use extreme force and torture to make Winston love the party as well as Big Brother, in order for the party to maintain complete power.