Throughout the course of history, humanity has searched for the perfect society. To many, this type of society is called a utopia. The word utopia is derived from a greek word that means “good place.” Despite all of humanity’s attempts to find this perfect society, they have still never found one, and probably never will. On the other hand, a dystopia is the complete opposite of a utopia. Dystopias depict hellish scenarios, where the people suffer under harsh regimes, and cannot advance and are constantly put under unfeasible rules and living conditions. One of the most celebrated, and feared dystopias in all of modern literature is the fictional country of Oceania revealed in George Orwell’s N ineteen EightyFour. To many, it is not only the conditions the …show more content…
“As O’Brien says, “It is the exact opposite of the stupid hedonistic Utopias that the old reformers imagined.” It is thus in no way a utopia founded on love and justice” (Fortunati 117) The classes were completely unfair, and did not reflect the ideals that Ingsoc claimed, a society of equality towards one common goal. These classes rather presents an unfair, biased society in which only a select few can actually live in good conditions and in good health.
The Inner Party are the elite of Oceania. They were the ones who hold the true power of Oceania and want to keep that power at all costs necessary. They live in lavish conditions, and are allowed to maintain a degree of privacy. Inner Party members hold an almost trancelike devotion to Big Brother and his ideals. Their greed for power is unparalleled and in a sense, takes away their humanity, as seen with O’Brien, who is an Inner Party member himself. Inner Party members rarely were seen by other members of society, but were always looked down upon by Inner Party members. They were what made Oceania the imperfect society it
The Party makes children feel powerful when they have positions of influence and thereby generates eternal loyalty to the party while having them surveil the public. This is seen in Part 1, Chapter 2: “Winston raised his hands above his head, but with an uneasy feeling… ‘You’re a traitor!’ yelled the boy. ‘You’re a thought-criminal! You’re a Eurasian spy! I’ll shoot you, I’ll vaporize you, I’ll send you to the salt mines!” Their loyalty to the Party is demonstrated when they use vocabulary of the party such as “vaporize”. They threaten to arrest their neighbor and later go on to arrest their own father. Big Brother’s method of surveillance instills loyalty in the future generations of Oceania.
They resemble the outer party, who are so loyal to Big Brother and the party that they will even believe the most paradoxical statements. In the allegory of the cave, there is a person who is dragged out of the cave and sees the truth of the world. In 1984 this individual is Winston smith, throughout his life he was able to glimpse at the lies within the shadows in front of him. He knew that outside of his figurative cave the answers he so desperately wanted could be found. It was O’Brien under the guise of a brotherhood member that provided hope and an initial push Winston needs to leave his cave.
Winston Smith is a typical example of vertebrae in the spine of any society. Hard working and keeps a rigid structure by absorbing impact, filling the spaces with his unknown desires. The bending of laws to avoid self-destruction in constant pressure from society and government. The idea of having every thought controlled, monitored and limited to what the elite deem as a necessary compromise to maintain peace and order in Oceania or any other Utopia in a general sense. Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of their own choosing, to understand the concept is the true hell for Winston.
1984. Oceania is ruled by a totalitarian government. Totalitarianism is a system of government that is dictatorial and requires complete obedience to the government. In George Orwell’s 1984, he creates a totalitarian government that relates to events in history and modern day government.
Imagine this, a perfect world of complete harmony and justice. There is no wrong, and there is no right. There is only utopia. It might be the perfect place where people want to live, or the place that people dream about. It might even be the picture of the future. However, this Utopian world is revealed to have flaws. It lacks many of the qualities of life that exist today. Thus the Utopian world isn't so Utopian anymore. And the more that is revealed about the world, the more horrible it becomes. Soon, it becomes a nightmare, a world of illusions, of lies. That is the dystopic world that authors such as Bradbury and George Orwell pictures in their books, a world that exists under the image of utopia, and yet to the reader seems like a
The outer party members, however, even though they are not ill or unhealthy, they are very skinny and small since they lack so much food. The inner party members appear to have a large effect and authority over Oceania.
The 1930’s ring of the days of the Great Depression, an era of famine, unemployment, and a healthy balance of economic turmoil. Among these grey signs of the times also rose the works of Authors such as George Orwell and Aldous Huxley, most famously known for their dystopian novels 1984 and Brave New World , which dive into completely opposite yet stunningly similar views of a utopia gone wrong. In each, citizens should strive for a certain “Identity”, one of patriotism and constant labour in 1984 and that of instant and constant gratification in Brave New World.
1984 Paper In 1984, George Orwell writes about the effect of a totalitarian state. The citizens of Oceania are controlled in many ways through the use of technology and fear. No person living in Oceania during this time has no private life. The residents fear Big Brother.
The inner party also exercises physical control with forcing citizens to watch broadcasts and to do specific tasks. Citizens are forced to participate in workout sessions that are podcast over the telescreens. The society has to involuntarily watch all the news about government and war and they project on the telescreens. The profound machinery obtained can also do as little as monitor one’s heart. During a television viewing, Winston described how the struggle of acting normal was an occurrence with no breaks. He explained that, “To keep your face expressionless was not difficult, and even your breathing could be controlled, with an effort: but you could not control the beating of your heart, and the telescreen was quite delicate enough to pick it up” (79). With this description, we are able to cohere that the Outer Party members had to become extremely talented at not only external appearance, but internal reaction. One blunder to how the Big Brother sought to have the people act with the government, and there would be painful torture. With this kind of technology, Oceania is able to watch every single second of all their citizens’ lives. Another way they take advantage of their radical machinery is the Inner Party’s service of police. Because of the Thought Police, the smallest things could give a commoner away. These things included habits like “a nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to
“A Party member lives from birth to death under the eye of the Thought Police... He has no freedom of choice in any direction whatever.” (210-211) Not only are citizens oppressed by the rules, but even those working for Big Brother are bounded by the same exceptions. Furthermore, the Party handles betrayal in a manner, which demonstrates the domination of the government.
The perfect world has never existed nor will it ever. Someone persons view on something great could be another worst nightmare. In some cases people mistake utopias for dystopias. A utopia is an ideal place of state or living (“Utopia”). A dystopia is a society of characterized by human misery, a squalor, oppression, disease, or overcrowding (“Dystopia”). In George Orwell’s book 1984 the society is depicted as a utopia when in reality it’s not the perfect place, it’s written to represent a dystopia. It takes place in 1984 in a dystopian America where it’s actually called “Ocieana”. The book tries to make itself seem like a perfect society, using propaganda, and presented government. They would look like the perfect society to some people
Envision the presence living in a dystopian society - where citizens are watched day-and-night. George Orwell’s novel 1984, written in 1949, depicts and illustrates the future of the 1980’s. Orwell imagined the world in which totalitarianism reigned, individualism is dead, and history is just sentiment. The world diverged into three superstates: Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia. With protagonist Winston Smith and the citizens of Oceania, they have experienced the impression, having to live life behind closed doors perpetually, also known as Big Brother. On top of this, the government directed everyone stay in control, citizens are not allowed to think for themselves and must be aware what they express before the Thought Police come for
It seems as though every time a society attempts to create a utopia, it has the opposite effect. 1984 is an example of an attempt at a utopian society that results in a place that is definitely not perfect. In most instances, a dystopia will be created when trying to make a utopia (Hough). There are multiple reasons as to why a utopia cannot work. Some of these reasons include resources and people in the society. George Orwell’s 1984, along with past governments, show that a utopia can never be truly created and that it will always turn into a dystopia.
Inner Party: Is only a 2% of society, this is a elite and wealthy class. They are not monitored constantly because the Party respect them.
Outer Party members have little access to nice luxury goods: members can only purchase an oily alcohol known as Victory Gin and bad cigarettes which the tobacco falls out of, know as Victory Cigarettes. Outer Party members are also heavily watched by the Inner Party and the Thought Police. Outer Party members, like Winston and Julia, are required to have telescreens in their homes, which can never be turned off, “The instrument (the telescreen, it was called) could be dimmed, but there was no way to turn it off completely” (2). Outer Party members are constantly watched and listened to, with government agents peering in whenever they deem it necessary. Members of the Outer Party often work in low-income jobs and are never in management positions, due to the Inner Party’s mistrust of the Outer