George Orwell 1984 Power

“1984 expresses man’s fears of isolation and disintegration, cruelty and dehumanisation…Orwell’s repetition of obsessive ideas is an apocalyptic lamentation for the fate of modern man. His expression of the political experience of an entire generation gives 1984 a veritably mythic power

Thirty-three years ago, the unpleasantry that novelist George Orwell dreamt of never became the reality he predicted it would in 1949. The year 1984 was supposed to take society on an absolute turn for the worst, becoming a global dystopia in which everyone lived under the regulation and dominance of one of three totalitarian superstates. Orwell wrote of this future in his book 1984, creating the fictional universe of Oceania in which the lives of Winston Smith and the other characters in Oceania seemed genuinely real, especially by use of various literary devices. Motifs such as the linguistic concept of Newspeak and the majority of society’s convergence of feelings towards the Party and Big Brother appear multiple times throughout the pages of the novel. Through such recurring ideas, a major theme stands out - the lack of self-expression. Living under an authoritarian and oppressive government, party members such as Winston are forced to follow the socialist policies of Ingsoc. In the book it is written that, “The two aims of the Party are to conquer the whole surface of the earth and to extinguish once and for all the possibility of dependent thought” (Orwell 193). If everyone were to give into the Party, self-expression would be entirely eliminated because everyone and everything would be censored. With such motives made clear, Winston along with a minority realize the absurdity in the Party’s ways. Nevertheless, many more others do not, loving Big Brother and embracing

In George Orwell’s novel, “1984”,is about a main character Winston, who is an ordinary citizen of Oceania. The totalitarian society is led by Big Brother. Television screens are strategically placed everywhere watching citizens’ every move. Leaving them in constant fear and paranoia. The corrupt society lead to some citizens wanting to rebel. If they were ever caught, they would be severely punished. This kept wearing citizens down. The dehumanization of citizens of Oceania was due to propaganda, mind control, and the lack of privacy.

1984 was written in an age of Nazism and Stalinism, where those totalitarian and fascist governments had their fists clenched around their citizens, controlling and terrorizing them at every move and within every aspect of their lives. The English author, Eric Arthur Blair, better known under his pseudonym George Orwell, wrote 1984 as a warning, to provoke a sense of fear from his audience, which, in turn, makes his purpose, to persuade and inform his readers to question the authority and integrity of their governments and news stations and make certain they do not infringe upon people’s inalienable rights, all the more impactful. Orwell propels his purpose through means of rhetorical devices, such as allusion, colloquialism, and paradoxes in order to build up fear in his audience, which in turn more adeptly and meaningfully develops his purpose.

In 1984, Orwell makes excellent use of symbolism to further enhance the novel's theme and to reveal character. He wrote 1984 as a political message to warn future generations about the dangers of totalitarian societies. He relays this message through various themes and characters, in turn utilizes powerful symbols to give them further significance. His symbolism is very vast but it can be classified into three categories: characters, places and objects.

Using his remarkable writing skills, Orwell published 1984 in hopes that he would be able to demonstrate to his readers that a communist government would lead to a totalitarian reign over all of society.

Though Orwell does not experience totalitarian rule himself, he is completely aware of the abuse of power. In Burma, he recognized that the citizens were extremely censored and could be punished by torture or prison if they disobeyed. Similarly, in 1984, the citizens of Oceania were monitored by the thought police and anyone that did not follow all of the laws would disappear. Moreover, while Orwell fought in the Spanish Civil War, it was clear to him that the Soviet forces did not care about their soldiers well being, both physically and emotionally. Likewise, in 1984, Oceania has always been at war, which suggests that many casualties of men often occur, and all the countries, including Oceania, know that no one could ever win a war. In fact,

George Orwell’s use of corrupted logic in 1984 reveal the amount of control the Party has over the people. In 1984, the Party is primary political party that controls the people's thoughts, actions, and lives. The Party influences how the people will act and how they will feel through Orwell’s story. They give the people a sense of security or fear with the use of telescreens to control the way the act, such as when Winston explains, “The telescreens receive and transmitted simultaneously---You had to live -- did live from habit that became instinct-- in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard” (3). This allows the Party to keep watch over its people each day to make sure none of them stepped out of line, always looming over

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

The novel I have chosen to write about that is set in a different time but is still relevant to this day is “1984” by George Orwell. Orwell effectively uses theme, characterisation, imagery and symbolism to help us appreciate the themes he runs throughout the book that have just as much relevance then as they do now. This is despite Orwells’ book being first published in 1948.

Bleak, blanched city. Grey buildings, colourless people. Perpetual solemnity. A world where the mere utterance of a word—or the thinking of a single thought—can result in death. London, Oceania. 1984. In the eponymous novel by George Orwell, Winston Smith, a citizen of this dystopia, struggles to find a way out of the mental prison imposed upon the country by the Party. From being directly under its thumb to an anti-government revolutionary, he explores the nature of the Party’s control and what makes it so effective—and how he can escape it. Aware that the very words he speaks could give away his intentions, he explores the idea that language, and how the Party controls it, is what gives them their power. Fighting to expand his understanding of the Party’s reasons, Winston entangles himself in its deepest secrets and as a result, is discovered and subsequently tortured and “corrected”. Monitoring and scrutinizing every thought in the minds of Oceanians, trying to reduce the possibility of thought-crime by changing the language they speak, and ultimately attempting to change the course of history, the Party gives a warning to anyone who may meddle where they don’t belong—“Ignorance is Strength”—but Winston did poor to heed their advice.

In “1984,” Orwell describes a terrible society where totalitarianism reaches the top. In this circumstance, personality and freedom are strangled and thought is controlled. The most frightening aspect is that citizens have no sense right and wrong. Without a doubt, the reason why these happen is the governing of the Party, which is controlling everything in the country, Oceania. Orwell uses the control of language to show the idea that the Party solidifies its dominant position.

In George Orwell’s 1984 Power is gained most effectively through control, fear and violence. Compared to a government like that of America’s, 1984 creates a more threatening structure of government where the public is limited from freedom and happiness. 1984 shows a world of a society where only the upper class has power and freedom from the harsh treatment that the general population receives. The idea of Big Bother makes the population of Oceania believe they are being watched over by a powerful force and oppresses them so they feel powerless and unable to do anything against a “great” force like Big Brother. The well-being of others depends on their willingness to agree with Big Brother and abide by their laws, if you think otherwise then you will be an accuser of thought-crime will be vaporized and removed from society or harshly punished through rigorous treatment and torture methods as was Winston and Julia. Power creates problems for others in which they do not deserve.

After capturing Winston Smith for thought crime, O’Brien describes real power as “tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your choosing” (Orwell 266). By this he explains that true power is being able to choose what people minds think. In George Orwell’s novel, 1984, Winston, a Ministry of Truth worker who hates the Party, slowly starts to disobey the Party rules such as having freedom of thought and individuality. He entrusts a Party member, O’Brien, with his secret for the hatred of the Party. O’Brien reveals that he is a high Party leader who will fix Winston’s corrupt mind. Throughout this novel, it demonstrates that government is controlling people’s minds and

In 1984, controlling the information and history of the society is revealed to be an effective method of controlling and oppressing a population. Since the Party has ultimate control over Oceania, they exert their power in every way possible. This includes their manipulation of history and information to paint themselves in a better light, and ensure absolute control over their populace. The Party manipulates history to turn it into truth to control. They constantly change and rewrite history to better fit how their society should be. While doing the mandatory Physical Jerks, Winston ponders how the Party controls people with their control over society: