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1984 and dystopian society
Commentary On Orwell'S 1984
1984 and dystopian society
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1984 In the words of Benjamin Franklin “Any society that will give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both”. Benjamin Franklin was one of our founding fathers that fought for our freedom , he was apart of the Declaration Of Independence and invented many things that America uses today and would be nothing without it . Most importantly Benjamin Franklin believed in rights and liberty and those who would give up their liberty for security doesn’t deserve either. In the novel 1984 , written by George Orwell the city of Oceania is ruled by a leader known as “Big Brother” . Big Brother is not seen but sees everything, Oceania is under a totalitarian government which means it is ruled by one person and the members don’t have a say they must obey. In order for Big Brother to stay in power he must have the minds of the people in utter control, the ways that Big Brother does that is by The Thought Police, The Telescreens, Fear Tactics , and The Party . The Party works for Big Brother , their job is to make sure that no one is an enemy towards Big Brother or is disobeying him . The main character known as Winston Smith is a 39 year old man who lives in Oceania and struggles with the society and it being dominated by Big Brother. Winston struggles throughout the novel with Thought Crime , and Newspeak . Newspeak was the Gardner 2 official language of Oceania , people had to learn the language and nothing more. Some disagreed with Newspeak but in the end they obeyed and spoke the language in order to stay alive. Thought -Crime is when a person has their own thoughts and opinions believing in only those, then it becomes a thought crime if found out by the Thought Police and you are killed as pu... ... middle of paper ... ...ld himself that he would never be like every other member of Oceania ,under utter control Gardner 4 and stripped of their individuality and freedom . That rebelling was his only source of freedom and he ended up worshipping Big Brother . Big Brother is the ruler of Oceania and uses Fear Tactics,the Thought Police,The Party,and Telescreens. Big Brother keeps utter control and power making the people of Oceania believe that freedom is dangerous in order to get safety that they need members should give up their freedom and individuality obeying what big brother puts in place. “Any one that gives up their freedom for safety doesn't deserve either “as said by Benjamin Franklin. People have slaved, fought, and died so you can have freedom ; and you give it up that easy you don't deserve either.!
“WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.” The slogan is used to convince the citizens that the life they want, is the life they already have. Ultimately, it makes them believe that anything the party says or does is best for Oceania. In the eyes of the people, everything the party does is for their own benefit, when in reality it’s benefiting the government.
Big Brother - Big Brother is the enigmatic dictator of Oceania. In the society that Orwell describes, everyone is under complete surveillance by the authorities. The people are constantly reminded of this by the phrase "Big Brother is watching you", which is the core "truth" of the propaganda system in this state. In the novel, it is unclear if Big Brother is a man or an image crafted by the Party. In a book supposedly written by the rebel Emmanuel Goldstein, it is stated that nobody has ever seen Big Brother. His function is to act as a focusing point for love, fear, and reverence.
Deception and a blatant contradiction of facts in the spirit of impunity form the foundation of the construct of modern dictatorship and draconian governance. Leaders with this attitude treat the public office and nation as personal property and deploy the state resources at their disposal for selfish use. Their behavior takes the form of frivolous “surveillances, monitoring, and other control structures founded on lies and ambiguities” (Dean and Orwell 23). The same scenario is exactly what happens at Oceania. The nation is governed by the party headed by the big brother (“Gordon State College” n.p.).
The Party and its leader Big Brother play the role of authority in 1984. The Party is always watching the citizens of the Republic of Oceania. This is exemplified in the fact that the government has telescreens through which they can watch you wherever you are set up almost everywhere. Even in the countryside where there are no telescreens, the Party can monitor its citizens through hidden microphones disguised as flowers. The Thought Police are capable of spying on your thoughts at anytime, and can arrest or even kill you on a whim. Not only does the Thought Police find and hunt down felons, but it also scares others into being good citizens. The Party strives to eliminate more and more words from people’s vocabularies. Thus, the Party can destroy any possibilities of revolutions and conspiracies against itself. Its ultimate goal is to reduce the language to only one word, eliminating thought of any kind. The Party makes people believe that it is good and right in its actions through the Ministry of Truth and through the slogans printed on the Ministry of Truth:...
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
It is clear that the government of Oceania in 1984 is self-serving, existing not to benefit its citizens or the elite Party members, but existing purely to exist and grow. Perhaps the most clear indication of this was O’Brien explaining the Party’s motives while torturing Winston. O’Brien explains that “the Party seeks power only for its own sake” and that “the object of power is power.” (185) This clearly indicates that the government of Oceania, a totalitarian state, seeks power not to improve the lives of citizens, but for power
The fictional world of 1984 is best described as bleak. In the aftermath of the fall of capitalism and nuclear war, the world has been divided among three practically identical totalitarian nation-states. The novel takes place in London, which has become a part of Oceania, the nation state comprising the Americas and western Europe. A state of perpetual war and poverty is the rule in Oceania. However, this is merely a backdrop, far from the most terrifying aspect of life in 1984. Oceania is governed by a totalitarian bureaucracy, personified in the image of Big Brother, the all-knowing/ all-seeing godlike figure that represents the government. Big Brother is best described as a "totalitarian socialist dictator, a political demagogue and religious cult leader all rolled into one." So great is the power of Big Brother that the reader is unsure whether he actually exists or is simply a propaganda tool of the government. The party of Big Brother, Ingsoc (English Social...
Natural instincts and emotions do not exist for the citizens in Oceania, as they are conditioned since birth to be working bodies, lacking mercy and compassion. “By careful early conditioning, by games and cold water, by the rubbish that was dinned 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.” (Orwell, p.71) The main repetitive means of conditioning were the Party slogans which citizens must adhere to; War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength. War is linked with peace and security, rather than horror and grief. Freedom is viewed as being an individual, therefore more susceptible to torture. The individual is defeated and therefore enslaved to the government rather than being apart of the government. In result, there is no freedom of thought, expression, language, religion, etc. Ignorance is bliss since there is no need to criticize the government and therefore, fewer confrontations.
Orwell shows the Party has taken strict measures in order to maintain the established status quo that suppresses the majority of Oceania. They have shaped and constructed history so that children grow up as servants to the party. Propaganda stating how rich and prosperous Oceania is the news of the day even though real conditions show buildings are dilapidated and resources are sparse.
Every part of life is regimented and controlled, but the only crime is ‘thought crime’: independent thinking and individualism. Big Brother is the figurehead of the Inner Party, and throughout the book, it is heavily implied that he may not really exist. The people are divided into Inner Party members, who control the government, Outer Party members, who make up the middle class, and Proletarians, or Proles, who make up the uneducated lower class. He utilizes strong but vague descriptions of the world around Winston to hint at the state of the world without directly saying it. He describes a bright cold day, which seems to perfectly depict the world's bleak state in a sort of indirect way (Orwell, 1948).
The novel 1984 by George Orwell is a fictional future where The Party controls everything. The Party is lead by a larger than life figurehead named Big Brother. The main character is Winston Smith. The story is divided into 3 parts and chronicles Winston’s rebellion against and then re-entering of The Party.
In George Orwell’s novel, 1984 the theme is a totalitarian government has the capability to physically and mentally break down individuals and then rebuild them the way they want by using torture and the destruction of emotions and personal thought.
It is fair to say that the first Americans used their freedom to take away those of others. No line showcases this better than, “And torn from black Africa’s strand I came/ “To build a homeland of the free” (5-6). The U.S was founded on the concept that all men have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
state controls all aspects of people’s lives. Oceania’s entire population is under totalitarian rule and is
...illing to sacrifice our freedoms just because were too lazy to make ourselves aware, and too submissive to take a stand. If we continue this we could end up with the same amount of freedom and privacy as all the citizens from 1984.