George Orwell once wrote, “In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” In Orwell’s 1984, he establishes a government centered on universal deceit to expose the impact of such controls on the citizens, specifically, the revolutionary, Winston. Winston Smith is introduced as a worker of the Ministry of Truth, where he, as well as many others, work to alter or destroy any pictures, pieces of written work, art work etc. that may cause citizens to question the power or truthfulness of their government. Although Smith performs proficiently at his job and complies with the rules of this society, he, unlike most others, sees the lies and manipulation imposed on the citizens of Oceania by Big Brother and attempts to deceive …show more content…
He purchased a small journal from a shop and began to write in it out of view of the telescreen in his house, which allows anything in front of it to potentially be seen or heard. At first he had some difficulties as he could only manage to write jumbles of some of his memories, but then he began to write things like “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER (Orwell, page 18).” He later had an encounter with one of his fellow coworkers, O’Brien, which got him thinking that there might be others out in the world who see things the way he does, including O’Brien himself. Winston eventually decides that his diary will become a sort of letter to O’Brien, and to a future or past where things might have been different. In these diary entries he wrote things such as, “To the future or to the past, to a time when thought is free, when men are different from one another and do not live alone—to a time when truth exists and what is done cannot be undone…(Orwell, page 28).” This refers to how citizens think and act the same and previous events are not written as they happened, but altered to Big Brother’s benefit. He also wrote, “Thoughtcrime does not entail death: thoughtcrime IS death (Orwell, page 28).” This can be further explained by Winston’s previous thought, “The consequences of every act are included in the act itself (Orwell, page 28).” Winston …show more content…
He and Julia met up very frequently at the apartment he rented above the shop where he purchased his journal. Unfortunately, with a hidden telescreen in the room, they were found out and brought in to a facility for thoughtcriminals. They were tortured until they were broken, physically and mentally. Throughout this process, Winston remained honest in spite of the pain. “I don’t know. I don’t know. You will kill me if you do that again, Four, five, six—in all honestly I don’t know (Orwell, page 252).” From there they were rebuilt into ideal citizens and released back into regular society, to later be killed for their original crimes. “He was walking down the white-tiled corridor, with the feeling of walking in sunlight, and an armed guard at his back. The long-hoped-for bullet was entering his brain (Orwell, page 297).” Despite all the actions he took to rebel against the government, in the end they were regrettably pointless when it comes to the rest of
Julia instructs Winston how to return to London. The two arranged meetings where and when they would meet again. Julia reveals that she is not interested in the revolt. Although, she is a personal rebel. Winston reveals information to Julia about his wife Katherine which he decided weather to not killer her or not. Winston returned to Mr. Charrington’s offer: he had rented the room above his shop in order to spend some private time with Julia. Winston reveals his fear of rats.
Winston is confronted with struggle throughout the entirety of George Orwell`s dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. Living within a totalitarian regime subsequently causes Winston to seek approaches for dealing with such abundant oppression; he finds liberation through self-awareness, understanding and ultimately rebellion. First, Winston realizes that “if you want to keep a secret you must also hide it from yourself”, alluding to the notion of thoughtcrime (162). This recognition exemplifies the complete cognizance that Winston has regarding the oppressive society displayed throughout the novel. Next, Syme states “It’s a beautiful thing, the destruction of words”, alluding to the idea of Newspeak (28). This statement directly correlates to Winston speaking with other party members to gain knowledge about how others feels about policies deployed by the government. This information-seeking also connects with Winston`s rebellion, as he actively searched for others to join his uprising, which is shown when Winston tells O’Brien “We want to join [The Brotherhood]” (171). Winston’s attempt to join a rebellious organization exhibits his evident desire to release his suppressed emotions. Winston devises a very methodical approach to deal with the problematic society he resides in.
The Party uses propaganda as a powerful weapon against the citizens of Oceania. It is used to brainwash, control, and instill fear within Oceania. One of the most effective forms of propaganda used in 1984 is the saying “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” (Orwell 1). It is a slogan that is introduced at the very beginning of the novel which aims to keep the citizens of Oceania in line with the totalitarian rule in a brainwashing way. This poster itself is placed religiously all over Oceania, which symbolizes the constant reminder of the surveillance being used to keep people in order. The poster has an image of a face which in the text is described as, “an enormous face gazed from the wall. It was one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move”
Both are taken into custody and tortured and beaten so that they can be rebuilt to obey the Party and to sell out each other. Winston takes many days of torture and pain before he is put into room 101 where he is encountered with his worst fear,which is rats. Winston the breaks down and yells, “Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! I don’t care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Julia! Not me” (Orwell 286). The only thing that kept Winston going was the fact that he hadn’t yet betrayed Julia, and he felt determined to never betray her. With Julia, O’Brien told Winston that she gave him away almost instantly. She was all about saving herself,and did not care about what could happen to Winston now that they were caught and their relationship would not continue.
By enforcing these simple laws and regulations, the government is able to keep a tight grip on its people, with few ever releasing themselves from its grasp. Winston Smith, on the other hand, seeks to know the truth behind the government, he is constantly questioning everything and repressing all the ideas forced upon him. Winston “seeks truth and sanity, his only resources being the long denied and repressed processes of selfhood” (Feder 398). All identity is gone in this place called Oceania, and for the sake of Big Brother and its continuous control of the people, it will never exist again. In 1984, the absence of identity strips the people of all creativity and diversity, as well as takes away any chance the society has to advance as a people or in the area of technology.
Winston’s image of a perfect world and his memories of the world before Big Brother, and free of Big Brother, is held within the pages of his very illegal journal. He holds his whole life of thoughts, and feelings inside the journal. Once it was exposed to the Party members, his perfect world is shattered, along with himself. Winston journal was his last hope for society to be an actual society again, free of any dictator. This simple thing dictated Winston’s life. Guiding him on what to believe in and fight
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 the novel, 1984 by Gorge Orwell, was published in 1949. The novel depicts a society that is being controlled and manipulated by a totalitarian government with absolute power over everyone and everything. The citizens of Oceania are under constant watch by Big Brother and the party. The government monitors and controls everyone’s life including the involuntary process of thinking. To think is to break the law. But how do they even know if someone is thinking? Well, they installed telescreens in every household which was meant to keep a watchful eye on everyone. If their facial expression is from the ordinary, then they were considered to be thinking which will then cause them to get a visit from the Thought Police. But why don’t they want
In the novel “1984” by George Orwell, the dystopian society shows how a person or those in power have the ability to control the thoughts and actions of the citizens. The party uses propaganda as a fatal weapon of control and makes them believe that what the party says or does is always correct. With the right tools and tactics, those in power can have total control over the actions and thoughts of its citizens, which can eventually lead to a totalitarian government. There are a lot of scenes, events, and ideas in the novel that can be used to illustrate and exemplify arguments about the real world, which leads to the idea that those in power can decide what is real and what is not.
Throughout history deception has been one key factor into killing democracies. For example, in 1984 a book written by George Orwell describes what the world would be like if people lived without democracy and what kills democracy. In 1984 deception has blinded the people of Oceania to the truth. As people live in fear and deception their minds start to believe it's true. The deception being the propaganda, hate rallies, and forced beliefs that Big Brother is right in what they are doing. Another example would be social media today. This is one of the greatest examples of the truth being lost in the purpose of views and likes. While all choices involve costs in a democracy, the main cause to the corruption of democracy is the truth is expendable
In this case, the government has to use severe actions to ensure they will never act in this way again. Winston Smith, is a minor member of the ruling Party and is aware of some of these extreme tactics. Since Winston is not completely brainwashed by the propaganda like all the other citizens, he hates Big Brother passionately. Winston is one of the only who realize that Big Brother is wiping individual identity and is forcing collective identity. He is “conscious of [his] own identity”(40-41) . Winston continues to hold onto the concept of an independent external reality by constantly referring to his own existence. Aware of being watched, Winston still writes “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER, DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER”(21) in his diary. Winston believes whether he writes in his diary or not, it is all the same because the Thought Police will get him either way. Orwell uses this as a foreshadow for Winston's capture later on in the novel. Fed up with the Party, Winston seeks out a man named O’Brien, who he believes is a member of the ‘Brotherhood’, a group of anti-Party rebels. When Winston is arrested for thought crime by his landlord, Mr.Charrington, who is a member of the Thought Police. Big Brother takes Winston to a dark holding cell, to use their extreme torture strategy to erase any signs of personal identity. Winston's torturer is O’Brien, the man he thought to be apart of the brotherhood. Winston asks
Julia had betrayed the Party before she met Winston by being a member of the Junior Anti-Sex League but having sex whenever she pleased. After they found out that Mr. Charrington betrayed them, Julia and Winston promised to each other that they would not betray each other no matter what happened. When Winston asked about Julia during his torturing O’Brien said “ She betrayed you, Winston. Immediately--unreservedly. I have seldom seen anyone come over to us so promptly. You would hardly recognize her if you saw her. All her rebelliousness, her deceit, her folly, her dirty-mindedness--everything has been burned out of her. It was a perfect conversion, a textbook case. (Orwell, 214)” Julia broke her promise to Winston and gave up on him before she had even gone through half the torturing he did. After Winston and Julia both got out of Ministry of Love they ran into each other and discovered that neither of them still loved each other which proved that Julia truly did betray Winston because she said “Confession is not betrayal. What you say or do doesn’t matter: only feelings matter. If they could make me stop loving you- that would be the real betrayal” (Orwell
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.
Ultimately, Winston betrays Julia because of his tortured experience and the two characters having different objectives, also influenced their betrayals. Julia was young and did not care for what the future held by the Party and the only reason she favored Winston’s views was for selfish reasons like personal pleasure. It is easier for Julia to betray Winston because she is not for the rebellion against the party for the same reasons. Winston however, was truly for the rebellion against the Party and for Julia because he believed she was as well. Winston’s experience with torture was the reason for his betrayal against Julia and was influenced by his goal to oppose the Party. However, he was only doing what the Party wanted him to do, which was to not love anyone else, except Big Brother. This is explained when Winston was analyzing the Party’s doings, “permission was always refused if the couple concerned gave the impression of being physically attracted to one another” (Orwell 65). Being in love is not only a feeling, but apart of love is showing physical affection, the Party did not believe in this. This reveals how Winston betrays Julia by calling her out for torture, because he no longer cares for her safety and this is what the Party wants. However, it can be assumed it was inevitable because I do not believe their love was genuine. The two used each other to only feel the human connection that was missing from society and Winston admired the idea that they shared
George Orwell uses Winston to represent truth in a deceptive world in his novel 1984. In Oceania, Big Brother is the omnipotent and all powerful leader. Everything the government dictates is unquestionably true, regardless of prior knowledge. Even thinking of ideas that go against Big Brother’s regime, or thoughtcrime, is punishable by death. Winston serves as the dystopian hero, longing for freedom and change. Orwell uses Winston to emphasize the importance of individual freedoms, as they give us the ability to fulfillingly lead our respective lives.