Theme Of Irony In 1984

The Mastermind Techniques Behind Persuasion
In his novel 1984, George Orwell has created a dystopian society in which the totalitarian government that rules Oceania has basically stripped its citizens of everything that makes them truly human. The government, headed by the mysterious Big Brother, has made it practically impossible for the inhabitants of their country to have any personal interaction with one another, or to even have any private thoughts. Using this narrative, Orwell expertly articulates a warning to those reading his novel, urging them to reduce governmental control in order to avoid the decrepit society he has described. Therefore, through 1984, it is obvious that Orwell has applied several tactics in order to convey his

Most notably, Orwell utilizes extreme amounts of irony. This irony is present through the entire novel; even the slogans of The Party are pure ironic contradictions: “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is freedom” (16). These slogans highlight just how backwards the intentions of The Party are, they are not advocating peace, freedom, or strength through their society. They are in fact advocating the complete antithesis of these qualities. Along with this, there are several additional occasions through the novel in which Orwell employs irony, such as how the Ministry of Love is only entered through a “maze of barbed-wire entanglements, steel doors, and hidden machine-gun nests” (4), and concerned itself with the torture of unlawful citizens. How the Ministry of Truth actively forges past documents in order to prevent the citizens from learning from the past. How the Ministry of Peace “concerned itself with war” (4), and how the Ministry of Plenty concerns itself with rationing public resources such as shoelaces and pans. The titles of all these government facilities are pure examples of irony. Of course one of the most significant uses of irony in 1984 is how the entire novel centers around Winston 's hatred for Big Brother, but in a twist of fate, the novel ends with the simple line “But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother”(297). These forms of irony through the novel are put in place by Orwell in order to convey just how twisted and backwards this society is, and to therefore show how his readers must avoid the mindset of the people living in