More handpicked essays just for you.
Orwell's warnings about totalitarian state
Orwell's warnings about totalitarian state
George orwell rhetorical essay on totalitarianism
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
A phobia is an extreme irrational fear or an aversion to something, a phobia is also described as an anxiety disorder in which a person has a persistent fear of an object or situation. For a trepidation to be recognized as a phobia it will typically be rapid in onset and present itselfs for six months or longer. According to the National Institute of Mental Health approximately four to five percent of the United States population has one or more clinically significant phobias per year. In the book 1984 by George Orwell the citizens are dictated by the government through means of fear in order to get results. Throughout the novel examples of phobias and fear are exploited by the government as a way for them to gain further control over the …show more content…
citizens. By inducing this system of fear the leaders are able to control every aspect of life and most importantly individual thought. The book 1984 by George Orwell at a glance is about our main character Winston Smith.
Winston struggles with the constant oppression in the realm of Oceania, this is where the leading government party pursues human actions with the help of the watchful eyes of Big Brother. Big Brother is a god-like identity whom suppresses any invitation of revolution and represents pure nationalism. The government itself successfully abandoned citizen individuality and self thought by pure suppression. By using fear and similar tactics the government is able to remain paramount with little fear of revolt or opposing ideas. The government effectively uses fear and hate in order to remain in complete control of its citizens. Those who decide to have individual thought or disobey the government are vaporized, in other words violators are …show more content…
executed. In the future dystopia of Oceania the Thought Police roam and have eyes on everything and everyone. The citizens are in a constant state of fear knowing they are underwatch 24/7, also the government successfully controls the public by turning families against each other. The children of Oceania are taught and praised for turning in adults and other who seem to be guilty of infraction. Also if a person is suspicious of “Ownlife”, or individualism they were to face serious punishment. This strategy put in place by the government is very effective because over time the citizens abide to the rules in fear and as a result they forget a past that was different. In other words the people of Oceania slowly become numb to their oppression and brainwashed to their corrupt government. The government also watches the citizens so closely that they learn their individual strengths and weaknesses, and of course the government uses those weaknesses to their advantage. The main character of the story, Winston Smith is a middle aged man who has always been too curious for the governments liking. Winston is a peculiar man who is always on the search for answers. Throughout the novel Winston becomes guilty of thoughtcrime and ownlife, these are both crimes worthy of death in Oceania. Winston is well aware of his crimes and believes he is beyond the government's sight, however the government had been onto him for years. Denial sets in for Winston and his actions became riskier and riskier.. Winston’s lack of precaution allowed the government to learn about Winston's weakness before his inevitable arrest, this gave them the upper hand when it came to the torture of Winston. Prior to Winston’s arrest he regrettably revealed his phobia of rats, he is absolutely terrified of them. This phobia is also known as musophobia, this is one of the most common phobias known to man. This phobia is often a result of an unconscious defense mechanism due to traumatic experience. Sadly because of the constant brainwashing Winston does not reveal the underlying cause of his fear, however he does have a nightmare in which his mother and sister were covered with rats and this severely frighten him. This kind of irrational fear is exactly what the government needed when it came to Winston's torture following his arrest. The government used this information against Winston towards the end of his torturing. Nevertheless there is an even deeper aspect of Winston's fear which is slightly more rational.
Winston’s phobia of rats may precipitate from an even deeper fear, this fear may be caused by the similarity between the conventional habits of rats and the habits of the numb comrades which surround him. Rats do not express individuality when subjected to testing, instead as a group they followed the same patterns repetitively. This is similar to the brainless actions of the citizens of Oceania. In other words Winston’s true fear is transforming into another brainless citizen like those who surround him. Winston is so stricken by this idea of being brainwashed that he would rather risk his own vaporization rather than succumb to the laws of
Oceania. With this information the government was able to fabricate specific torture for Winston in order for him to never stray from the government grasp ever again. The government used Winston’s weaknesses including his musophobia and his desire for Julia. As time passes Winston slowly becomes brainwashed, he decides he cannot fight against the party and that his sanity is only statistical. During the final days of his torture O’Brien revealed a cage of rats which were expected to attack Winston’s face. Just as the government expected this erratic fear was too much for Winston to bear, instead of facing it himself Winston suggested Julia to be subjected to the rats instead of him. This satisfied O’Brien because it became clear that Winston finally cracked, by doing this the government successfully transformed Winston from a possible revolutionist into an outstanding citizen of the party. The use of fear in order to control a population is not far fetched, a matter of fact throughout history this pattern has repeated itself in many ways. From the times the totalitarian leaders including Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein to even the leaders of today, including Donald Trump. Comparatively All of these leaders have used fear to promote power and control. Both Stalin and Adolf used brute force consequences against their citizens in order to remain in control and compete their agenda. The current president of the United States of America predominantly uses fear tactics in order to heighten his power. Although Trump does not use fear to control the citizens into habits and lifestyles like the political party does in Oceania, this is still a precedent case of the use of fear by those in power. From a psychological standpoint the writer Robert Evans Wilson Jr. states, “ there is a correlation between fear and the amount of power people seek. An individual’s motivation for power is to acquire control over his environment.” Wilson continues to explore the reasoning for the use of fear by people in power. It is said that people with power use explicit fear as a way to gain control because they feel threatened by their environment. To understand this you must imagine how terrifying it must be to control a group of people who could easily revolt against you at any moment. This is one of biggest fears for many leaders and it is because of this that they induce fear onto others. For example if a group is made fearful of consequences of revolt then it becomes less likely for the group to revolt in theory. This directly relates to 1984 because the main political party uses hate and fear to control the citizens. They purposely discriminate against those who have rebelled in the past and use their untimely fate to prevent revolution in Oceania. As I conclude I believe that fear is a very powerful tactic which when used can result in ultimate control. Throughout the novel fear is constantly used and presented to the citizens relentlessly in order for the political party to remain in full control. Similar to dictatorships throughout history fear has been used as a source of higher power. This opens up the topic of phobias because living in a constant state of fear inducing anxiety in many people, anxiety increases the fear of a person and this process repeats itself throughout 1984. Winston for example is constantly anxious and on edge searching for hidden cameras, telescreens, etc. This increases Winston’s fear of being caught by the thought police. Also Winston felt even more so after his arrest his fears were still manipulated in order to get the result the government wanted.
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).
Winston Smith, from the novel 1984, is a low status member of the Party who rules over the nation of Oceania. Winston is never alone, even in his own house. Everywhere he goes the Party is watching him through what they call telescreens. Oceania is run by a leader that is referred to as Big Brother. Winston is struggling with the fact that he doesn’t even have control of his own life, it’s controlled by the Party and Big Brother. When Winston becomes frustrated by the Party and Big Brother he illegally buys a diary in which to write criminal things like, “Down with Big Brother.” The Thought Police can basically read your mind, so even thinking anything rebellious or illegal will get you in trouble with them. Winston knows that he will soon get caught by the Thought Police for committing a thoughtcrime. He convinces himself that he will be caught no matter what he does, so he continues to rebel. Winston finds the courage to join a secret organization, called the Brotherhood, in order to take down Big Brother.
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.
“He has finally learned to love big brother” was how George Orwell in his novel 1984 described Winston, conversion to the party are represented by big brother at the end of the novel. It is easy to believe that at this instance, after torturous reeducation that Winston has endured, he has lost free will and no longer be able to freely choose to love big brother but was forced to, against hiss will. Therefore Winston was never free to love big brother, and in fact not free at all after his “reeducation.” But if we are to accept a definition of free will that stipulates that we are able to produce and act on our own volitions we must accept that Winston has retained and has chosen to love big brother out of his own free will.
In London, There is a party also known as “The Party” in the book. Winston is a low ranking member of the ruling party which is in the nation of Oceania. Everywhere Winston goes the party watches him. Can you imagine what its like to have everyone watching you? Trained kids, coworkers, neighbors? You can never have any privacy or be to yourself. Everywhere he looks he sees the face of the knowledgeable leader known to everyone as Big Brother. The Thought Police have telescreens in every household and public area to watch your every move, also they have hidden microphones and spies. The Party controls everything in Oceania even the peoples language and history. They implicated, forced and invented there own language called Newspeak. Which attempts to prevent rebellion against the politics and the government. It ties into why they control everything...
Firstly, Winston realizes the Party’s focus on trusting only Big Brother and no one else. Despite this convention, he yearns to trust others to add purpose and happiness to his life. Immediately starting the novel, it is introduced that in the Orwellian world of Oceania, Big Brother and the Party are all powerful and Party members should trust and love him. The familiar line of “Big Brother is watching you”
Everyone craves rebellion at some point. It may not even be because they oppose something strongly, it may just be because they want a rush and the feeling that they are defying a cause larger than themselves. In the book 1948 by George Orwell, Winston Smith does not only just crave the feeling of defying the invasive Party and Big Brother, but he has a strong hate towards the form of government that is ruling over him. Big Brother is an overlooking force in Oceania that monitors every aspect of society. Winston works in The Ministry of Truth, where he alters history. Instead of sitting back and accepting The Party like his fellow members of Oceania, Winston makes the audacious move to rebel. Winston faces a struggle
Firstly, O’Brien, a member of the inner party, uses technology to accomplish complete control over the public through the means of telescreens, hidden microphones and torture machines, ‘Any sound that Winston made… could be picked up by [the telescreen]. [Winston] could be seen as well as heard’. This emphasises to the reader the extent of control that the party can exercise over the public, enabling them to eliminate any potential rebels. Furthermore, this loss of freedom and individuality exterminates any real friendship, family or love forcing the public to turn to Big Brother for companionship. This in turn minimises the chance of rebellion as everyone views Big Brother as a figure of comfort and security, ‘As he seemed to tower up, an invincible, fearless protector…’ O’Brien also uses a torture machine on Winston, ‘[He] had never loved [O’Brien] so deeply as at this moment’. This machine enables O’Brien to manipulate Winston’s views, personal opinions and even feelings. O’Brien is able to make Winston view the world as he wants him to, even to the extent of making Winston love him, his tormentor, the person inflicting the pain. ...
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
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.
In 1984, George Orwell presents an overly controlled society that is run by Big Brother. The protagonist, Winston, attempts to “stay human” in the face of a dehumanizing, totalitarian regime. Big Brother possesses so much control over these people that even the most natural thoughts such as love and sex are considered taboo and are punishable. Big Brother has taken this society and turned each individual against one another. Parents distrust their own offspring, husband and wife turn on one another, and some people turn on their own selves entirely. The people of Oceania become brainwashed by Big Brother. Punishment for any uprising rebellions is punishable harshly.
In this world, there are many psychological problems and issues that people are dealing with. One of the main issues that they deal with is their fears. In this case, severe fears which are called phobias. There are over five hundred (500) types of phobias with a specific name, classification and description of that phobia. Phobias can become very extreme and hard to deal with if not treated after a certain amount of time. From understanding what a phobia is, the history, statistical facts, signs/symptoms and different types of treatment one can learn and understand that phobias are a serious matter and can be treated for. As long as a person understands what phobia they have, commit to finding a treatment and have a strong enough mind, they can see that they can do anything and be rid of their fears because you are only as strong as your weakest fear.
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
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.
Phobias are irrational fear to a person, place or object and they are classified as an anxiety disorder. There is a term for every phobia imaginable. Phobias affect approximately nineteen million individuals, with the fears ranging from blood to women and every thing in between. The symptoms one experiences when suffering with a phobia include profuse sweating, headaches, extreme nausea and a variety of other physical symptoms.