1984 Repression Essay

1580 Words4 Pages

1984 follows the life of our protagonist, Winston, and his attempt to save humanity from the dystopian world they now inhabit, created by the new government called The Party. This new government is completely power-hungry and does whatever it can to keep its citizens working for them by repressing freedom of speech, emotion, and even thought. The Party also brainwashes citizens into believing that whatever the government says is the truth, no matter what the people think. This theme of repression is a pervasive element seen throughout the story and serves as a huge point of conflict in Winston's struggles, as well as the struggles that we see other people face. The Party manipulates and represses the people's feelings and instincts to control …show more content…

In the book, we learn that the Party has repressed all sexual activity and even created something called the Junior Anti-Sex League to teach kids and young adults to refrain from acting upon sexual desires. This causes all sorts of issues for Winston, including severe trust issues paranoia. Before Winston gets to know Julia, one of our supporting characters whom he ends up having an affair with, he hated her, as the book says, "It was because of the atmosphere of hockey-fields and cold baths and community hikes and general clean-mindedness which she managed to carry about with her. He disliked nearly all women, and especially the young and pretty ones. (Orwell Kindle Locations 206-208),” Later, however, the book says that “...he realized why it was that he hated her (Julia). He hated her because she was young and pretty and sexless, because he wanted to go to bed with her and would never do so, because round her sweep supple waist, which seemed to ask you to encircle it with your arm, there was only the odious scarlet sash, aggressive symbol of chastity (Kindle Locations 280-283),” This sexual repression imposed by the Party is clearly detrimental to its citizens, seen in Winston’s hatred of almost all women and the pent-up sexual desires that lead to said hatred. Furthermore, when Julia asks Winston what he thought of her before she confessed her feelings, he says, “I hated the sight of you...I …show more content…

We see that there is a level of mistrust between family members caused by the propaganda that children have known for their whole lives. After the Party captures Winston after exposing him from his Thought Crimes and begins brainwashing him, the man responsible for his capture says that they will live in a world in which, “No one dares trust a wife or a child or a friend... (Orwell Kindle Locations 4120-4121),” He also says “There will be no loyalty, except loyalty towards the Party. There will be no love, except the love of Big Brother. There will be no laughter, except the laugh of triumph over a defeated enemy (Orwell Kindle Locations 4123-4124),” This is, without a doubt, the Party controlling people by manipulating their feelings, instincts, and desires, all for the Party’s benefit. Manipulating people so that they cannot trust the people they live with and love is sure to cause many problems in the normal person’s day to day life. It's not only families that are constantly watched; everybody is constantly monitored. There is the constant reminder of this in the various billboard the Party puts up, with Winston describing it as “…one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move. Big Brother Is Watching You, the caption beneath it ran, (Kindle Locations 86-88).” And with the Party’s invention of

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