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1984 by George Orwell Development of a theme across the novel essay
1984 by George Orwell Development of a theme across the novel essay
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Orwell has an idea for a government in his novel “1984” based on what was occurring around him the years during the Second World War. In 1984 the totalitarian governments most like drew his inspiration was the Soviet communism and Nazi fascism. Both grew from hate towards a specific circumstances. Their ends came in different breaths releasing the country of its hate. Big Brother is run by a group of individuals which believe to have a perfect society is to control through fear. In the appendix a word that is not conspicuous if one was to carefully read is was. This words’ mean is that Big Brother is no longer in power, hate has led to his or its fall either internally or an external force, similar to Communism and Nazi Fascism. Hate thrives within growing …show more content…
Third section of 1984 O'Brien tortures Winston, say he, Winston does not exist unless the Big Brother says so and the Party controls all aspects of life. One of the greatest quotes that describes the Party mentality: “Power is God”, they care not for the privileges but the power they have. (Orwell ) O'Brien pushed Winston to unimaginable limits to Ibarra 2 where his thought were no longer his. The point was not to have him regurgitate what O'Brien said but to actually believe what O'Brien said. Example being in the third section when Winston is asked if he truly wants to sees five fingers or is he just repeating then continuing with the heinous acts. In all honesty the Party can only track people for so long. In most tyrant based societies there comes a period the people being oppressed rise to fight for freedom to what they think is right, I believe the end of this society will come in the form of thought. Nazi Fascist philosophy was to think a certain group of people have superiority above all others as well as an extreme nationalism and a strong hatred towards the Jewish, blaming it
In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, O’Brien claims that living in a society full of hatred is doable in the hands of Big Brother. The reasoning for having Big Brother is to persuade people that the government is in control and no one needs to worry about anything else. Just as many people in 1984 were trained to believe in the the choices and decisions the government makes I feel that today many people are also in the same situation. I agree in O’Brien’s point of view that we can carry on living in a society full of hatred. A society based on hate can and will exist as long as the society remains isolated from the outside world and how the society stays tied together in their hate.
Orwell has real concerns about the way in which society worked, particular when considering hierarchies and the way the powerful manipulate information. As can be seen there is a strong hierarchy system in the novel 1984 with references to poor and wealthy classes, the proles being lower class and the inner party members being higher class. Orwell spent time in boarding school, wasn’t wealthy and saw disparity between people who had and hadn’t, there are many references towards headmaster and control “ When he spoke it was in a schoolmasterish kind of way” (3.5.297). Orwell also used Hitler’s actions as a leader and incorporated them into 1984; this is evident through the propaganda of Big Brother, dictatorship and the way the Inner party was able to manipulate society to change their beliefs. “The German Nazis and the communist came very close to us in their methods…” (3.3.276) Orwell’s values and beliefs about communism and democracy have strongly been developed through his trepidation in power and historical references to Hitler.
They have installed so much fear, that people will readily and without hesitation denounce their comrades as Thought Criminals in order to prove their loyalty to Big Brother. A prime example of this loyalty through betrayal is when a man in the Ministry of Love is being taken to Room 101, and he is so scared that he points to another man saying: “He’s the one you want!... ... middle of paper ... ...
...ailed as a system of government. Perhaps in Orwell's socialist commentary he failed to take notice of the trends being embraced by capitalism. Behavioral psychology states that reward is a far greater incentive than punishment is a deterrent. In society today thought control is much more pleasant, subtle, and diverse than it was in Orwell's vision.The media, television, the internet, computer games, and movies serve to indoctrinate us into the norms of society in a way which is much more complex than Big Brother's propaganda. We are depoliticized, kept away from the real issues by superficial diversions, much like the proles. Big Brother may not exist, but his name is everywhere. Perhaps Aldus Huxley's Brave New World would have better served as a predictor of modern society's fall. Orwell predicted that the truth would be concealed and that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley thought that the truth would be drowned in irrelevance and that what we love will ruin us. Orwell's political commentary and philosophical issues are still relevant, but we live in a world far more complex than he could have ever predicted. Big Brother isn't watching. He doesn't need to. We're watching him.
1984 was George Orwell 's unsettling prediction about the future. And although the year 1984 was some time ago, Orwell 's storyline is suitable more than ever. 1984 offers an astonishing and unforgettable image of the world, so influential that it is completely convincing from beginning to end. It unearths a constant fear everyone has had since the inception of the government. A slogan on the front of the Ministry of Truth shows everyone what was relevant and understood about their society. “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, and Ignorance is Strength.” (Orwell) The influence of language in this novel is one of the greatest compelling forces that exist. As a result the Party goes to excessive measure to make sure they are the ones controlling
The year 1984 has long passed, but the novel still illustrates a possibility for the future of society. It still remains a powerful influence in all sorts of literature, music, and social theory. George Orwell envisioned a nightmarish utopia that could have very easily become a possibility in 1949 ? the year the novel was written. He managed to create such a realistic view of humanity?s future, that this story has been deemed timeless. There will always be the threat of totalitarianism, and at some moments civilization is only a step away from it. Orwell hated the thought of it, and 1984 shows that. From his work, readers who live in prevailing democratic society have a chance to consider about these very different political systems, democracy and totalitarianism.
George Orwell’s 1984 tells a story of a totalitarian government through the protagonist Winston Smith. Among the symbols in 1984, Big Brother is a distinct symbol of the Party as well as dictators which stays consistent throughout the novel.
A huge part of their government is a daily period called the 2 minutes hate, where everyone watches a film that strikes rage against the Party’s enemies. The people scream and yell in anger, hatred, and fear. This develops hate towards the government’s enemies, fear of what might happen if they were to rebel, and love towards big brother. In the novel, Winston describes what he sees during the hate: “In its second minute the Hate rose to a frenzy. People were leaping up and down in their places and shouting at the tops of their voices in an effort to drown the maddening bleating voice that came from the screen” (Orwell 14). The Two Minute Hate is the primary public gathering the superstate uses; however, there are other events that motivate the people as well. The people of Oceania go to public hangings and gather to watch videos of enemies being hurt and destroyed. This has the same effects as the 2 minute hate does and is beneficial for the Party in terms of the new generation being loyal, because the children are especially excited by these cruel events. Even if the public isn’t at the hate or a hanging, they are constantly seeing the Big Brother slogan in every corner of Oceania. Big brother is the symbolic figure in which the Party uses to represent their power and beliefs. As Winston looks outside, Orwell illustrates what he
Throughout the novel, Winston’s sole belief was to be apart from the rest of the Party’s ideals. However, his humanity fails him as he exclaims to O’Brien, “Do it to Julia!... Not me! Julia! I don’t care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Not me!” (286). This is the moment where O’Brien breaks Winston. Winston becomes a prisoner in his own mind by not having the freedom that he expressed earlier in the novel by knowing “that two plus two make four” (81). His freedom is so far from his mind, that he does not know the meaning of the word anymore. Winston also has a tendency to “[push a] picture out of his mind…a false memory” as he calls it which “did not matter so long as one knew them for what they were” (296). He, in fact, no longer knows what a real memory is. The Party’s manipulation of Winston finally succeeds manipulating Winston by limiting the way he perceives memories. Although, Winston thinks “everything [is] all right, the struggle [is] finished, and he wins the victory over himself” only knowing that “he [loves] Big Brother” (298). The simplicity in this ending makes it seem that Winston is at peace; the man versus self-struggle is over. He does not have to constantly think or move in secret. In a way, this gives him a sort of ‘freedom’ that he could not have with his own
The telescreens record and stream everything from the room they’re in. The only time you have privacy is when it’s dark or you’re out of the line of sight from the telescreens camera, and even then it still picks up sounds. When the citizens are at work or on the street their movements are monitored by cameras and hidden police. The children are not only encouraged but trained to hunt out enemies of the party. Someone who has doubts about the government is a walking corpse. It is inevitable that the government will find out and execute them. THis knowledge can cause an extreme amount of stress causing the guilty person to act recklessly or even give themselves
Winston does not recognize himself anymore. He is a shell of who he used to be. The keeping of food was getting to him; he is a walking skeleton with recognition of who he truly is. With his sense of self lost, he places all remaining hope into O’Brien to make Winston back into somebody. He craves an identity, and a place in the world. Winston obeys O’Brien and the party without fail. Another method of physical torture that impacted Winston was the consistent beatings. There was always “four or five men”, and “there were times when it went on and on until the cruel, wicked, unforgivable thing seemed to him not that the guards continued to beat him but that he could not force himself into losing consciousness.” The men had beat Winston to a point where if one of them raised their arm, he would do anything they told him to. He would confess to whatever he had to because “the confession was a formality” and because he did not want to be brutalized anymore since “the torture was real.” At that point, O’Brien had gotten what he wanted. He had broken Winston down so much, and Winston was doing everything he had to do to stay alive. He would confess to crimes he did not commit, he participated in doublethink, and he believed that what the party said was the ultimate truth. He was playing the perfect part of a civilian in
There once was a warm caring leader. In fact, he possessed the traits of a guardian and a protector. This majestic figure was known as Big Brother, the leader of the Party in 1984. Big Brother had one motto in order for a successful society, war is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength. (Orwell,26) This makes people think otherwise of his title. Instead
It is extremely important for the party members to think that they are equal. To believe that times have only gotten better since Big Brother. If they think otherwise, they could form a rebellion. Unlike the proles, they have the means to revolt. Although the Thought Police makes it nearly impossible, they have the intelligence and resources to do so. They are considered as “the brain of the State” (Orwell, 172). A party member is taught to not think for themselves, to focus all of their energy on the hatred of their enemy. By doing so, this reduces their possible rebellious
...Ministry of Love, once said, “The object of terrorism is terrorism. The object of oppression is oppression. The object of torture is torture. The object of murder is murder. The object of power is power” (Orwell____). All Big Brother wants is a continuous flow of power, and they will stop at nothing to get it; even if it means wiping out all the identity and diversity in the millions of people in Oceania.
Orwell's economic views and opinions introduced are rarely in his literary works, he wrote many volumes of his political commentary, which is expressed in a totalitarian world. In "1984", his expressions on totalitarianism and controlled societies are very pessimistic and negative (Roback 127). Orwell's thoughts on technology were indifferent, he did not support it or go against it, all that mattered when technology came into the picture was who controlled it, (Roback 127). Orwell's views sync with the character in the book; Orwell's views and Smith's are the same and have the same standpoints on totalitarianism. Orwell’s "1984" creates a grim picture of humanity's existence within an extremely controlling totalitarian government.