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Imagine a world in which even the thought of rebellion was censored. In 1984, Winston and Julia are two people that wish to rebel against the extreme censorship of their government. Their desire to rebel culminates in a meeting between them and a member of the government, O’Brien, who also wishes to rebel. This meeting results in the arrest and reformation of Winston and Julia as O’Brien is revealed to be a spy. This event reveals how the people in this society feel about their government as well as how the people of the government respond to these desires. Oceania, the country featured in 1984, is a super power controlled by a government body known as “the Party.” This party is headed by the ever watching Big Brother and everyone is expected
to obey his command without fail. As stated by Pencilscom “The goal of censorship is control” and this is never truer than with Big Brother. Winston and Julia are two individuals who rebel against the rule of Big Brother; they meet in secret to commit thought crimes by wearing make-up and having sex for a purpose other than conceiving a child. These meetings that likely occur in other places in Oceania are evidence of the oppressive nature of the party. People with the desire to rebel would not appear with a fair government. This is also evidenced through their final act of rebellion, which was to meet with O’Brien and discuss rebellion. Just this act of discussion was enough to have them arrested. The Party’s censorship is also shown in their abundance of spies. O’Brien was under the cover of a member of the inner party who was also a member of the Brotherhood; in reality he was a spy meant to find people like Winston and “rehabilitate” them. Another spy was Mr. Charrington who allowed Winston and Julia to use his spare room just so he could report them for their rebellious acts. The Party’s oppressive nature is truly revealed during this meeting to become a member of the Brotherhood. The fact that a Brotherhood of rebels even exist is enough to see the flaws in Oceania’s society. It is also demonstrated in the meetings that they hold. When Winston and Julia meet with O’Brien he offers them a copy of The Manifesto of the Brotherhood. The fact that such a book could exist is further evidence along with how a spy used it to draw in a potential rebel for rehabilitation. With a slogan like “Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past” (Orwell Chapter 3) it is easy to see why rebels would begin to emerge. The society presented in George Orwell’s 1984 is one of extreme censorship and oppression. This is evidenced by the meeting of rebels from the Brotherhood to discuss their acts of rebellion as well as how Party spies use fake meetings to capture potential rebels.
In the book “1984” by George Orwell, Big Brother has the power to decide what is real and what is not. The citizens of Oceania are told not to use their own knowledge to gather facts or information, but to get their information from Big Brother, and the party. This show that the party has great control over its citizens. Big Brother’s power can decide what is real and what is not.
1984 takes place in an alternate-reality future where after World War 2, the world was divided into three main nations: Eastasia, Eurasia, and the super-country, Oceania. The book is set in Oceania in the year 1984, in the city of London, Airstrip One. Oceania is in a constant state of war against the two other countries, with bombings occurring daily and the living conditions extremely poor – very little food, very little clothing, and broken down housing. The Party rules over Oceania, with telescreens in almost every room that monitor every move a person makes, as well as anything they say. Posters hang everywhere with the phrase – BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU.
Deception and a blatant contradiction of facts in the spirit of impunity form the foundation of the construct of modern dictatorship and draconian governance. Leaders with this attitude treat the public office and nation as personal property and deploy the state resources at their disposal for selfish use. Their behavior takes the form of frivolous “surveillances, monitoring, and other control structures founded on lies and ambiguities” (Dean and Orwell 23). The same scenario is exactly what happens at Oceania. The nation is governed by the party headed by the big brother (“Gordon State College” n.p.).
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.
Things to know: 1984 was a book written about life under a totalitarian regime from an average citizen’s point of view. This book envisions the theme of an all knowing government with strong control over its citizens. This book tells the story of Winston Smith, a worker of the Ministry of Truth, who is in charge of editing the truth to fit the government’s policies and claims. It shows the future of a government bleeding with brute force and propaganda. This story begins and ends in the continent of Oceania one of the three supercontinents of the world. Oceania has three classes the Inner Party, the Outer Party and the lowest of all, the Proles (proletarian). Oceania’s government is the Party or Ingsoc (English Socialism
There are many characters in the novel 1984. These characters all rebel in separate and distinctive ways from each other. In George Owell’s not so sanguine vision of the year 1984 from his standpoint in 1949, he tells of a dreary future of what the world was becoming. In this future, no one has the right to anything, including free speech, freedom of press or even freedom of thought. Even the details like the history of the known world are changed by a corrupt and ever growing political party, which is managed and run by un-emotional and odious officials. From Julia, who rebels by purely simple, sexual acts, to Winston, who dreams to overthrow the party; all the characters have their own personal way of dealing with the oppression.
It is clear that the government of Oceania in 1984 is self-serving, existing not to benefit its citizens or the elite Party members, but existing purely to exist and grow. Perhaps the most clear indication of this was O’Brien explaining the Party’s motives while torturing Winston. O’Brien explains that “the Party seeks power only for its own sake” and that “the object of power is power.” (185) This clearly indicates that the government of Oceania, a totalitarian state, seeks power not to improve the lives of citizens, but for power
Much can happen in a matter of minutes; a man can go from thinking he is happy to thinking his life is falling apart, or can change from hating someone to loving them. These experiences sound outlandish, but they happened to Guy Montag, the main character in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, and Winston Smith, the main character in George Orwell’s 1984. These two dystopian novels are about the characters discovering major problems in their societies, and then trying to fix them. Montag lives in a society where television controls people’s lives and books have become illegal. On the other hand Smith lives in Oceania, a territory led by a totalitarian regime. This regime is headed by Big Brother and is referred to as the Party. By examining Fahrenheit 451 and 1984, it is seen, not only through the dehumanized nature of society, but also through the theme of lies and manipulation that both Orwell and Bradbury wish to warn of a horrifying future society.
In the novel 1984, Orwell produced a social critique on totalitarianism and a future dystopia that made the world pause and think about our past, present and future. When reading this novel we all must take the time to think of the possibility that Orwell's world could come to pass. Orwell presents the concepts of power, marginalization, and resistance through physical, psychological, sexual and political control of the people of Oceania. The reader experiences the emotional ride through the eyes of Winston Smith, who was born into the oppressive life under the rule of Ingsoc. Readers are encouraged through Winston to adopt a negative opinion on the idea of communist rule and the inherent dangers of totalitarianism. The psychological manipulation and physical control are explored through Winston's journey, and with Winston's resistance and ultimate downfall, the reader is able to fully appreciate O'Briens reasoning, "Power is not a means, it is an end."
1984 is about a totalitarian form of government that has taken over the country of Oceania. In this country, Big Brother controls all. He is the leader of The Party, which is the only form of leadership present in Oceania. A mystery that presents itself throughout the book, is whether or not Big Brother, the person, does or ever actually existed. Everything The Party does, ...
The fictional world of 1984 is best described as bleak. In the aftermath of the fall of capitalism and nuclear war, the world has been divided among three practically identical totalitarian nation-states. The novel takes place in London, which has become a part of Oceania, the nation state comprising the Americas and western Europe. A state of perpetual war and poverty is the rule in Oceania. However, this is merely a backdrop, far from the most terrifying aspect of life in 1984. Oceania is governed by a totalitarian bureaucracy, personified in the image of Big Brother, the all-knowing/ all-seeing godlike figure that represents the government. Big Brother is best described as a "totalitarian socialist dictator, a political demagogue and religious cult leader all rolled into one." So great is the power of Big Brother that the reader is unsure whether he actually exists or is simply a propaganda tool of the government. The party of Big Brother, Ingsoc (English Social...
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.
The novel 1984 by George Orwell presents the readers an image of a totalitarian society that explores a world of control, power, and corruption. The main idea of government control presents itself in the novel by protecting and listening to the people of Oceania. However, Orwell suggests giving too much power to the government is a mistake because eventually the decisions they make will not be about the people anymore but rather themselves. In 1984, the power and corruption the party has is overwhelming for the people. There are no ways around the beliefs of the Party, the party attempts to control and eventually destroy any mental or physical resistance against their beliefs. The agenda for the party is to obtain mind control over its people and force them to adore their leader. The methods the Party uses to achieve its goal are: the use of constant propaganda and surveillance, the rewriting of history, and Room 101.
For Big Brother to stay in control there cannot be individual identity. The ‘Party’ strives to strip away people's identities to have power over a group of emotionless individuals. Big Brother believes that the past must be controlled in order to regulate the present. Since Big Brother “is in control of the present” ( 20 ), they decide how everyone lives their everyday lives. The reason why the Party breaks links between the past from the present is clear. Therefore, citizens will fail to remember their individual identities from the past, and way of life was far better than is it now. “Oceania” lacks diversity, all their citizens are thought to be like emotionless robots. They all live in the same style apartment buildings, wear plain clothes, and eat stale food, everyone has to be uniform. This uniformity causes their citizens to act how they are told to which is the reason for their uniqueness and lack of personal identity. All over Oceania are posters reminding their citizens “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING [THEM]” ( ). This is the ‘Party's’ way of telling citizens there is never a time they can be alone or be by themselves. They always have to act in accordance to how the party expects them to. To make sure of this, the government is constantly monitoring their citizen via ‘telescreens’ that are found in every room. Big Brothers obsession of complete control leads to the destruction of individual's
The family unit of Oceania in George Orwell’s book, 1984, plays an important part to society. These families are broken rather than households of affection and comfort. Oceania’s government, called the Party, controls the families in every aspect. With these non-existent families, there is a cycle of breaking down of family and a stronger Party as times passes until a there is force strong enough to end it. These families that lead to corruption in society should be avoided in order to prevent a totalitarian government from rising.