Examples Of Individualism In 1984

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The year 1984 has since passed but George Orwell's almost apocalyptic vision of the future could still very well happen in the near future. 1984 presents a society that has obscured all signs of individuality, love, opportunity, and critical thought. George Orwell's appointed the mood in a "Negative Utopia" which illustrates the despair of the future of society. He contrasts this mood with a popular philosophy of the Buddhist religion in that humanity has the ability to create peace and love. These contrasting views set up the premise for the life of Winston, who is the protagonist character caught in a society devoted to conformity. Winston Smith is a thin, frail, thoughtful, and intellectual, mid-age man who hates the totalitarian control and enforced power of his government. Orwell's warning message in his book is to display that if people cannot change the way things are going, our society will lose all human qualities. They will become soulless machines and not have a clue as to their new world they created for themselves. Winston is different from the rest of his society which is a civilization that does not approve of individuality of your true self. Being different in this world only means rebellion and that’s exactly what Winston sets out to do. He believes that although he must conform on the outside, that no one can take his individual thought away. Winston's individuality is the only hope for human nature for he questions the most basic principles of the regime, a thoughtcrime. One idea Winston questions about his society is the concept of freedom and why it doesn’t match its actual definition. "How could you have a slogan like 'freedom is slavery' when the concept of freedom has been abolished?" Winston goes on about ... ... middle of paper ... ...self suffer just to prove that he's not under the rule of the World Controllers. John becomes the main character of the novel because after being rejected both by the “savage” Indian culture and the “civilized” World State culture, he is the ultimate outsider, clear of all society. Disconnected, rejected, John is not truly a part of Malpais nor London. His only society is Shakespeare's imaginative world and the bibles religious philosophy, a field he inhabits with energy and misguided idealism. John is the true loner and his life, accordingly, is filled with confusion and pain. John refuses to ingest SOMA for it is the devil. He hates SOMA and comes to the conclusion it is the reason for the corruptness of the world state society. The moral of both stories is to not have have technology/drugs/chemicals rule society as it will take humanity and ravage its purity.

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