Examples Of Isolation In George Orwell's 1984

The word emotion is recognized in today’s society as a natural, instinctive state of mind deriving from one's circumstances, mood, or relationships with others. With this perception in mind, one can hypothesize that living in unsustainable, corrupted conditions can be the result of man feeling desensitized and unattached from society. Likewise, if a man were to live in a utopia, his emotions would reflect that of happiness, contention, and a sense of belonging. Winston, the main character in Orwell’s 1984 is a prime example of what control and isolation can do to the human mind. Him, as well as the masses of Oceania share monotony in not feeling raw emotion; their mental states of being are controlled and altered by a totalitarian, power driven

government. Orwell purposely designs the government to be as controlling and watchful as it is in an attempt to stress the psychological effects that solitude and detachment have on man. These things can slowly deteriorate the mind, thrusting man into vulnerable situations. Winston’s appearance in the novel is most prevalent in those specific instances of vulnerability; his rebellious acts against the government continued to symbolize impending doom throughout the book. With this in mind, the author's purpose for placing his main character through so many unendurable conditions becomes clear. In George Orwell's 1984, the concept of what it means to be human is explored throughout the book by focusing on Winston and his radical behaviors.
Authors place their protagonists through a series of defining trials and tribulations in order to shape their characters growth and development.

In Winston’s case, the strange society in which he lives in stunts any such progression. The addition of things like telescreens, Thought Police, Two Minutes Hate, memory holes, children spies, doublethink, Newspeak, and the Anti-Junior Sex League limits his growth and drives him to rebellion (Reilly 89). Sex is a prominent example of his insubordination in the book and is applied to the plot in an attempt to explore the nature of Winston and of man. Dreams of Julia undressing testify to this notion. “With it’s grace and carelessness it seemed to annihilate a whole culture, a whole system of thought, as though Big Brother and the Party and the Thought Police could all be swept into nothingness…” (Orwell 31). The mention of Winston dreaming of such desires was vital for Orwell to include. He not only does this to move the plot along, but to also prove a point; no matter what, natural instincts and the behaviors of man can not be changed or altered. Likewise, if an author chooses to place their character in a hopeless situation, that character will find difficulty in developing and

growing.
Psychologically, the effects of living in a dystopia are drastic and immeasurable. It is important to recognize Winston’s lack of emotion and behaviors caused by the struggles and hardships that the party inflicts upon him. "No emotion was pure, because everything was mixed up with fear and hatred” (Orwell 126). Winston recognizes and blames the party for his inability feel. For example, to fit in with societal norms, he forces himself into a marriage with Katharine, a loyal party member who was also an advocate for the Anti-Junior Sex League. She was a firm believer that the only logical reason to engage in sex was to conceive a child. She took the enjoyment out of sex for Winston. Almost every girl in Oceania was brainwashed to think the same way as Katherine, leaving Winston with so many unfulfilled desires. This reality festered in his mind and drove him mad. He even wished to murder Julia when he first saw her, but once he found out that she was rebellious, his feelings changed (Reilly 59). From the government toying with the minds of its citizens and forcing them to act and behave a certain way, Winton begins losing control of his own thoughts. The very dystopia in which he unwillingly inhabited was driving him to rebellion and leaving him with no choice but to act on impulse and submit to the very things he knew would kill him.
O’Brien, one of the antagonists of the novel, indefinitely contributed to resculpting Winston’s brain, emotionally detaching him from existence.

Through months of torture and debilitating pressure, he was stripped of his individualism and was taught to love big brother (McLaughlin). The pressures of society mixed with the strenuous hours of daily torture took a toll on his weakened brain. This was most evident when O’Brien asked him one last time if he loved Big Brother, and he answered yes. He did not say yes in order to end the torture, rather he said yes because his brain was rendered incapable of independent thought. Orwell does this to show his readers that self expression and independent thought are what ultimately make us human. Without those two things, we are left to live in an impressionistic society, one that urges us to like and believe in certain things- similar to that of Oceania. O’Brien torturing Winston was more than just the climax of the book; it was the solution to Orwell’s underlying question: Can the traits that make us human prevail in the face of turmoil and despair? "You had to live—did live, from habit that became instinct—in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every moment scrutinized” (Orwell 3).The fact that this statement made in the beginning holds true by the end of the novel answers the question that no; humanity would not

survive.
The mindset of man and the emotions he lets himself feel are what ultimately make up his reality. They make up his identity and humanness. When he is shown nothing but isolation and despair, his humanness will reflect that of isolation and despair. What George Orwell attempted to do by writing this novel was to show readers what could happen to your mind if everything that makes you human is tainted with oppression and isolation. "There is nothing more insufferable to human nature than the absence of normal human contact” (McLaughlin). By watching Winston bare all of the agony and control that the party enclasped him in, we as readers were able to witness the possible outcome of what could happen to our human minds if such a phenomenon were to happen to us. Through Winston, Orwell manages to get his message across clearly about human behaviors and what outside influences can do to them. Some may resort to radicalism, others may resort to abnormal tendencies, but the fact is that humans are complex and unpredictable. If you inflict such deep rooted vile and oppression on such a large group of people, there’s no telling what could happen.