Manipulation & Misinformation: The Party’s Control of DEATH. In 1984, Orwell creates a dystopian world from a totalitarian government with descriptive and haunting imagery that implants the country of Oceania, where Winston faces the Party and rebels, where he ends up questioning himself and changes. His change in character illustrates that the Party as a whole has absolute control over its citizens, but also the individuals in the Party themselves. Although Winston rebels despite the consequences of returning to the past while knowing about the party's manipulation and control and why they are doing it, a closer look indicates that Winston s connection to O'Brien fuels the rebellion even more when Winston looks up to him and trusts him, and that his demise shows how the party as a whole is powerful, even controlling people like O Brien. Winston …show more content…
Winston s demise shows how the Party as a whole is powerful, even controlling people like O Brien. An example of this is when Winston sees O'Brien enter through the door to Room 101, the room that Winston is in. O'Brien mentions Winston, “They got me a long time ago” (238)”. When O'Brien says this, it serves as a reminder of the Party's control of being able to control its members completely. They can identify and neutralize potential threats, even from seemingly high-ranking individuals like O’Brien. Even if O Brien once resisted, he has broken down and turned into a loyal follower. While O'Brien mentions this to Winston, Winston s dark fate becomes a microcosm of the Party s power, illustrating that even the most determined individuals can be broken down and confined to the Party s will. The party's control, which O'Brien enforces, causes Winston to change. He says, “TWO AND TWO MAKE FIVE” (277)”. This statement contradicts basic math, signifying Winston s complete submission to the
In “1984,” Orwell uses Winston to portray a single individual’s attempt to take action against a powerful government, culminating in his failure and subjugation. His individual efforts failed tremendously due to the overarching power of the Party to control every aspect of social life in Oceania. Orwell uses Winston’s deeply seated hatred of the Party to portray his views on power and social change. Winston’s actions show that even in the direst of situations ...
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.
George Orwell’s 1984 novel goes through the life of Winston, who is trying to resist the power of the totalitarian government of Oceania known as The Party. Although the proles do seem to be marginalized by the inner party, they aren’t aware of it. They are free and have the sense of individualism to live their lives. On the other hand, the outer party is aware of the Party’s manipulative powers, and they are capable of rebellion. Because of this, they are put under severe monitoring.
For just over half a century, George Orwell’s 1984, lauded as one of the most monolithic examples of a dystopian novel, echoes its values to this day. Orwell’s tale of a totalitarian society gone too far continues to epitomize the meaning of a cautionary tale even now. The novel begins with Winston, a worker for the Outer Party in the Ministry of Truth. When Winston begins to doubt the Party after witnessing discrepancies in the Party’s story, he discovers more than he ever imagined. From the first few pages of 1984, Orwell creates a world filled with paradoxes, irony, and fills the world with a very austere tone.
But where did that knowledge exist? Only in his own consciousness, which in any case must soon be annihilated”(Orwell 36). Winston knows that the party is imposing lies onto its citizens, but he feels as if he is the only one who realizes it. Although it may not be true, Winston feels as if he is all alone in his belief that the past is composed of lies. If the government could erase the past, they could control the present, and possibly the future too. If they kept brainwashing their people, everyone would always just except that the party was right and that they were wrong. Without any clear proof of this incident, Winston is stuck with a theory, but not proof, so he cannot make anyone else believe it. This cause him to feel alienated and like no one else will ever understand him. Winston believes that if a person’s memory can be altered, than lies can trump the truth and the truth becomes just a distant memory. This is how the Party controls their people. Because of the constant feeling of desperation that the government bestowed in Winston, he became an outcast and was forced into
It is difficult for them to hope to succeed in an area where so many of them have failed. The constant theme of betrayal in 1984 is being used by George Orwell to show how hopeless Winston’s struggle against the Totalitarian system is, giving the reader an idea of how bad this type of government is. The reader is introduced to this dark time and given hope in the form of the rebellious protagonist, Winston. However, the reader soon realises how hopelessly alone Winston is in his silent battle when they see that the government is against him, he has no support or allies, and that even his own mind can be turned against him. The message is clear and makes readers who live in a democracy happier with what they have.
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."
Nineteen Eighty-Four, by George Orwell, is a superb novel with outstanding themes. One of the most prominent themes found in this novel is psychological manipulation. Citizens in this society are subject to ever present signs declaring “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” (Orwell 1). Along with psychological manipulation, physical control takes place. The Party not only controls what people in Oceania think, but what they do as well. Technology is another important theme. Without the constant telescreens, microphones, and computers, the Party would be all but powerless. Big Brother is the main figure of the Party. The main symbol that drives these themes is the telescreens. It is representative of the party always watching and controlling everyone at all times.
This could be interpreted as Winston having had all of his individualism expunged and Orwell’s characterisation of Winston perhaps reflects the true capacity and influence the party has on their people, creating a bleak and sadistic tone for the remainder of the novel; this is juxtaposed to the start of the novel where there appears to be slight optimism with the finding of The Brotherhood. Furthermore, after torturing him or ‘curing’ him, he no longer hates Big Brother “We do not merely destroy our enemies, we change them”. The party controls their people and bends them to their own will, reflecting the theme of oppression and totalitarianism. Additionally, Orwell’s Proles are both sub literate and verging on ignorance; the vernacular of the society has been changed where they cannot think of words that will disobey the party as “Newspeak was designed not to extend but to diminish the range of thought”.
George Orwell uses Winston to represent truth in a deceptive world in his novel 1984. In Oceania, Big Brother is the omnipotent and all powerful leader. Everything the government dictates is unquestionably true, regardless of prior knowledge. Even thinking of ideas that go against Big Brother’s regime, or thoughtcrime, is punishable by death. Winston serves as the dystopian hero, longing for freedom and change. Orwell uses Winston to emphasize the importance of individual freedoms, as they give us the ability to fulfillingly lead our respective lives.
Within its walls, they have complete authority to torture the prisoners and make them believe the Party’s dystopian way. Winston is undergoing this torment while facing his “friend” O’Brien whose task is to accomplish loyalty from Winston to the Party. Taking into consideration that Winston is the narrator of the story, his thoughts on the Party are not the ones expected. Winston is a tough case to crack for O’Brien because of his rebellious mentality against the Party. O’Brien is a Party fanatic, working as an inner Party member; his mission is to convert Winston to being sane. Enduring the torture, Winston listens to what O’Brien is saying “You are flaw in the patter, Winston. You are stain that must be wipe out. … When you finally surrender to us, it must be of your own free will” (255). Emotional affliction is the way that O’Brien attempts to discipline Winston; he accomplishes his objective by making Winston confront his fear of rats. He betrays his lover Julia by desiring his suffering to her. This indicates that Winston learns to live the life of the Party. In the end, the war with Eastasia is over, Winston sees Big Brother on the telescreen as the protector of Oceania. This settles Winston’s love towards Big Brother.
In 1984, George Orwell explores the power of thought and the control of the past and reality. The complex ideas of mind control and the power of individuality in a totalitarian society are represented within a society held together by limited expression. The spirit of one’s individuality relies on personal memories and experiences, and the expulsion of thought gives one power over their mind past and reality, making the ability to control one’s reality the biggest threat to any controlling power.
In 1984 created by George Orwell, a dystopian novel, many themes are illustrated through the life of Winston. Winston lives a life that is constantly monitored by the Party and must stay blended into the sheeplike masses that praise Big Brother’s reign. In this negative utopia freedom is an alien term and self expression is despised by the society. Orwell words are a timeless warning of a totalitarian society who controls its denizens through fear, surveillance, and manipulation. These methods the Party use to maintain power greatly give them the upperhand to create a world of fear and hatred. This is evident in many scenes within the book. The Party’s method of using fear to maintain power is depicted when Winston’s expresses his true self
Despite the resilient nature of mankind, it is deceptively easy to change one’s personality through aggressively cruel yet effective tactics. Mental and physical torture is ever-present in modern day society and remains a shockingly potent tool in the hands of the correct people. Winston’s transformation in George Orwell’s 1984 demonstrates an extreme example of the dreadful effects of torture on the human mind. Winston’s mental rehabilitation is a complex procedure; it begins with his struggle to maintain his character, followed by O’Brien’s attempts to change Winston’s mentality, which culminates into his complete transformation into the perfect Party member. Initially, Winston’s complete reformation was hindered by his own attempts to maintain control of his personality and character.
The mind is a complex part of the body; it makes people see and believe ideas that may or may not be true. People all over the world believe concepts that are not true because of the misinformation that has been spread. There is so much misleading advice in the world that people do not know what is inaccurate and what is not. This is similar to what happened in 1984 by George Orwell. Winston lived in Oceania under a totalitarian government called The Party.