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Comparison And Contrast Essay On The Movie 1984
1984 Analysis of George Orwell
Essays on the book 1984
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Winston against the Party 1984, by George Orwell tells a pseudo, life-like story in which there is no right to privacy, and you have no rights. The people in power are called Party, and they represent an abstract elitist view that they have engrained within society. Winston Smith, the protagonist has eccentric and strange thoughts for someone working in the Ministry of Truth. He dismisses them as he thinks they are just weird thoughts. This symbolizes the beginning of rebellion. He starts to rebel and change, by doing things to show contempt towards the party, like keeping a diary. Not long after, his rebellion is extinguished as he comes to realize he is the only one that is still opposing the Party. In 1984, Winston through his development …show more content…
This goes along with the notion that the Party tries to bestow on the people, that they are powerless and they will prevail in the end. Winston thinks, “Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimeters inside his skull.”(27) This shows free thinking was severely limited in expression. However, Winston continues to write, acknowledging that he has a great chance to be caught once he puts words to paper. Winston keeping a diary is the start to his rebellion. Another instance where he questions the Party is when he says, “Not a word of it could ever be proved or disproved… even the things that one accepted without question, was pure fantasy.” (74) This is a turning point in Winston’s life as he is looking for physical means to go against the party. This leads to him living life without care and living like it doesn’t matter. Winston and Julia, his sort of girlfriend, elope as a means to defy the Party and escape the strict control of the Party. Through Julia he finds that he isn’t the only one defying the Party and isn’t the only one who has stopped thinking for
Returning to his diary, Winston then expresses his emotions against the Party, the Thought Police and Big Brother himself; he questions the unnecessary acts by the Party and continuously asserts rebellion. Winston soon realized he had committed the crime of having an individual thought, “thoughtcrime.” The chapter ends with a knock on Winston’s door. Significant Quotes “From where Winston stood it was just possible to read, picked out on its white face in elegant lettering, the three slogans of the Party: WAR IS PEACE FREEDOM IS SLAVERY IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH” (Orwell 7). “But there was a fraction of a second when their eyes met, and for as long as it took to happen Winston knew— yes, he knew!
He purchased a small journal from a shop and began to write in it out of view of the telescreen in his house, which allows anything in front of it to potentially be seen or heard. At first he had some difficulties as he could only manage to write jumbles of some of his memories, but then he began to write things like “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER (Orwell, page 18).” He later had an encounter with one of his fellow coworkers, O’Brien, which got him thinking that there might be others out in the world who see things the way he does, including O’Brien himself. Winston eventually decides that his diary will become a sort of letter to O’Brien, and to a future or past where things might have been different. In these diary entries he wrote things such as, “To the future or to the past, to a time when thought is free, when men are different from one another and do not live alone—to a time when truth exists and what is done cannot be undone…(Orwell, page 28).” This refers to how citizens think and act the same and previous events are not written as they happened, but altered to Big Brother’s benefit. He also wrote, “Thoughtcrime does not entail death: thoughtcrime IS death (Orwell, page 28).” This can be further explained by Winston’s previous thought, “The consequences of every act are included in the act itself (Orwell, page 28).” Winston
Winston commits “thoughtcrime” leading to his arrest and questioning at the Ministry of Love, the communities jail center working with matters pertaining to war. His comrade O’Brien begins torturing him in an underground room and calls it the “learning stage”. He teaches Winston the truth about the Party and their slogan; eventually he explains that “Freedom is Slavery” is easily reversed as “Slavery is freedom. Alone- free- the human being is always defeated… if he can make complete, utter submission… [and] merge himself in the Party… then he is all-powerful and immortal” (264). The Party uses this statement to illustrate that when one acknowledges the collective will, they become free from danger and desire. Those who are surrendered to INGSOC, including O’Brien, assume that when an individual has freedom they become subjugated to their senses and emotions. Moreover, Winston continues to be starved and tortured until he appears to be nothing but skin and bones when his opinions transition to align with the governments. He now accepts everything that O’Brien has expressed to him including that he is crazy and two plus two equals five. While he thinks about what he has been taught he thinks about “How easy it all was! Only surrender, and everything else followed… he hardly knew why he had ever rebelled” (278). In a sense, Winston is now free, only in a
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is one of the most renowned dystopian novels and still regarded as one of the most influential novels up until this day. The journey of the protagonist, Winston Smith, a compelling story of the struggle to find his own intuitive idea of what the world is supposed to be like and the ability to preserve it. The fight of ideology between Winston and The Party is one would describe as somewhat similar to the battle between David and Goliath. Through Winston’s experiences in a totalitarian society. It can be said that an individual cannot make any significant changes because of the total control of education by the government, The Party’s mission is to search and destroy and books that are collected from the
Winston is confronted with struggle throughout the entirety of George Orwell`s dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. Living within a totalitarian regime subsequently causes Winston to seek approaches for dealing with such abundant oppression; he finds liberation through self-awareness, understanding and ultimately rebellion. First, Winston realizes that “if you want to keep a secret you must also hide it from yourself”, alluding to the notion of thoughtcrime (162). This recognition exemplifies the complete cognizance that Winston has regarding the oppressive society displayed throughout the novel. Next, Syme states “It’s a beautiful thing, the destruction of words”, alluding to the idea of Newspeak (28). This statement directly correlates to Winston speaking with other party members to gain knowledge about how others feels about policies deployed by the government. This information-seeking also connects with Winston`s rebellion, as he actively searched for others to join his uprising, which is shown when Winston tells O’Brien “We want to join [The Brotherhood]” (171). Winston’s attempt to join a rebellious organization exhibits his evident desire to release his suppressed emotions. Winston devises a very methodical approach to deal with the problematic society he resides in.
If Winston never started to rebel he would've never started “voicing” his opinion in his diary which may of made it even harder to deal with things that got under his skin. Winston starts to use the diary which is starting to make him rebellious by writing his mind. He is also happy that his room was oddly shaped so that he could
The party interfered with the things that my client thought about and wrote. Winston was so infuriated with the government he once wrote, “DOWN WITH BIG BOTHER.”(Page 20) They interfered with the human rights that my client held. Even when the party tortured him he couldn’t do the things he did before. Only because he was so in fear of the party he didn’t act like he did before. It is not until his actions with Julia in the hidden apartment are discovered that the Thought Police search his home and also discover the diary which helps to incriminate my client. The diary symbolized his freedom and desires which he can’t share
The longing for freedom, through different techniques from Big Brother, has been subsided in Winston. One big slogan of the Party is “FREEDOM IS SLAVERY” (pg. 4). This is one of the official slogans of the Party; this alone shows the dystopia of the Party. Winston tells us, “Nobody heard what Big Brother was saying. It was merely a few words of encouragement, the sort of words that are uttered in the din of battle, not distinguishable individually but restoring confidence by the fact of being spoken” (pg. 16). Winston and the citizens don’t even realize that all aspect of life they are getting brainwashed, their very human essence and natural right of freedom is being snatched away from them. According to the party, the man with freedom is doomed. They are comforting their people by saying there is no freedom by brainwashing them to think freedom is a bad thing, and that they will not be able to survive without Big Brother ...
In the beginning of the story, Winston is seen hiding from a telescreen as he writes in a journal. This action in itself is prohibited in order to prevent individual idea from being formed, and besides that, Winston is writing “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” repeatedly. The reader is also exposed to Winston’s idea of a separate group of people who internally rebel against the party and introduced to O’Brien, Winston’s coworker, who is
Winston Smith follows the traditional path of a hero 's journey. O’Brien calls him to adventure calling to him in a dream. The threshold crossing is when Winston buys the little black journal from the old antique shop. It was his first secret act against the Party. His mentor is O’Brien, and Winston clings to the words from his dream for hope. He meets Julia who is of great help to motivate Winston and encourage his independent thinking. For too long, Winston had depended on the Party to do the thinking. He went through life almost without having to think, but since his journey he has learned to search for truth and question the doctrine of society. Winston discovered, “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.” (Orwell 81).”
Winston’s past shows why he acted like he did at the beginning of the book. One experience he had was with the photograph of the three Party leaders which taught him not to trust the Party, and it gave him physical proof that the Party was framing their own members. After this Winston became more rebellious against the Party. Another example was his wife, “She had not a thought in her head that was not a slogan” (66). This shows how she faithfully believed everything the Party had said. This bad experience with a woman changed his view of all women, at the start of the story he had a profound hate for them. He had thought them all to be like his wife, and that they all would have turned him in for thought crime. Julia had to expose herself to Winston for him to see that not all women were just faithful Party members, and his thought after that moment reflect it. For example he thinks more about his mom after this change. Another way Winston shows change is through his physical description. At the start of the book Winston has an irritated ulcer when he meets Julia he becomes healthier, and the ulcer went away. The reason for this may have been that he felt more of a will to survive during this time. After he was captured by the thought police his physical description changes again he was, “A bowed, gray-colored, skeletonlike thing” (271). This shows that the Party has
Firstly, he is one of the characters who retain his persona, whereas the rest of the people have become slaves who follow the Party and their beliefs. His perception towards the regime leads him to search and fight for the truth, not acknowledging the lies and manipulation the Party has created for accomplishing their desires. Even though it is easier to believe it, Winston reaches out to the truth and reflects on his ideologies. For the same reason, he knows “freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two makes four. If that is granted, all else [shall] follow” (Orwell 84). Comparatively to Yossarian, Winston faces several restraints that strip him of his freedom and forbids thoughts different from those of the Party’s. Similarly, his mind remains functional as his determination creates the incentive to keep opposing the harsh reality of the Party and to create a new reality of independence. In addition, Winston knows that for one to stop the Party’s totalitarian actions, one must have the proper perspective of what is the real world. As an individual who pursues the legitimacy and ignores the ideologies of the authority, he knows being alone is not enough. To succeed in escaping the tyrannical government, he knows that, “[until people] become conscious they [can] never rebel, and until after
Winston does not understand that his misdeeds must not be left exposed as they are too perilous. His betrayal towards Julia is the situation that causes his own self-betrayal. This is made evident when the novel states, “There was only one and only one way to save himself. He must interpose another human being, the body of another human, between himself and the rats” (299). In Room 101 Winston is placed in a difficult position and he knows that he must betray Julia in order to survive. Winston sees no solution to the torture in Room 101, which leads him to use his last option and betray Julia. This is noteworthy as it was something that he never planned to do. Alongside the physical torture used on the captured rebels, the Party uses psychological torture as well. Both of these leave Winston in a tough spot, so he breaks through. Additionally, after Winston’s betrayal to Julia he idolizes Big Brother and disregards his once disloyal views on Big Brother and the Party. This is demonstrated when the novel states “He gazed up at the enormous face. Forty years it had taken him to learn what kind of smile was hidden beneath the dark moustache. O cruel, needless misunderstanding! O stubborn self-willed exile from the loving breast! Two gin-scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was all right,
An instance of this can be seen when Winston purchases his diary from an ordinary shop, as “Party members were not supposed to go in” (1,6), which Winston continues on to do. Yet, despite knowing the consequences Winston buys the book without “wanting it for any particular purpose” (1,6). Perhaps this is Winston’s subconscious way of rebelling against the party; as despite knowing the rules, Winston acts on his desires without reason. However the most incriminating evidence can be seen through the content of his diary, where he express his inner thoughts and emotions. By writing words such as “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” (1, 18) and proceeding to say “they'll shoot me in the back of the neck down with big brother” (1,18). Yet again, it is visible how Winston is aware of his actions and the consequences; but he simply does not care. Through knowingly knowing of his wrong doings and acting on them, Winston rises or rebels against the
He got the girl and he is free from party eyes. The reader is content with what has happened in Orwell’s story. However, Orwell proceeds to remind the reader of the true nature of Oceania. “The picture had fallen to the floor , uncovering the telescreen behind it” (Orwell.222). Orwell completely ups the ante, flips the script, and changes the game when he reveals the secret behind Charrington’s upper room, it holds a telescreen and Charrington is a thoughtpolice agent. ”It occurred to Winston that for the first time in his life he was looking, with acknowledge, at a member of the thought police” (Orwell.224). Winston rented the room that he was going to use to rebel against the party from a thought police agent. He had absolutely zero chance from the very beginning. Charrington yells, “And by the way, while we are on the subject, Here comes a candle to light you to bed, here comes a chopper to chop off your head” (224)! Charrington speaks the words that make Winston’s heart stop, referencing a song that had been sung previously in the story. The ending of the song represents the current situation, the thought police have come to get Winston. Suddenly, Winston and Julia have been found out and are captured and tortured by the party. All of the rebellious nature is taken out of Winston and he becomes a loyal party member. Orwell throws the ultimate curveball, which completely changes the reader's thinking, making the reader realize that the room was never safe from the very beginning, and that gaining freedom in Oceania is a hopeless endeavor. Orwell’s true message is that the party always wins, there is no hope. The reader feels all of the evil and tyranny the party invokes and how far they will go to insure that their laws are enforced, their dominance is asserted, and their fear is felt. The room served