1984 And Marxism In George Orwell's 1984

Human history is full of hundred and millions of evil deeds, tragedies , wars and disasters. From the past decades the social and economic problems has a huge impact on human livings ,which are still existed in our world. Many novels and plays are being made on the social and economic aspects of life which are based on different literary lenses. The novel 1984 by George Orwell is all about the man named Hinston smith who lives in the society which is controlled by the political party leader named big brother. He decided to be a rebellion and to fight against the big brother and get out from this darkness eventually ended up dying at the end. the novel 1984 demonstrated the many fundamental themes as a perspective of Marxist theory. The

1984 is a forecast of an anti-utopian world. Oceania, where the book is set, is led by the socialist leader, Big Brother. In this state, all thoughts and actions are monitored through

1984 is the story of a dystopian future with a totalitarian government with the leader, ‘Big Brother,’ watching over the people and controlling everyone's lives; even what they’re allowed to think. 1984’s biggest theme and message is a warning against totalitarianism and the dangers of the government gaining too much power. This premise of ‘too much power’ is best described in this quote: “People simply disappeared, always during the night. Your name was removed from the registers, every record of

Over seventy years after he lived and wrote, the works of English journalist and democratic socialist George Orwell, continue to fascinate, stimulate and enrage his readers concerning the structure of society and the organization of government. The controversial writer openly spoke out against the absolute power of any government, warning that a fascist government would deprive its people of their basic freedoms and liberties. Orwell’s novel, 1984, serves as a reminder of the danger of totalitarianism by depicting a future in which all citizens live under the constant surveillance of the “Big Brother.” Through the main character, Winston Smith, Orwell demonstrates the dangers of totalitarianism; writing of the consequences of absolute government in several essays and proposing socialism as an alternative. To Orwell, the role of government is to represent the common people rather than the old and the privileged.

In 1984 there are many topics that are discussed that can give us an insight of the world we live in today. The government watching everything they do can teach us to be more thankful that our government is no longer like that. We have laws we must follow but we know that having that much control over the people isn’t right or healthy. Big Brother had control of most aspects of the people in Oceania. The parties would decide if you would get married to the person you wanted to be with, but you could not show any physically attraction to one another. If Big Brother wasn’t deciding the party was, no one people were to have any say or control in their lives. We know that that kind of control isn’t something that we would want for our society.

When George Orwell wrote his novel, 1984, Hitler and Mussolini had recently been defeated in World War II, the nuclear arms race was warming up and the Soviet Union was a threat to the world. Although these are not problems in today's society, 1984 is still very relevant in current time, "The twentieth century will soon be over, but political terror still survives and this is why Nineteen Eighty-four remains valid today” (Ricks 5). In the novel 1984 the main character Winston is faced with challenges when he meets a woman named Julia. Julia makes him question his loyalty to the government. They are living under a totalitarian government that sees everything you do, hears everything you say, and knows everything you think. George Orwell’s novel 1984 is still relevant in today’s society.

The society of “1984” is a reminder to show us that the future may look like this, if nothing is being done to prevent it or change it. Also “1984” is portraying the possible effect and what the world may seem like in the future, if the government has absolute power and control of the people. Orwell needed to grab the attention of the audience, so therefore he distorted the world that we live in and shaped it into the world of “1984”. The encounter of the government is uncommon to be seen. We, the people of America, take the rights that are given to every citizen for granted. We take everything for granted until a change of where the wind blows and that is when we begin to realize the privileges that we are blessed with. Nonetheless, Orwell presents the use of distortion in order to portray to the people the consequences of a government that is constantly bird-watching the citizens and ensuring that they are enforcing absolute loyalty to the power and control over the entire society. Because The Party, is obsessed with absolute power

1984, George Orwell used fear in the novel to cause people to ignore the parties’ actions and transform their reality. The fear the party implants in the citizens is how they have complete control over Oceania, and provides harsh punishments if they decide to go against Big Brother. Therefore, making the population of Oceania obedient to Big Brother’s laws because they are scared of the consequences of breaking the law and being tortured. Citizens fear for their own lives and that is why they do not disobey the Party. In 1984, fear is a method that is used for manipulation.

George Orwell’s key objective throughout his novel, 1984, was to convey to his readers the imminent threat of the severe danger that totalitarianism could mean for the world. Orwell takes great measures to display the horrifying effects that come along with complete and dominant control that actually comes along with totalitarian government. In Orwell’s novel, personal liberties and individual freedoms that are protected and granted to many Americans today, are taken away and ripped from the citizen’s lives. The government takes away freedom and rights from the people so that the ruling class (which makes up the government), while reign with complete supremacy and possess all power.

”Nobody has ever seen Big Brother. He is a face on the hoardings, a voice on the telescreen. We may be reasonably sure that he will never die, and there is already considerable uncertainty as to when he was born.” The plot of 1984 is created around the myth of Big Brother. He watches you and everything you do, and those who think or act in a way that is not wanted by the leading

Unlike the real dictators Hitler and Stalin, Big Brother did not really exist and never existed, except as the symbol of English Socialism (Ingsoc) and the Party that controlled all aspects of life in Oceania through totalitarian, police state methods. After all, a dictator with a physical body would eventually become ill, decline with age and die, but Big Brother will live forever as the image of a Party that intends to remain in power forever. Its members will die off, even at the privileged Inner Party levels, but that matters no more than cutting off dead fingernails. As a collective organization, the only goal of the Party was to retain power, like a jackboot stomping on a face forever, while keeping the masses of proles sedated, subdued and existing at a minimal level. Ideology does not matter to the Party since its only goal is to "arrest progress and freeze history at a chosen moment", so that it will never lose power (Orwell 1989). In the future it planned to destroy all sexual and romantic bonds, as well as the family and ties between parents and children. Indeed, it was already doing so through the Anti-Sex League and using children as informers against their parents, which happened to Winston Smith's neighbors in 1984. This extensive use of police informers, including children, was also common in the real totalitarian regimes of Hitler and Stalin.

1984 is a cautionary tale, where Orwell is warning the society of possible government takeover. This novel caution people to keep in mind the actions that government is taking. The reason behind this novel was World War II. It’s not a secret that post world war era looked very socialist in order to avoid future wars. Nations like Soviet Union and different European Nations practiced socialism to avoid future uprisings against the government. To some extent his warnings actually turned out to be the truth in the example of totalitarian socialist North Korea.

The dystopian novel 1984, written by George Orwell, depicts the life of Winston Smith as he lived it in the year nineteen eighty four. Winston is a low-ranking member of an entity called the Party, the governing body of the city of London. The Party is represented by a single figure known as Big Brother, an all-knowing and an omnipresent factor in the lives of those that follow the Party. Although no one knows who he truly is, Big Brother still holds tremendous weight in the lives of Party members. The structure of the government in the novel mirrors the principles of Marxism, an economic system that focuses on the means of production and class struggle within a given society (Jakse ).In 1984, George Orwell uses key principles of Marxism to convey the Party’s ability to naturalize its dominance over the inhabitants of Oceania.

Literature can be analyzed using different theories that further extend the meaning of the text. Karl Marx, a philosopher, who invented the Marxist literary theory in the 19th century, rose to fame with the theory during harsh economic times, like post-Great Depression (“Marxist Literary Theory” par. 4-7). Philosopher, George Hegel, influenced Marx, resulting in the creation of this theory (Brizee par. 1). Marx believes that the working-class, the proletariat, outnumber and overpower the bourgeoisie, resulting in a revolution to create a capitalist free society (Brizee par. 5). Correspondingly, in George Orwell’s 1984, Winston Smith aims to create a freethinking society where individuality is encouraged in order to eliminate classism and by extension, injustice. Orwell explores this theory through the idea that power can influence perception, the fact that the lower class is forced to accept inequality, and with idea that the totalitarian government instils fear in citizens to keep the classes divided.

Hopelessness, deep and gaping ever lasting hopelessness. If the course of humanity fails to change, to this everyone will succumb. That is the message that George Orwell has left for the future, and it would be in humanity's best interest to heed. Winston Smith of 1984 lived in a world that had been consumed by the everlasting abyss of injustice. Eventually this world became too much for our hopeful protagonist and thus, like the future that is bound to a horrific fate, he succumbed. “It was like swimming against a current that swept you backwards however hard you struggled, and then suddenly deciding to turn round and go with the current instead of opposing it” (Orwell 248). No one in this world is any different than Winston, they will follow his path like all of those before them, following the five stages of Kübler-Ross. Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance make up the cycle that every feeble life will follow and that Winston grew to know all too well.