Brianna White English 1 Mrs. Hickman 29 November 2016 “Good prose is like a windowpane,” (Orwell). In George Orwell’s novel 1984, he made sure that his message would be a clear warning to future generations. Orwell was a man who disliked authority and in turn wanted to warn his readers about how a tyrannical government could arise and be a detriment to our world (Jurma). He uses 1984 to show the types of damage a tyrannical hierarchy could have and how ordinary people can help to prevent it. Orwell uses different aspects of his novel to show future generations what can happen to a society when their social, political, and cultural life is taken over by a totalitarian state (Grobman). Orwell first mentions how people’s social aspects of …show more content…
During the daily Two Minutes Hate, “he [Goldstein] was abusing Big Brother, denouncing the dictatorship of the Party, advocating freedom of speech…” (15). The people did not know if this information was truthful, but they believed it anyway because they were told to. Orwell is warning people that allowing a figure to control them, results in a person losing control for themselves and everything they stand for. It is as if they are a useless piece of matter that is being operated by someone else. A Party slogan is, “Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past.” (271). The Party believes they have complete control over the minds of their members. Winston tells O’Brien that the past exists ‘In the mind. In human memories.’ (272). Orwell depicts Winston as an outsider in the novel, due to how he believes in something different than his comrades. He refuses to become brainwashed like everyone else, because without his individuality he loses his power. Orwell is warning people to not always go along with everyone else, because it causes people to be stripped of their power and become totally complacent with a higher …show more content…
Everyone has different backgrounds and different views and customs, except for those that are members of the Party. Orwell shows that the Proles, who do not live under the rule of a power hungry political party, have ‘the power to destroy the Party’ (77). They can rise up because they are not forced into having certain beliefs or views. They are what Orwell wants the future to be, in contrast to the Party. “Until they become conscious they will never rebel…,” (78) is what Orwell is trying to tell the future. He wants people to know that they need to be involved in their country and be conscious of things that are going on. He does not want people to lose control over themselves, similar to what happened during his time period (Gerasimov). Winston says “The proles are human beings. We [Party members] are not human.” (180) because their life has meaning. The Proles have families and are allowed to express love to whoever they choose, whenever they want. The people have different cultures and backgrounds, unlike the Party members who are all practically the same, because they are puppets in the Party’s game. Orwell is trying to convince the future that being different and speaking up is okay. The more that people are quiet and follow along with everyone else, the more out of control they
Orwell brings attention to a futuristic government who controls practically everything and everyone. “Who controls the past, controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past” (Orwell 248). This is one of the Party’s slogans which is used to present how the government chooses what the citizens believe in so that they can remain in control. Orwell created the slogan so he could show the Western readers how scary this type of government can
The insidious manifestation and nature of the Party’s power culminates through their manipulation of all aspects of life. History becomes a palimpsest wherein anything can be altered so as to favor the doctrines of the party. Language is slowly becoming eradicated and “ It was intended that when Newspeak had been adopted once and for all and Oldspeak forgotten, a heretical thought should be literally unthinkable, at least so far as thought is dependent on words”. This illustrates that the party wishes to create orthodoxy wherein independent and singular thought which repudiate any vestiges of humanity and digress from the principles of the party are blatantly impossible. Winston is of the belief that
George Orwell educates his readers by employing themes in order to portray the immense control a totalitarianism government has, and how much people want self-expression with in that governments.
The author of the novel 1984, George Orwell, is a political critic. Therefore, he used very precise descriptions of situations and words to provide the reader a clear understanding of the entity he is criticizing. When Winston describes the destruction of past records to create new ones to Julia, he says: “Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book has been rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street and building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And that process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.” (pg. 162). Here, instead of only saying “Every record has been
Orwell’s novel of 1984 depicts a dystopian society in which people are brainwashed with propaganda and bound to the chains of a strong dictatorship, also known as the Inner Party. Humanity has been filled with lies, as not a single person knows the truth that lies beneath the dictatorship. History is constantly being rewritten to mask their true identity. Any skeptical thoughts may make you disappear."Big Brother" is constantly observing you along with a telescreen watching every facial expression and recording any abnormal body language. However, two citizens called Winston and Julia rebel against "Big Brother's" totalitarian rule which triggers an astonishing warning towards future generations. Orwell is warning future generations of a society
1984, a dystopian novel, by George Orwell, an english novelist and journalist, describes the lives of people under the control of the Inner Party. In this specific scene, Winston, the protagonist of the novel, had just gotten captured after the Thought Police had found out that he was having thoughts of being against the inner party. They had just separated him and Julia, Winston’s love interest. The author uses imageries, similes, and metaphors to create a concerned and melancholic tone throughout Winston’s suffering.
The novel “1984” by George Orwell exemplifies the issues of a government with overwhelming control of the people. This government controls the reality of all of their citizens by rewriting the past, instilling fear, and through manipulation. This is an astounding story because of the realistic qualities that are present throughout the text about an extreme regulatory government and its effects. This society is overwhelming consumed with the constructed reality that was taught to them by Big Brother. George Orwell brings significant aspects to the novel like the complexity of relationships during a rebellion and The Party’s obsession with power. The main character Winston struggles throughout the story trying to stay human through literature, self-expression and his individuality. The party uses human’s tendencies, weaknesses, and strengths in order to dehumanize their citizens to gain control over them.
The book 1984, by George Orwell, takes place in country named Oceania, where their government is under a totalitarianism rule. The characters in the book are basically stripped of every right that citizens, in the United States, are guaranteed under the US Constitution. Some examples of the Bill of Rights Amendments that were absent in the book would be the First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, Sixth Amendment, as well as the Fourteenth, Fifteenth and Nineteenth Amendment, and also many others.
1984, by George Orwell, is a novel that is ultimately about a totalitarian form of government and it's negative aspects that it imposes on society. The readers clearly see that George Orwell opposes this form of government because it limits not only freedoms, but the idea of freedom itself. The idea of pure freedom is shattered as we see the protagonist's mission to overthrow Big Brother fail. Big Brother may have not even been real. However, the fear that this imaginery person/ organization imposed on society was real. Winston Smith, the protagonist, feels like the only person who sees what Big Brother is doing to society- watching thier every movements, limiting their freedoms, lying through the news, and distracting people from
In Book I Section II, Winston helps his neighbors,the Parson family, with their plumbing. While he is in their apartment,Winston views the “scarlet banners of the Youth League and the Spies, and a full-sized poster of Big Brother” hung on the wall. A short while later, the son and daughter come in and accused Winston of being a “thought criminal” and “traitor”. Both of these are slanderous imprecations that, if true, could lead to death. After this interesting interaction, Winston reflects, “With those children, he thought, that wretched woman must lead a life of terror. Another year, two years, and they would be watching her night and day for symptoms of unorthodoxy” (Orwell, 24). This quotation shows that the Party has succeeded in indoctrinating children at a very young age to their philosophies and ideas. The government uses organizations such as the Youth League and the Spies to “systematically turn” children into mindless members of the Party. ______________’s essay from The Abuse of Power in 1984 reads, “Orwell describes a world in which familial loyalty is deliberately undermined so that the displaced emotions can be appropriated by the state. The solidarity of the family is treated as a threat to party loyalty and is therefore systematically weakened” (_____,___). This quotation reveals that the Party intentionally removes the love and devotion that normally
The novel 1984 by George Orwell exemplifies the issues of a government with overwhelming control of the people. Throughout the text there are realistic qualities that exemplify an extreme regulatory government and its effects. This government controls the reality of all of their citizens by rewriting the past, instilling fear, hindering their freedom, and through manipulation. This society is overwhelmingly consumed with the constructed reality that was taught to them by Big Brother. The author George Orwell brings significant aspects to the novel like the complexity of relationships during a rebellion and The Party’s obsession with power. The main character Winston struggles throughout the story trying to stay human through literature, self-expression, and his individuality. The party uses human’s tendencies and weaknesses in order to dehumanize their citizens to gain control over them.
The party’s ultimate goal is to make the peoples own individual thought impossible and by educating Winston to obey the party and love Big Brother, they are doing just that. Orwell states, “In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible”. Orwell is arguing that since Winston was a threat to the party and could possibly overthrow it, they needed to make sure that Winston didn't think differently than everyone else, by being under the party's control. The people of Oceania had to follow and obey everything the party told them to do, instead of doing what they
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.
Readers of George Orwell have long appreciated the significance of his representation of a futuristic dystopian world. ‘Big brother is watching you,’ ‘Thought police,’ ‘Ministry of love,’ ‘Hate week,’ are expressions that Orwell used to represent his preoccupation with the totalitarian regimes of 20th century. More than one out of four Americans said they have red his dystopia and use his expressions in their language. Many critics claim that the novel opened up new prospects of political awareness. ‘1984’ is a political fiction in which the government eliminates all forms of political opposition, be it real or imaginary. The atmosphere of the novel is completely depressing because there is no hope for change. The government dominates people morally and forces them to live in constant fear. His terrifying vision of a future in which all aspects of society are controlled by a tyrannical system attracted the
Orwell’s warning of the dangers of totalitarian regimes to his contextual readers and future audiences is portrayed through his novel, 1984, because “Big Brother is Watching You”, exerting total control over the masses. The masses are effectively controlled by the thought police, telescreens and children who are “against their parents and taught to spy on them and report their deviations”.... Orwell writes about the potential dangers that are inherent when power and technology are abused, resulting in mindless citizens and “a world of fear and hatred and torment”, which Winston perfectly captures with his metaphorical epiphany; “we are the dead”. Like the dead, society will become opiated, lacking individual thought, a highly valued asset of