1984 Critical Analysis Essay

Through his failure, Orwell portrays the dangers of a disunited society for the individual. Even though Winston willingly chose to oppose the Party and offered his life towards the eradication of his oppressors, his sacrifice proved futile without communal support to usurp the tyrannical regime. Despite the common suffering the people endured, their fear of the individual torment each would suffer motivated them to submit to the government. In Winston, Orwell highlights the frailty of an individual person in comparison to a mob. When imprisoned at the Ministry of Love, Winston’s will crumbled under torture and he even offered the life of the one individual he had earlier seemed hesitant to sacrifice, Julia. Hence, Orwell illustrates the need for a united social front for individuals to change the society in which they live in. Otherwise, self-preservation shall remain dominant within each individual, leaving them vulnerable to continuous manipulation through propaganda.

Orwell is characterized through the eyes of Winston when he realises her as ‘beautiful’. It shows his distaste for the Promiscuousness of Julia and strengthens the misogynistic scrutiny of the female sex.

Winston goes through emotional change throughout 1984 that changes his perspective and personality. At the beginning of the book, Winston is filled with hatred towards the Party. “They’ll shoot me in the back of the neck i dont care down with big brother they always shoot you in the back of the neck i dont care down with big brother-” (Orwell, 19). Winston’s fury towards the Party and Big Brother is evident. Through his diary entries, you can definitely tell that he harbors an intense anger towards them. So, it may seem that this trait will never change and make him always fight for it. The reader may at first think that he will never change views. But then, Winston completely changes perspective at the end of the book when he states, “He loved Big Brother.” (Orwell, 298). This keeps Winston from becoming another boring character who refuses to change his opinion which makes for an interesting book and a more complex character.

How does our past define us? What does it mean to be human? What is the meaning of life? George Orwell’s 1984 considers such questions through a harsh, depressing viewpoint by putting an average man like Winston Smith into an environment where every single act and thought is monitored. Through this perspective Orwell creates a dystopian future which is unique: not a zombie-infected world or the Wasteland, but a future that could happen without us even realising it. A future where the destruction of the truth, the removal of human dreams, emotions and privacy, completely and utterly destroys the very meaning of life itself.

Throughout the novel, Winston is always hiding his thoughts about the Party and about Big Brother, although he is completely against it. However, in order to ensure that he does not get caught, he must act as though he loves them and agrees with their power over society. Surveillance is shaping these characters to be a perfect representation of what they are expected to be, instead of being who they are.

“George Orwell once offered this definition of heroism: ordinary people doing whatever they can to change social systems that do not respect human decency, even with the knowledge that they can’t possibly succeed.” In George Orwell’s novel, 1984, the protagonist, Winston Smith is described in words of being the ordinary, everyday man to the dystopian society that Orwell envisions to us through Winston’s eyes. the life of a Oceanian citizen. However, in the closing of the novel he admits his admiration for Big Brother. My definition of a hero falls basically along those words but slightly more of a cliche thought to it in the way of the hero is willing to risk their life to abide by true morals in conquering

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

Freedom of the individual is restricted through constant monitoring through telescreen and hidden microphones. This is reflective of the Stalinist purges in the Soviet Union, were individuals who posed as a threat to the ideologies of the government were assassinated. In contrast to Lang’s perception of rebellion, which demonstrates that the nature of rebellion to retain one’s individuality are often conflicted with the ideals of oppressive political authority. Orwell depicts Winston’s rebellion against the oppressive government as reflects the political context of Orwell's disenchantment with Stalinist authorianism. “That was above all what he wanted to hear....the force that would tear the Party to pieces.” Through a determined tone it suggest that with the knowledge that he is rebelling against a system which restricts any sexual relation, he is eager to search for his freedom and retain his individuality, in which he is able to experience the sexual pleasure freely, without the constant surveillance by the Party. Furthermore, in contrast to Lang’s depiction of rebellion resulting in a revolution, Orwell concludes pessimistically, such that the Party physically and mentally torture him to discourage any expression of individuality. “The impacts and capabilities of this is reflected in Winston’s transformation in the end: “But it was all right… the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself.” The satirical reflection on his repeated lamentations and shame of opposing the Big Brother is ironic, as his internal ‘battle’ represents him succumbing to the indoctrination of Party beliefs. This is reinforced when he “unconsciously” traces “2+2=5” on the table, as the motif of the fabricated statement represents his lack of individual thought. This is also captured in the line “He loved Big Brother”, which

Orwell explains as Winston wanders around thinking about Julia “It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away”(79). This concept of being “dangerous” signifies the Party’s, a totalitarian government, capability of extracting the inner thoughts of its subject through the scrutiny of the actions of the people as it is explained that “the smallest thing could give you away”. In other words, this disadvantage of being heavily observed eventually led to a flaw within the rebel in which eventually led to their incarceration. Orwell implies this concept of inability to suppress one’s thoughts from a totalitarian government by creating a cautious tone which highlights the idea that minor flaws can potentially cause this outcome. Therefore, as seen in the case of Winston and Julia, complying with the demands of a totalitarian ruler would be no different from rebelling against them because in a way they exploit their subjects just as well by denying individualism and limiting their devotion to meet only the Party’s

Julia epitomizes the meaning of a perfect young lady in the Party’s eyes. In reality, she was anything but. At the age of 16, she “had her first love-affair… with a Party member of sixty who later committed suicide to avoid arrest” (Orwell 131). This shows how desperately Julia wishes to find a physical love in a society where leaders prohibit such a commitment, unless done by partners who are not aroused by one another and in the interest of the Party. When Winston and Julia begin their affair, the lust is uncontrollable. They often comment on how the Party will never make them break. As they continue, their bond grows stronger. In one scene, Julia wrapped herself around Winston, her body heat comforting (Orwell 144). The close contact of Winston and Julia’s bodies is reminiscent of true lovers. In reality, this was a weak relationship based in rebellion. This is clearly shown in the last scene of Winston and Julia’s cold meeting. In Victory Square, Julia and Winston meet after being locked away and taken to the brink of death by Inner Party members. Julia has now grown to resent Winston as they admit to betraying one another and giving their names to the Party as traitors (Orwell 292). This is due to the fact that the two were heavily tortured when they were incarcerated. From starvation to manipulation by fear, Winston was pushed past the realm of reality into

In today’s world, science has brought upon so many new inventions, hasn’t it? What we once believed to be science fiction now has the possibility to become reality. The book 1984 by George Orwell is a novel which can be seen from both perspectives, mainly from a social commentary end. This novel is based on a work of fiction but shows governments that keep control and power over their citizens. Social commentary is used, to provide the vision of where individuals are restricted even to today where the issues in the book are prevalent.

The reading of 1984 shows that throughout our history man has sat and pondered the idea of what our culture would look like if political control got out of hand. His book is written as a type of warning and paints the picture of a dystopia. Where the government is the end all be all, with its people having no say towards their own lives or laws that shape them. It reminded me of a modern twist on a soviet dictatorship with the posters along the streets saying "big brother is watching you." The cameras watching their every move, their thoughts and even matters of the heart can be screened. This I found particularly unsettling. For I tried to put myself in Winston's shoes, imaging that type of reality on myself. I feel as though I would be similar

Admiration and paranoia are key aspects of maintaining power and control over the people. Winston lives in a dystopic future in which Big Brother controls the people, he has little freedom and is under constant surveillance of the party. This totalitarian society is similar to Hitler’s Nazi Germany and Stalin’s Soviet Union, which influenced the author Orwell during the 1940s.

Winston is a miserable member of a society he hates, and is controlled and watched in every area of his life. He has no desire to go on living that way, but he

In the novel 1984, by George Orwell, the two main characters, Julia and Winston provide a thrilling tale for the readers. Through character analysis, the two of them may seem very similar yet in many more ways they are different. Julia and Winston find joy in breaking the laws together but for different reasons. Julia appears to be consumed with a desire to do wrong to stand up to the party by sleeping around whereas Winston rebels through a political sense as he wants to test the limits of the party. Julia and Winston are most alike in their rebellion against the party and they are alike in their personalities, yet they contrast in their main goal.