1984 Critical Essay

The totalitarian party manipulates and invalidates the minds of the outer party and proles. Orwell describes the surroundings of Winston, showing totalitarianism, writing:

Absolute control over society is the central theme in the novel, 1984, by George Orwell. One method this power over society is exercised is use of language to manipulate and control people. The story features a society called Oceania, which is located in the European region. In Oceania, there is a form of totalitarian government called the Party which controls the entire society. The Party controls thoughts by making certain words or phrases illegal. In addition, any anti-party thoughts or motives are also deemed illegal. To control society, thoughts are monitored by telescreens which read reactions and record speech. A force, called the Thought Police, is also engaged to take power over and eliminate society’s individual beliefs. The

Orwell successfully manipulates Winston physiologically through his use of technology and advancements in telescreens, control of history, and control of language. Within the society, Winston is among few who have memories of the past world. While Winston feels

Although a society based on hate can survive, it is highly unlikely. In 1984, by George Orwell, the party kept the people under full control by brainwashing them. This is not realistic because in today’s world someone, whether it be another government or the people living in this society, would end it. People of today have been taught that they have rights and if those rights are taken away, something isn’t right. There are many examples on why a society could not thrive purely on hatred, some of which are present in 1984, The Lives of Others, and the real world.

1984 examines a future under the rule of a totalitarian society. One of the unique notes about Orwell's 1984, is the views that Orwell presents on humanity, and human nature. Orwell presents humanity as divided into two sides- the dominant, and the submissive, with few quickly-eradicated anomalies in between. Human nature, however, is universal, and all humans

Throughout the novel, Winston wanted to rebel against the government, but the fear of the thought police made him conform. The party used telescreens and other things to monitor the citizens to make sure they were not thinking for themselves. This is why Winston had to be careful in what he does because if he got caught he would have been killed. When Winston finally found people that he trusted and thought were on his side, he started to begin to do things outside of conformity. This is when the party stepped in and began to punish him with his worst fear of rats to make him conform again. Winston knew that Big Brother was not real, but he was forced to conform by being brainwashed by his

In 1984, the ultimate form of betrayal is introduced when The Party causes Winston to betray his own mind and accept their views, and love Big Brother. It the beginning, Winston stresses the importance of keeping your own thoughts, in a world where other opinions and alternate accounts of past events are being forced upon the population. Winston points out that “Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimetres inside your skull.” and thoughts like this become important to the reader, who, as Winston does, believes that they are safe in his head as a facet of his character (Orwell 29). However, the torture in the Ministry of Love gets to Winston, and he begins to lose his individual opinions. O’Brien systematically removes all rebellious thoughts in Winston’s mind, replacing them with the ideology of The Party. In doing so, it is as if they are killing a character. When Winston is released he behaves like a new character altogether, he loses the battle with himself and betrays his original opinions against The Party. In using self-betrayal to show

What do you think a normal human being needs to have a good, hearty life? What are the most basic needs that are vital to one’s survival? According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, physiological needs are those required to sustain life, such as air, water, nourishment, and sleep. If such needs are not satisfied, then one’s motivation will arise from the quest to satisfy them. Higher needs such as social needs and esteem are not felt until one has met the needs basic to one’s bodily functioning. Beyond the details of air, water, food, and sex, Maslow laid out five broader layers: the physiological needs, the needs for safety and security, the needs for love and belonging, the needs for esteem, and the need to actualize the

George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984 cautions against government having too much/excessive amount of power. Winston Smith lives in a society where a totalitarian government tracks their citizen's every move through telescreens and thought police. The government is divided among the four ministries; the Ministry of Love, Peace, Plenty, and Truth. The excessive censorship in the society leads the citizens to be less individualistic and more alike to one another. Being in an environment where Newspeak is enforced, citizens are unable to express their originality. Orwell's 1984 is a very effective cautionary tale through its characterization of Winston who lacks heroic characteristics, its conflict of man vs society, and its use of dialect.

Even though Winston contributed to committing acts against the government that are quite courageous, it was all in a discrete manner. Instead of engaging in an open revolt, Winston’s sexual escapades with Julia and journal entries were in secrecy and remote locations that were never repeated twice, also in the room provided by Mr.Charrington. I interpreted Winston’s approach to act in confidence from everyone around him out of the fear of the reactions of people during the two minute hate, telescreens, hidden microphones, and brainwashed, spying neighbours outing you at the first open moment to save themselves very cowardice rather than make an open revolt. The open revolt would have spoken actions of a hero, “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”. Basically even if Winston’s public revolt to get others to go against rather than conform to the Party’s laws and live in fear didn’t succeed, it would have been the effort that counts for what a hero would do to better a country, people, or even the world. The fear Winston felt and had thought of in the back of his mind that he mentioned all kept him regretting the actions he took part in.

I know, of course, that the past is falsified, but it would never be possible for me to prove it” (Orwell 155). The Party has complete control over the history of Oceania, and they choose to delete any and all traces of the past, such as memories. Additionally, the Party uses their control over memories to minimize individuality in the people of Oceania. More specifically, the Party seeks to control the memory of the people because without memory, they cannot remember the past. They remove all documents and records of the past through their memory holes. It is one’s memories that keep the past existing and that shape their lives (Ingle 123). The Party succeeds in abolishing the past by restricting the memories of the people. Moreover, the government reduces individuality with their perceptions of logic. In Oceania, whatever the Party says is correct is correct. If one does not agree with what the Party says, he/she is considered insane; a flaw in the system. To explain, when Winston is taken to the Ministry of Love, they torture him-physically and emotionally to make him accept the logic of the Party. Powerful party member O’Brien explains to Winston that their logic is correct, regardless of what Winston knows is right. O’Brien implores, “Sometimes they are five. Sometimes they are three. Sometimes they are all of them at once. You must try harder. It is not easy to become sane” (Orwell 207).

If you had read some of Orwell’s previous books, like Animal Farm, you would not expect a happy ending in this book; rather you would just be waiting for Winston to be captured. Orwell did not hide this fact by adding to the suspense when O’Brien mentions it to Winston. “When you are finally caught, you will confess. That is unavoidable…” (Orwell, 174). Orwell created a haunting sort of suspense that kept you on your toes, once again, to see at what moment Winston would be captured. For example, when Winston was walking through the “proles” area he heard someone following him. The suspense built up to see who it was, if it was a spy, and what he would do about it. Even though in the end it turned out to be Julia, you still did not know whether she was a spy or not. “There was no doubt any longer that the girl was following him...” (Orwell, 101) Another time Orwell created suspense was when Winston was in the “Ministry Of Love”. There was gossip heard around the cells about “Room 101” and people would be terrified to be sent in there. Winston felt uneasy to think of what was in “Room 101” and so would his other cellmates. “One, a woman, was cosigned to ‘room 101’, and, Winston noticed, seemed to shrivel and turn a different color when she heard the words.” (Orwell, 234) The suspense built up until you could finally see what “Room 101” was when Winston was sent in

However, the thing that makes Winston a little bit different from others is that he is trying to develop something big in order to overthrow the Party. He has not been happy with them for some time now due to their extreme control and prohibitions of various expressions of freedom. It is important to note that in Oceania, it is absolutely illegal to rebel against the Party. In fact, it is illegal to even think about the possibility of such action taking place. These thoughts alone could get you into trouble. Winston is determined nonetheless. When O’Brien got in touch with him in an attempt to arrange a meeting, Winston finally thought that this was going to be it. It turns out that O’Brien was actually just an undercover member of the Party, spying on people like Winston to prevent rebellions. “It occurred to Winston that for the first time in his life he was looking, with knowledge, at a member of the Thought Police” (Orwell 185). Winston was set up because he proceeded about his daily life, not even thinking about the possibility of someone (that he is unaware of) watching his every move. It is a bit frightening because with the technology that exists today, it could be getting much easier to access our private

This semester the class had an assigned novel titled 1984, written by George Orwell. Even so, I feel as if the twenty-first has its similarities nonetheless, how? Some may say it’s just fictional and we don’t, I disagree, 1984 is very applicable to today’s world. Instead of getting lost in his art try to understand, It’s a deeper message. That’s why they banned it during the cold war, soon after published. Now that Our every move is traceable and just because we don’t have “big brother” tagging us doesn’t mean it’s not possible. The government just hasn’t found probable cause yet, if we aren’t aware soon we will fall victim. If it was published fictional than why does the government make a such fuss over it, but we don’t except this wake-up call. I feel as if there are some truths shining in subliminal messages and disturbingly true today.

The novel 1984, written by George Orwell, portrays an unimaginable world that restricts individuality of the characters. With this, the characters are to be deeply affiliated with the authoritative leader, Big Brother, and praise the standards that are to be given. They are not to betray the Party or consequences will be given and served. Despite this, the main character, Winston Smith, appears to be unaffected by the gruesome threats placed by the Party and continues to develop individual thought. He then proceeds to make a change and begin his rebellious journey by starting a diary and becoming closer with a woman named Julia. However, due to such heavily implemented surveillance, it appears that Winston's actions have unknowingly been studied by the Party creating tension as the Party has come to the conclusion that they have been betrayed. Winston is then captured and ultimately tortured to assist in influencing his new mindset that fits the Party standards. He is then released a new being who is once again in line with the standards of the Party. With this, it appears as though Winston's revolution was not worth the effort as he received tortuous punishments, lost touch with his love, and failed to have changed anything in regards to the Party.