Allegory Of The Cave And 1984 Comparison Essay

The main character in George Orwell’s 1948 novel, 1984, Winston Smith can be seen as many things. To some, he may be a hero, but to others he is a coward and a fool. Throughout the novel, Winston’s characteristics are explored, and readers are shown the reasoning behind Winston’s twisted mind. It is evident that although Winston thinks he had control over his own mind and body, this is an imagined factor. The world of 1984 is one of a totalitarian society, where no one can be trusted, and no one is safe, Winston being the primary example of one who trusted thoughtlessly.

In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, Winston Smith is a character plagued by an oppressive party that controls and monitors its entire population. On a journey to meet a young girl in the countryside, Winston's mood, setting and point of view are used with Orwell's diction and imagery to portray a complex tone. Describing Winston as apprehensive and nervous throughout the beginning of the chapter because he does not know what is going to happen and he is anxious to meet this new girl but fearful for his own existence.

In the midst of the Cold War, the fear of communism was spreading across the US like wildfire. In 1949 George Orwell publishes 1984 to depict a future dystopian society controlled by a totalitarian government. He hopes to show his readers what effect communism can potentially have through the government in the novel known as the Party. This government makes numerous efforts to control not only all aspects of the present life for its citizens but also all aspects of the past. It is seen as the ultimate power striking fear in all of its citizens’ minds. In Orwell’s novel, he uses the character Winston to show how a totalitarian government attempts to control its citizens’ free will to order to be the supreme power; Winston, however, does his best to not conform.

George Orwell creates a dark, depressing and pessimistic world where the government has full control over the masses in the novel 1984. The protagonist, Winston, is low-level Party member who has grown to resent the society that he lives in. Orwell portrays him as a individual that begins to lose his sanity due to the constrictions of society. There are only two possible outcomes, either he becomes more effectively assimilated or he brings about the change he desires. Winston starts a journey towards his own self-destruction. His first defiant act is the diary where he writes “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER.” But he goes further by having an affair with Julia,

Throughout the book 1984, by George Orwell, society was constantly being monitored and limited in their freedom. Orwell wrote this book to depict the most absolute and powerful totalitarian government. It showed people of his time how this could all be a possibility in the near future and the risks of accepting this form of control. He was able to create an extreme portrayal of the extent rulers would go to, to obtain total power over everyone. In the book, the government had set up a world of lies and deception, which people had to believe or else their life was at risk. However, there was Winston Smith, a unique man in this newly organized world that suppressed individualism. As the book progressed, the structure and plot of the story

One of the grandest struggles that mankind must face is determining if the pain that accompanies the pursuit for this information is worth it. Socrates speaks about this in Plato’s piece, The Allegory of the Cave, from Book VII The Republic. Socrates' use of a theoretical cave of ignorance shows the relationship between man and the search for knowledge. Despite the fact that this piece was originally composed in ancient Greece, it still has valid applications in modern life.

1984 is one of George Orwell’s most distinguished dystopian novel published in 1949. In this book, Orwell portrays a world consisting of three totalitarian countries that make every effort to constantly observe and control their citizens. Nevertheless, the way the Inner Party members treat Winston Smith, the thought criminal, is circuitous. O’Brien and the Thought Police first foster the rebellious thoughts in Winston’s mind and then spend much time and effort to transform him when he has no mental or physical power to fight back. In fact, their seemingly unnecessary action is actually ingenious and is designed to break Winston, the last man.

In “The Allegory of the Cave,” Plato explains Socrates’ ideas that people live in a world of ignorance and are unwilling to accept a new outlook. He describes these perspectives through the use of a metaphorical cave that represents society. Prisoners are chained facing a wall in this cave and are only able to see their reality from a fire which reflects shadows passing by. When one prisoner escapes into the actual reality, he is surprised to discover the false perception he has been living in. He endures this painful truth until he can see a clear reality, which eventually allows him to be grateful for the sun and the world around him. He is amazed at what he has been missing out on and rushes

Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” is one of the most well-known metaphors in philosophy. This metaphor is meant to illustrate the impact and importance of education on the human soul. Plato describes how it is essential that we conquer the stages of ignorance through education, to lead us to the Ultimate Good or Enlightenment. The scene begins dark as he describes the first stage as

Living in the dystopian era of 1984, Winston Smith is a kindred spirit longing for the past, in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. He is a simple man that goes to work at the Ministry of Truth and comes home promptly, but he has a secret. A secret so compromising that it could, no, will result in his death. Winston Smith is a rebel. He opposes the inhumane totalitarian government and bears strong hatred for Big Brother. Feeding off any fragment of hope that a better future awaits, luring himself deeper into this risky game, like a moth attracted to fire. From discovering love, pleasure, and forgotten

George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984 is a frightening yet captivating story that cautions readers of the extreme dangers that come along with totalitarianism. Protagonist Winston Smith feels he is trapped living in Oceania under a government, the Party, that has complete control over its citizens. Throughout the novel he tries to combat the Party because he is appalled by its constant supervision and the lack of freedom it causes. The Party watches over and limits its citizens to make certain that nobody is wanting or planning to remonstrate them, and it does so effectively with the use of the telescreen, the Thought Police, and even people’s own children.

Sometime between 507 and 517 B.C. Plato transcribed a story from Socrates that could describe the ignorance and enlightenment of people and their interactions with change called “the Allegory of the People in the Cave”. Two of the major recurring themes in the story illustrate the epistemological argument as well as the views of rationalism. I will also briefly explore the tangent of Empiricism inspired by the story’s experiences to help understand the cause and effects of ones search for knowledge. In this essay we will summarize the story and explore the philosophical views of those characters in and why in the end they feel the way that they do, “The Allegory of the People in the Cave” text is more than a story but rather an important

First, according to him, knowledge is not something to transfer, but transform; whereas education is not merely an accumulation and piling up of information one over another, but transformative towards the real truth and reality. Secondly, Plato calls upon the cured ones to go back to the cave and cure the rest of the society. And lastly, he argues that for a society to be considered good, it needs to be governed by the philosophers, as well. The philosopher of the Sun should replace the King of Shadow to enact a good society. These remarks highlighted by the allegory all at once justify the stress on this piece as “a dialogue on the nature of justice” (Bauer 1).

Moral and philosophical approaches to analyzing literary works has held its spot in the need and importance of the development of moral compasses in humanity since the era in which Plato, Greek philosopher and writer, reigned. According to this literary approach, morality and philosophy are often the true and only purpose of writing; providing readers with insights and outlooks that can be applied to their life and ultimately affect their ethical and social principles, a task which George Orwell’s 1984, a book reflecting the dangers of constant government surveillance and its psychological affect on its people, does quite well. The themes and overtones of the book act as a guidance of sorts for its reader, grim as they may be, and allow for the

Winston Smith, Orwell’s slightly less than middle-aged protagonist, is a normal man in Oceania’s society until he begins to write down his rebellious thoughts in a diary of sorts. He has always secretly hated the Party but has not made it public until his creation of the diary. The creation of said diary in and of itself is a thoughtcrime that Winston knows he will end up dying for when his crimes are discovered by the Thought Police.