Example Of Dehumanization In 1984

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.

Life in Oceania is dull, lifeless and described as ‘swimming against the current’. Orwell creates a dire feeling of hopelessness through his destruction of friendship, family, love and individual thoughts. Love and sex are no longer accepted under the totalitarian regime and Winston is therein forced to suppress all his sexual desires treating sex as merely a procreative duty. His marriage to Katherine was purely ‘[their] duty to the Party’ whose end was the creation of new party members. This shows that in a totalitarian world it is wholly necessary to adhere to the constraints enforced by a government not only for personal salvation but also for the survival of the entirety of the human race.

During the torture with rats in room 101, Winston says: “Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don’t care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Julia! Not me!”(pg. 300). The one person that Winston promised to never betray, Julia, was betrayed at the end due to the power of the Party and their constant monitoring of the people, which led them to know everything from what a person likes to what they hate. In this case, Winston’s deepest fear and disgust were towards rats and they used it as a tool to break the strong bond between Julia and Winston. Julia also says: “I betrayed you” (pg. 305), which demonstrates that the Party does indeed know everything about everyone because they used a similar torture method to distort and destroy her love for Winston. It is horrifying to think that torture was used to change people’s beliefs and feelings in the Party’s favor. I suppose Orwell wanted to indicate to what extent the government might go to achieve total power over people and one of his messages here is that even middle class people, like Winston and Julia, will be sentenced in a totalitarian system; if they live with their position, they are committing an act of intellectual and moral suicide as human individuals, and if they try

In George Orwell’s 1984, Winston Smith is a prime example of the oppressed fighting against the oppressor by his actions of minute resistance, giving his love to another, and joining a secret activists group.

In 1984, the last and largest work of Orwell’s life, the oppression becomes even more sinister. Winston, a member of the “party,” decides to break away from the melancholy lifestyle in which “freedom is slavery” and rebel against the government that restrains him. The party even erases all of history and claims that reality is within the mind; “He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.” He becomes conscious of all the trickery and lies of the party and joins a secret organization to fight for freedom. The organization, however, is a lie and Winston is tortured until he learns to truly love Big Brother. 1984 makes prominent stabs at the

“I hate purity, I hate goodness! I don’t want any virtue to exist anywhere. I want everyone to be corrupt to the bones.” (Orwell 72). These are not the words of a man bereft of virtue. In fact, with these words, Winston Smith expresses his frustration at the falsehood the Party represents. This is, after all, a régime that perpetuates its repression through “double speak.” Its slogans displayed through Oceania are: “WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.” (Orwell 14). Winston Smith’s world is a world where all that is noble is forbidden, and all that is forbidden is noble. Truth and lies are intertwined to the extent of being indistinguishable. The awareness that Winston Smith possesses makes him an uncommon, if not extraordinary man. It is because of this awareness that he rebels against the tyranny of the Party and refuses to conform or adapt, and walk the predetermined path of a meaningless existence that has been chosen for

Embedded in the human spirit is the notion that people possess an innate sense of being an individual, free to think, act, and understand the world surrounding them. In George Orwell’s 1984, individuality is removed to support the Party’s abilities in controlling and exploiting the masses. Yet, despite their success in suppressing the citizens of Oceania there is something rooted in humanity that although can be repressed, still remains implanted within the deepest parts of a person’s mind. In the novel, while the Party attempts to annihilate all human instincts in order to acquire pure and absolute power, it is unknown to them that despite their best efforts there lies something much more dominant in the human mind which although can be inhibited may never be entirely eliminated. As Winston ponders revolutionary ideas, his physical body unknowing to his conscious mind, is complacent with his innermost thoughts to rebel in any way possible. Winston’s thoughts of unorthodoxy become enhanced through Julia because he discovers someone who desires and understands him, conjuring up something instinctual in him which has been waiting to be released. To care and protect someone else becomes instinctive when he/she experiences suffering or pain and this kind of understanding is acknowledged through the only people Winston believes express any sanity in a corrupt world: the proletarians. A person’s impulse to resist an oppressive nature is instinctual and this is validated through

In George Orwell’s novel, “1984”,is about a main character Winston, who is an ordinary citizen of Oceania. The totalitarian society is led by Big Brother. Television screens are strategically placed everywhere watching citizens’ every move. Leaving them in constant fear and paranoia. The corrupt society lead to some citizens wanting to rebel. If they were ever caught, they would be severely punished. This kept wearing citizens down. The dehumanization of citizens of Oceania was due to propaganda, mind control, and the lack of privacy.

Totalitarianism, derived from a society which proceeds without cautiousness towards governmental power, can induce many limitations among citizens and every aspect of their lives including individualism. In George Orwell’s 1984, the artificiality of the dystopian country influenced the protagonist of the novel, Winston Smith, to try and deceive the government in any way possible. Winston and many others view individuality as immensely important, but a large challenge to achieve due to the diminished hope evident in dystopia. Hope is prominent among Winston in his actions towards the totalitarian government, referred to as Big Brother, throughout the novel. From the beginning of the novel when readers are introduced to a dismal setting to

“They could lay bare in the utmost detail everything that you had done or said or thought; but the inner heart, whose workings were mysterious even to yourself remained impregnable (Orwell, 174.)” There are some citizens who realize that the inner heart and innate essence of the society members are the only things that aren’t able to be damaged by the Party. In the novel, 1984, by George Orwell, the protagonist, Winston Smith, is one of the few citizens who knows it is difficult yet crucial and possible to “stay human,” by preserving the fundamental traits of humanity and resisting the Party’s abuse of those characteristics.

The bewildering and anti-human experience of a person living in a totalitarian state is likely to bring about the kind of alienation apparent in 1984. Winston, the most obvious example, is severely cut off from the outside world. Alone and lonely, he feels alienated from his family, his neighbors, and the rest of society. Even with Julia, Winston does not find someone who shares the same thoughts and opinions that he does. He hates women and children. The Party’s war against love and sex for purposes other than reproduction has succeeded in cutting off Winston from half of the human race. As a result of the Party’s oppression, Winston’s psychological and sexual life has been crippled. Winston is able to perform his duties for the Party without thought or question, but inwardly he represses every contrary or unorthodox thought in the

George Orwell was the pseudonym for Eric Arthur Blair, and he was famous for his personnel vendetta against totalitarian regimes and in particular the Stalinist brand of communism. In his novel, 1984, Orwell has produced a brilliant social critique on totalitarianism and a future dystopia, that has made the world pause and think about our past, present and future, as the situation of 1984 always remains menacingly possible. The story is set in a futuristic 1984 London, where a common man Winston Smith has turned against the totalitarian government. Orwell has portrayed the concepts of power, marginalization, and resistance through physical, psychological, sexual and political control. The way that Winston Smith, the central

Imagine a world where mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters are no longer a part of society. Imagine a world of lifeless shells of humans. Both Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, and 1984, by George Orwell, portray such societies that have been degraded by the idea of ‘utopia'. In such a distraught society it's no surprise that people will loss their humanity. For those characters that still had sanity, the impact of this world would twist their minds to the limit.

As Winston is captured by the government, he is told that there are three stages of his “reintegration”; learning, understanding, and acceptance. Winston refuses to betray his lover Julia until the last stage as he yells to his tormentors, “Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! I don’t care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Julia. Not me!” (300). , Orwell) Spewing such harsh and petrifying phrases about his past lover, showcases that Winston under the torment and oppression of the Party has capitulated and accepted Big Brother while breaking the final bonds of his romantic relationship with Julia. Instilling oppression on romantic love ensures that the citizens of Oceania love Big Brother and the government with their full capacity; confirming that the individual will never favour their loved one over the government. Once a courageous individual rebelling against the government, using his relationship with Julia as a weapon, now merrily a shadow of his former past, broken down by the oppression instilled by the government. By betraying his lover, Julia, Winston demonstratesions that the government has won. Contradictory to his initial feeling towards Big Brother, Winston’s love is now dedicated towards the government. In the aftermath of his “reintegration”, “[Winston] loved Big Brother,” (311) , Orwell) leaving no additional room in his damaged heart for Julia. However, Winston is not the only character who suffers with the decision of betraying their loved

In 1984, George Orwell criticize the many flaws of the totalitarian government. The main flaws of the government system demonstrated in the novel are the deprivation of freedom of the citizens of Oceania. In 1984, the life of Winston is always filled with dread until the end when he starts to believe in Big Brother. It is due to Big Brother keeping him alive during the torture process because of him believing in him made the torture ease for Winston. Winston rebels against the government because he realized that the laws in Oceania are prejudice and unfair to man. The happiness of Winston found at the end of the book is due to him falling into the trap of a totalitarian government. After Winston, had been tortured by the ministry of love, he was sitting at a café and was listening to the telescreen as he started to constantly say “2+2=5” and “I love big brother” after he had been tortured (Orwell 263). Winston found that the trap to be his form of happiness because it allowed him to survive the torture session, making the totalitarian government very dangerous because Winston would have tragically died if he had not fallen under Big Brother’s fist. The happiness of Winston found at the end of the novel relates to the fact a person’s worth