Being structured on fear inhibits the possibility of a civilization's endurance. Fear can cause people to become unpredictable, to the point of sacrificing strong beliefs they once held. In 1984, Winston is determined to not sacrifice his relationship with Julia, as they both tell O'Brien that they are unwilling "'to separate and never see one another again'"(Orwell, 173), and when tortured, Winston holds on to the fact that he has held to his beliefs and not betrayed Julia(273). However, when placed in Room 101, facing his greatest fear, Winston quickly forgets his will to not hurt his relationship and his hope in the fact that he has not been unfaithful to her. When his fear gets closer, he exclaims, "'Do it to Julia...I don't care what you do to her'"(286). This exposure to Winston's greatest fear caused him to behave contradictory to his previous belief of loyalty …show more content…
His fear motivated his unpredictability and caused his unforeseeable action. Similarly, if an entire society is exposed to fear, the people will all act in a manner that is unpredictable and uncontrollable. Winston's outburst could not be contained because he was so afraid, and likewise, so will an entire civilization. The use of fear means the loss of control. Fear also causes more power to be given to the people in a society. Fear triggers the release of adrenaline, which enters the bloodstream with additional oxygen and not only strengthens the body by a significant amount, but focuses the mind as well(Wise). When an individual feels afraid, they are focused on one goal: to eliminate the threatening factor. Not only does this focus sharpen, but an individual's strength level and pain tolerance rise, giving them more power to react. People are built to avoid being afraid; a civilization structured on making them afraid soon becomes the threatening factor and will be retaliated against, creating almost certain revolt. Though fear can change how people act, it is unable to change someone's
“It was not easy to preserve inscrutability when you did not know what your face looked like. In any case, mere control of the features was not enough. For the first time he perceived that if you want to keep a secret you must also hide it from yourself. You must know all the while that it is there, but until it is needed you must never let it emerge into your consciousness in any shape that could be given a name. From now onwards he must not only think right; he must feel right, dream right. And all the while he must keep his hatred locked up inside of him like a ball of matter which was part of himself and yet unconnected with the rest of him, a kind of cyst” (Orwell, 231).
In the face of fear people often betray the ones closest to them. Other automatically give up without the need of torture because the fear is so strong it controls the ability to make decisions. Fear is often a powerful emotion that come with selfishness and every person for themselves idea. Sometimes people can overcome the pain or fear for a loved one but in Orwell’s book 1984 shows how fear can override that love and can force people to betray the person closest to them. Fear causes selfishness and survival instincts to activate. A person who is the kindest person and is very altruistic in many different ways but when face with their greatest fear that person could fail or betray their loved ones. “All you care about is yourself,” in a crisis, a person might give up sensitive information or put another in harm's way(Orwell page, 292). Even after you can pretend that they did not mean or it was only a trick but at the time they meant every selfish word they said.
When George Orwell wrote his novel, 1984, Hitler and Mussolini had recently been defeated in World War II, the nuclear arms race was warming up and the Soviet Union was a threat to the world. Although these are not problems in today's society, 1984 is still very relevant in current time, "The twentieth century will soon be over, but political terror still survives and this is why Nineteen Eighty-four remains valid today” (Ricks 5). In the novel 1984 the main character Winston is faced with challenges when he meets a woman named Julia. Julia makes him question his loyalty to the government. They are living under a totalitarian government that sees everything you do, hears everything you say, and knows everything you think. George Orwell’s novel 1984 is still relevant in today’s society.
Paranoia an uncontrollable emotion that refers to the suspicion or perception that one has against a hostile or aggressive figure or horror. It can often lead to the point of delusion or irrationality in the person. This emotion is catastrophic, it takes over people's minds and bodies, making their “true” self disappear. Once the fear is inside of a person it is hard to overcome. 1984, is a dystopian novel written by George Orwell. He writes about what he imagines the year 1984 will be like, based off of his knowledge about war, fear, and totalitarian governments in the 1940s and 50s. George Orwell, has personal experience of innocent people that were haunted by paranoia, and is one of the key reasons he decided to become an author and write this book. Paranoia is a frequent recurring topic in this novel, that many citizens in the city of Oceania experience, most importantly, the main character, Winston. People in Airstrip one are haunted by Big brother and the Party, because of their cruel ways of order. Big Brother is a real life representation of dictators from World War Ⅱ, but mostly portrays qualities like Joseph Stalin, the dictator of the Soviet Union. The party ruled under Big Brother, making policies, claims, and decisions for Oceania. Paranoia always has been an analytical part of governments, and is so influential in 1984. This feeling exhibits the true meaning of fear and the alterations that come along with the power a certain group or figure holds above a
Fear within the ignorant animals of Animal Farm and defeated humans of 1984 exist to uphold each novel’s totalitarian government. Each of these George Orwell novels delve into the power and manipulation of an absolute dictatorship. Napoleon in Animal Farm and Big Brother in 1984 both claim the newly established system of authority is of superior quality than the preceding regime. Apprehension is due to both fictional and realistic threats, twisted for the government’s power-hungry use. Feelings of fear permit the pigs and the Party to control devotion and independence in ignorant citizens. Animal Farm and 1984 simulate fear utilized by authoritarian rule to control, keep citizens loyal and modify reality. George Orwell’s two novels warn
The Party also uses the element of instability to keep the public on its feet. One day the ration of food is lower than the next, and they're praising on the news channel the amount of food they are allowed. They're never at war with the same country, but people are not encouraged to notice these changes since they are trained to just accept them as the beaten-down manipulated robots that they are. This is how corrupt Oceania's society is. The ones with the power and the voice have all the say and everyone else in the society follows and accepts. Everything is aseptic in Oceania. Also, there are no emotions since people are afraid of the surveillance on the street and the telescreens in their homes. The Thought police are everywhere, therefore,
Fear. All have a fear. All have a phobia that succeeds in getting the best of us. Some fears are physical, others more abstract. George Orwell demonstrates how our greatest fear, whatever it is, can be used for control, especially by the government, in his 1984.
Based on events from the past and what is shown in 1984, I believe a society focused on fear and hatred will not be able to flourish. O’Brien argued, in the novel, that The Party has control over external reality because nothing exists outside the mind, only The Party exists (Orwell). Winston responded to this by saying that a society that lives on fear and hatred would have no vitality, it would disintegrate, and it would commit suicide (Orwell). I personally agree with Winston because a society needs to breathe or have freedoms in order to survive. In essence, I believe a society based on hate and suffering, such as what O’Brien described, could not exist for long, and the intoxication of power and thrill of victory could not be enough motivation for people to continue living without friendship or love, and I could not live in such a suffering society.
Before every sporting event at Bexley High School the announcer says, “we live in a country with freedoms like no other”. He is right. We do have freedoms that aren’t afforded any other place on earth, but as Americans we often take those freedoms for granted and assume we have them even when we might not. Often times we are being oppressed not by a law, but fear. This control by fear is used both by the government in George Orwell’s 1984 and by modern American media and politicians.
Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”, and George Orwell’s “1984” both portray totalitarian regimes who strive for complete control over their population. The methods that they use to achieve this are almost polar opposites. While one uses war/bombing, thought/relationships, and through the dreaded room 101 as a means of control, the other uses sex/orgies, relationships, and soma to establish order throughout the population.
Who tells everyone what to post on Facebook, what to tweet, what pictures to take or if they are even allowed to take them? Anyone can post or say whatever they want at any given time, that is what freedom is. However, it is not like that in George Orwell’s novel 1984. The characters in 1984 do not experience freedom as evidenced by the paranoia they suffer through, the lack of vocabulary they are allowed to use, and the fact they are constantly watched.
As human beings, there are distinct characteristics that separate us from feral animals; the ability to create, to appreciate art, to curiously question the world and most importantly to sympathize for our kind. However, when that exact nature is stripped from us, we tend to become mindless, restricted, cold, and degraded as an entire race. This is the setting of George Orwell’s last book, 1984. A world where human thought is limited, war and poverty lie on every street corner, and one cannot trust nobody or nothing. It is all due to the one reigning political entity, the Ingsoc Party, who imposes complete power over all aspects of life for all citizens. There is no creative or intellectual thought, no art, culture or history, and no
Who control the present controls the past.” (Orwell 2016, Ch. 3 pg. 34) The motif, is a reminder of the Party’s technique of falsify history to brainwash and cause the psychological break down of its people. Orwell constantly foreshadows the outcome in the Ministry of Love, by Winston’s immense fear of rats, this fear first presented itself in the secret room that Winston and Julia frequently occupied, “’Rats!’ murmured Winston. ‘In this room!’…’Of all horrors in the world – a rat!’” (Orwell 2016, Ch. 4 pg. 137) This foundation fear, that the Party soon discovered, would become the very thing that would unravel Winston. As foreshadowed, when Winston is tortured in Room 101 in the ironically named Ministry of Love, it was done with rats. Winston’s fear of rats terrified him enough to betray Julia. Orwell used foreshadowing, propaganda writing styles and personification in the novels to depict how the dictators have power through actions and how the actions of their subjects have
The strongest people are poor, starving, and treated like animals. In 1948, author George Orwell wrote the dystopian novel 1984. In 1984, Orwell created a world without freedom of speech, motion, and thought to portray an idea of our world with totalitarian power. In the book, it follows a member of the Outer Party named Winston, and his fight to keep his freedom of thought through love, rebellion, and secrecy. Throughout the book, it portrays three important themes, War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, and Ignorance is Strength. The statement, “Ignorance is Strength” is a deep meaning throughout George Orwell’s 1984 due to the jocundity of the Proles, the rigid rules and expectations of both the Inner and Outer party, and Big Brother’s strive
As time goes on, freedom and security have become values that are discussed more and more often. In George Orwell’s 1984, the notions of freedom and security both come at the price of one another. With more freedom comes less security, and with more security there is less freedom. This is one of the most prevalent concepts that carries from this dystopian novel into our society today, and we are going to have to pick one value over the other. In order to be successful, freedom is going to have to come first, and we are going to have to figure out an answer to the security problem that presents us with.