Free Will And Individualism In George Orwell's 1984 And Toni Morrison

Towards the end of Orwell’s novel that presents a dystopian society, the antagonist, O’Brien, a close member of the inner party, warns Winston, the protagonist and one of only two reasonable people left, that “We do not merely destroy our enemies; we change them” (319). Winston, who has been taken prisoner for his political dissent, receives this grave warning tied down to a chair with O’Brien’s face staring at him from above. This alarming solution to the infamous mystery frightens Winston a significant amount, who after sacrificing so much, has just learned his fate. Orwell has brought about this fate to emphasize the perpetual triumph of the party over its enemies. In George Orwell's 1984, the author creates the totalitarian state of Oceania to warn the reader of the potential corruption and oppression of such a government.

This turns out to be an ironic contrast to life at the Weylin plantation, where a slave who visits his wife without his master's permission is brutally whipped. Perhaps a more painful realization for Dana is how this cruel treatment oppresses the mind. "Slavery of any kind fostered strange relationships," she notes, for all the slaves feel the same strange combination of fear,

One of the most important concepts that many individuals in modern day society value the most is the idea that they have the freedom to do whatever they please. The term freedom means “being able to act, think, and speak in any way one wants to without any type of hindrance,”(Dictionary.com). In the book, 1984, by George Orwell, the totalitarian society ruled by Big Brother, in many ways, controls its citizens by hindering any types of freedom a member of the society might have. In a society that is decorated with telescreens, hidden microphones, and strict rules, Orwell illustrates the many ways Big Brother uses that to its advantage to stifle the freedom of its citizens. However, under all the scrutiny of Big Brother, there are

She understands how slavery can destroy or “dirty” a person to the point where “you forgot who you were and couldn’t think it up.” This is the justification for trying to kill her children so they would never have to experience what it is like to have your identity stripped from you. Even though “she and others lived through and got over it”, her personality/identity was so damaged that she didn’t want her kids to live through slavery. However, Sethe failed to apply this to herself. She overlooked the fact that her own corruption led to her struggles with motherhood. In never learning how to properly mother a child, Sethe made the rash decision of killing them to free them from the horrors of slavery. In the passage above, Morrison uses the symbol of dirt to portray how Sethe’s own corruption affected her children and hindered their freedom. In trying to save her children from the “dirt”, Sethe dirtied her children anyway because slavery is so powerful that if it affects one, it affects all. The dirt of slavery never left Sethe and made it hard for her to discover herself and find her own freedom. Again, Morrison establishes the difference between being free and freeing oneself. Because she has been so corrupted by slavery, neither Sethe nor her children can be truly

George Orwell’s theme in 1984 is that an omnipotent and all-seeing government is dangerous and will demean individuality as well as free will. He portrays this through Winston’s failure to rebel while showing totalitarian governments cannot be stopped after they have been completely established. He also depicts his message through the citizens’ total belief in government propaganda no matter how absurd or inconstant as well as through the international solidarity and seemingly permanent nuclear cold war.

While Morrison depicts myriad abuses of slavery like brutal beatings and lynching, the depictions of and allusions to rape are of primary importance; each in some way helps explain the infanticide that marks the beginnings of Sethe’s story as a free woman. Sethe kills her child so that no white man will ever “dirty” her, so that no young man with “mossy teeth” will ever hold the child down and suck her breast (Pamela E. Barnett 193)

This literary analysis will define the feminist challenge to the patriarchal motherhood as defined in the mothering methods of Sethe in Beloved by Toni Morrison. Sethe's mothering instincts are found in the way she kills her child in order to prevent a life of slavery and suffering on the slave plantation. This form of “good mothering” defines the horrific sacrifice that Sethe was willing to make, so that her daughter did not grow up to live as a salve. More so, the patriarchal system of marriage and reproductive roles on the patriarchal plantation define the slave system as a boon to Sethe's mothering skills. Sethe is forced to marry one of five male slaves, which defines the sexual abuse that women had to endure on the plantation, This is an important reason why Sethe did not want her daughter enduring the same form of enforced reproductive policies of the slave system. In essence, an analysis of the feminist challenge to patriarchal motherhood will be defined in Sethe’s methods of “good mothering” in Beloved by Toni Morrison.

In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, the author challenges the traditional humanist depictions of love and selflessness by showing that these human qualities are unattainable in the dystopian world portrayed. Orwell, however, does instill some hope with the fact that the proles maintain some sense of humanity. The Party is determined to extinguish all humanity within the party members by controlling all parts of their lives, but if the proles can maintain their basic human goodness then there is a small glimmer of hope that the party can be overthrown. Due to the extreme repression placed upon the party members, basic human qualities like love and selflessness are reduced to nothing more than pure instinctual behaviors.

Have you ever been in a situation in which you have gone against what others have said? Perhaps you didn’t agree with what they said. What about breaking the rules for the greater good? Well in the novel, 1984 by George Orwell- Winston goes against the rules that the party has put up. He falls in love with a girl named Julia, and they are taken to trial at the Ministry of love. The theme to best fit the story would be- Freedom is Worth Fighting For.

Our world today is filled with unnecessary oppression. Slavery is one common form of human oppression, but there are numerous other forms as well. War, death, hunger, and sadness caused the elders in the society of The Giver to force each citizen to live extremely structured, controlled lives. That structure and control effected each person’s ability to live unique, private, and free lives. The elders in The Giver wanted all the citizens in the community to be undifferentiated for their own safety, so they greatly censored all citizens. Lack of freedom to pursue individual happiness is, indeed, a form of oppression not only faced by fictional book characters, but also by twenty-first century Americans. American society is changing so rapidly that we as independent Americans must decide whether safety, or freedom, is more important.

Central to the experience to slavery is the body. Every tale, every Movie, and every story you have ever heard has concentrated on the slave and their body either with detail of how scared it is or what color and features it represents. And this is one mode of stripping a human being of their humanity, to reduce their existence to only their body and give them nothing else to look at or look forward to. Only having your body to look forward to, or only knowing that you are you because of your body makes you nothing less than an animal some might say. And this consequently has brought tensions that emerge between the literal and symbolic experience and

The atrocities of slavery know no bounds. Its devices leave lives ruined families pulled apart and countless people dead. Yet many looked away or accepted it as a necessary part of society, even claiming it was beneficial to all. The only way this logic works is if the slaves are seen as less than human, people who cannot be trusted to take care of themselves. In Toni Morrison’s Beloved the consequences of a lifetime of slavery are examined. Paul D and seethe, two former slaves have experienced the worst slavery has to offer. Under their original master, Mr. Garner the slaves were treated like humans. They were encouraged to think for themselves and make their own decisions. However, upon the death of Mr. Garner all of that changes. Under

The relationship between a female slave and her master wasn’t always a relationship built only on hard work in the fields or serving in the home. In some instances slave women were forced to comply with sexual advances by their masters regularly. Attempting to resist these advances often led to undesirable consequences that often included beatings and other forms of physical punishment. Because of these harsh and brutal consequences

“I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery”(Thomas Jefferson). In the book 1984 the author George Orwell depicted a dystopian society where Oceania exhibited no laws, yet freedom only existed through limitations and bounded by watchful eyes of Thought Police. Terror and fear tear this world apart; family values become unworthy and limitations are tested. Winston is one of the intellectual characters who clearly acknowledges the distrust in The Party and Big Brother. He posses traits of a radical and to avoid being caught he hides his way to express himself. There is no freedom in 1984, because individuals have no freedom of speech, no choice in marriage, and no ability to testify against the intellectual standing, which only the party

In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, the totalitarian government is adamant that all citizens not only follow its policies, but wholeheartedly agree with them. In order to maintain his individuality and avoid the Thought Police, Winston lies about his allegiance to the government and his beliefs and thoughts. He learns that his lies are weak and shallow after he is caught, and he eventually realizes the true power of his lies when he deceives himself. The totalitarian government Orwell presents encourages deception as a means of survival, increasing the government’s power when the citizens are eventually driven to lie to themselves. As the Party grows stronger and individuality crumbles, Orwell displays the loss of humanity as a result of a government built on deception.