Is 1984 A Dystopian Novel Analysis

WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH. Can a world ever be like the scenario that occurs in the the story 1984? Everywhere you go, the government or party in other words are always watching you. They watch you in your house through your telescreen which you could never turn off and they hear you through the bushes. If you do any illegal actions the police might capture you and send you to the Ministry of Love where you would be torchered and beaten up. Actions that includes free thoughts, love, and even expressing who you are could bring in punishments. Writing a diary or opposing the government are also prohibited. In fact, thinking rebellious thoughts is the worst crime one would want to do. As in every modern book, there are plethora of themes in the book, 1984. One of the most powerful themes in this book is it is very difficult to control someone when they are glued to a thought.

Big Brother is the controlling dictator of Oceania, which is the totalitarian state that the Party bows total power to. Every citizen, is under persistent surveillance by the authorities, the Thought Police. The citizens are mainly being monitored by tele-screens. These screens operate both as televisions and security cameras. Tele-screens are located in every room that belongs to a Party member as well as public locations. People in Oceania are constantly reminded that “Big Brother is watching you.” Big Brother is described as a figure that will never die because he is the representation of the Party and is said to live as long as the Party lives.

I am going to start by examining the genre of the novel. 1984 is one of the most popular novels of George Orwell’s work. When defining the genre, we can state that it is a dystopian, or negative utopian novel, since the writer aims to portray the worst human society imaginable to persuade readers to avoid any path that may lead towards it, while a novel of utopia does the exact opposite.

In Oceania, there are no means of comparison, as communication is under the Party’s influence. Knowledge is the Party’s threat, which once high enough, would lead to their annihilation. Knowledge grows through the education of the people, however this is hindered by the enforcement of various literary features.

A dystopian novel is a story relating to or denoting an imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmentally degraded one. 1984 by George Orwell, is indeed a dystopian novel as it describes a nightmare vision of future society which is opposite to a perfect world. George Orwell creates this image using a few different techniques including, the language or style, the setting, characterization, and oppression.

Societies subject to totalitarian reign experience a complete degradation of both civil and natural born rights. Entire populations are forced to follow a strict regimen, often against their free will and good judgement. In 1984, George Orwell warns of such corrupted power of a totalitarian regime. Big Brother instills a looming fear that agitates the people of Oceania, which, in the hearts of some, ignites a cry of rebellion. Those trying to peacefully challenge the system, much like Winston and Julia, are met with a cruel fate of reassimilation. Under totalitarian rule of Big Brother, such actions of civil disobedience are not effective because of the government's disinterest of citizen acceptance, unrelenting power, and a complete control

The great, overlooking aura that is Big Brother is perfectly exemplified in a quote, “It is the hard and reflecting eye rather than the eye itself that seems hostile” (Lyons and Orwell 42). In this book, the people are not certain that Big Brother exists, yet he holds the most power in the entire nation. The threat of abuse in any form for disobeying the Party is what makes Oceania the perfect dystopia. The Party controls everything, even though the people may not accept it. They use force and intimidation to control. Telescreens watch over every move made by every person. There are helicopters full of thought police flying overhead looking for the slightest disobedience to be punished. The Party cheapens sexual pleasure by putting it into

Big Brother is the face of the oppressive government of Oceania. There are posters everywhere conveying a message that you are always being watched by Big Brother. This feeling of constant surveillance through telescreens and secret microphones all over Oceania invokes fear to all the people. As the novel states, “Always eyes watching you. Asleep or awake, indoors or out of doors, in the bath or bed – no escape. Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimeters in your skull.” The telescreens are very dangerous to be around because the slightest of abnormality could expose you to be a thought criminal. Even in the comfort of one’s own home, while working, there is not a time that the Party is not monitoring anyone for suspicious activities. Big Brother represents the fear in people. Fear is continuously exploited by the Party throughout the book. “Ours is founded upon hatred. In our world there will be no emotions except fear, rage…” This quote explains to us that there will still be fear in the future because the foundation of their world is made up of rage. Big Brother is the biggest figure that everyone fears, even at the end of the book. Hence this shows that the meaning of fear is unchanging. The proles are easily manipulated because a frightened population is easier to control

Dystopian literature is a type of writing where the world in which the story takes place is not the best place to live and the people are normally controlled in everything they do. It comes from the Greek roots for Bad and Place. Anthem Ayn Rand is clearly an example of a dystopian novel because the government is flawed, and thoughts and feelings are restricted.

Big Brother is watching you. This simple phrase revolves around the citizens of Oceania’s lives every day. They live in a world where they do not have their own beliefs. The government controls everything, including what they do, what they think, even how they speak. At a young age, the population is taught how to act according to the government’s wishes. They live their lives working according to what the government wants. Winston, the main character, works in the Ministry of Truth, where he alters the past. All possible love and loyalty is towards the Party. The government of Oceania manipulates and molds the minds of its citizens as to how they wish them to be. Throughout the novel, 1984 by George Orwell, the author and the society of Oceania constantly tries to and succeeds in creating and maintaining the members of society’s devotion towards becoming and being a perfect Party member.

The idea of a utopia sounds like a great idea, however it always turns into a feared dystopia. This is exactly what happens in the novel, 1984 and in the notorious group, The Ku Klux Klan. The definition of Utopia is “an imaginary and indefinitely remote place” (Utopia). The illusion these groups create never end up being utopias and eventually becomes a dystopia. The definition of dystopia is “an imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives” (Dystopia). The KKK and Oceania are perfect examples of a falsified utopias that are simply dystopias.

The perfect world has never existed nor will it ever. Someone persons view on something great could be another worst nightmare. In some cases people mistake utopias for dystopias. A utopia is an ideal place of state or living (“Utopia”). A dystopia is a society of characterized by human misery, a squalor, oppression, disease, or overcrowding (“Dystopia”). In George Orwell’s book 1984 the society is depicted as a utopia when in reality it’s not the perfect place, it’s written to represent a dystopia. It takes place in 1984 in a dystopian America where it’s actually called “Ocieana”. The book tries to make itself seem like a perfect society, using propaganda, and presented government. They would look like the perfect society to some people

This story takes place in an imaginary country called Oceania; it is one of the three large super states in the world of 1984. Oceania is a society similar to Hitler's Germany; with absolute power in the government and absolutely no individualism. Oceania is ruled by a totalitarian government, the leader of the government was Big Brother. Big brother monitors all the people by telescreens and the thought police. Telescreens watch every move that is made and there is no privacy.

This state of constant surveillance demands complete conformity among the population. In Oceania, there are no laws, but non-conformity is punished by death. The thought police are an omnipresent force of the government, weeding out non-conformists and making them disappear on a regular basis. Even a slight inflection in the voice or a look of the eye can be construed as thoughtcrime. Propaganda, terror, and technology are the tools of the state, used to coerce and control the thoughts and actions of the populace. Reality is denied on a regular basis if it is non-consistent with party doctrine. The main character of the novel, Winston Smith, said that "freedom is the freedom to say that 2+2=4."(Orwell,69)In fact, if the party said that 2+2=5, the population would believe this to be truth. History is actually rewritten on a daily basis so as to appear consistent with party doctrine. The enemy of today becomes the enemy of yesterday, poverty becomes progress, war becomes peace, and slavery becomes freedom. This concept of denying reality in the face of obvious contradiction is known as doublespeak. It is central to the philosophy of Ingsoc, and is the greatest tool of the government's mind-control agenda.

It seems as though every time a society attempts to create a utopia, it has the opposite effect. 1984 is an example of an attempt at a utopian society that results in a place that is definitely not perfect. In most instances, a dystopia will be created when trying to make a utopia (Hough). There are multiple reasons as to why a utopia cannot work. Some of these reasons include resources and people in the society. George Orwell’s 1984, along with past governments, show that a utopia can never be truly created and that it will always turn into a dystopia.