preview

Literary Analysis Essay On 1984 By George Orwell

Decent Essays
Open Document

Annika Jiang English 11 Mr. Cranston 2017.12.11 Down With Big Brother —1984 Thematic Essay Plato said that thinking is “the talking of the soul with itself.” Without thinking for ourselves, we fall into the vice of conformism. The dystopian novel, 1984 by George Orwell, follows the protagonist, Winston Smith’s rebellion against the Party and Big Brother. Thought control, as a prominent subject in 1984, is reflected in the destruction of self-awareness and individual identity, prevention of empathizing and relinquishment of beliefs and values. Firstly, thought control destroys people’s self-awareness and individual identity. Most people are unconsciously aware of the destruction of their identity. Winston’s wife, Katharine, is …show more content…

The Party undermines family ties by encouraging children to spy on their family members. After the Thought Police captures Winston, he is surprised by the arrest of Mr. Parsons. Later, Winston finds out the Parsons little daughter denounces Mr. Parsons as a thought criminal to the police. The Parsons children represent the new generation of citizens in Oceania. The Party indoctrinates the new generations to be utterly loyal to the Party and adore everything connect with the Party. The new generations in Oceania don’t attempt to see at things from other person’s perspective, they even don’t feel empathy with their own parents. Also, citizens in Oceania lose their ability to show empathy for the powerless and the poor. According Winston’s record of a film in his dairy, the sea around a refugee “[turns] pink” and he “[sinks] as suddenly as though the holes [have let] in the water”. The audience should evoke their empathy for the refugee, however, the audience in Oceania “shout with laughter” when they see the refugee sinks (8). Propaganda and brainwash make citizens loss the ability to empathize, they revel in dehumanizing their victims. Therefore, a theme of this novel is that thought control prevents people from empathizing with

Get Access