Power In George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four

The masterpiece 1984 by George Orwell first published in 1949 is regarded by many as the best book ever written. It is a novel which explores deep into the human psychology and is a permanent warning and remainder for the ever-lasting threat of totalitarianism.

Even though he is married, he and Julia have an affair that combines their personal desires as well as their desire to fight against the Party as it is explicitly stated in the novel. Winston and Julia both willingly participate in the affair because they are both moved to action by the Party’s acts of injustice. Winston is aware that the Party has blatantly outlawed “love” and Winston wants to feel romance in order to spite the Party. Both Julia and Winston would do anything to spite Big Brother. In addition to the love factor, Winston isn’t just participating because Julia is youthful, more so because he is drawn to the act of power. Winston isn’t just resisting power, he feels the need to hold

George Orwell focuses his belief of the “[disbelief] in the existence of the objective truth because all the facts have to fit in with the words and prophecies of some infallible fuhrer”. He envisions the decay of future society and implements his ideas through his creation of “Nineteen Eighty-Four”. Indications of a psychological fear are examined initially through the progression and change of the human mind, which is built upon the oppression of the Party. Through the construction of a world with no freedom and individuality, the human mind adapts the change of truth and pay utter submission from the Party, to escape the presence of their ultimate weakness. With those who are rebellious of the rules of the Party gradually brings out the ugly nature of humanity. Through the fragility of the human mind, it reinforces Orwell’s idea of a corrupted society, as there no longer remains a variety of human emotions for the next generation to pass onwards. Thus conclusively portraying the defeat of human mind unable to withstand the physical and mental tortures from the Party.

Furthermore, in “1984” the main character Winston realizes that their government dictates the history keeping the citizens uninformed to a life with freedom. The ignorance of the people relinquishes the citizen’s freedom and power to the party. Winston points out that this countenances them to manipulate the people, “who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past” (Orwell 360). When The Party is able to control the history they are able to manipulate their citizens to believing that the government that is being practiced is appropriate

Winston Smith, a middle-aged man who works as a records editor in Records Department at the Ministry of Truth, is the novel 's protagonist. He is the character that the reader most identifies with, and the reader sees the world from his point of view. Winston is a kind of innocent in a world gone wrong, and it is through him that the reader is able to understand and feel the suffering that exists in the totalitarian society of Oceania. As a secretly rebellious free thinker, Winston challenges the societal norms placed in the story by the antagonistic government, known as the Party. Orwell wants the reader to be intrigued when vivid descriptions of advanced technology, such as telescreens and hidden microphones, are included in the text providing the feeling of familiarity and pleasure. On the contrary, constant mentions of the tyrannical rule of Big Brother keeps the reader anxious about what will happen to Winston. Furthermore, the Party, the omnipresent ruling system in Oceania, uses several techniques in order to control the minds of the citizens. By exploiting the need to fit in through the use of the Anti-Sex League, the Party is able to suppress resistance to new ideas. The Party also destroyed the ability of citizens to evaluate logically by eliminating any privacy through the form of telescreen surveillance. Finally, through the

As readers, we observe the development of Winston throughout the novel. Winston is a confused and odd character. He sees life differently from his peers and surroundings. Unlike any other character, Winston questions the ideas and factors that play into his society, especially constant surveillance. “For some reason the telescreen in the living room was in an unusual position. Instead of being placed, as was normal, in the end wall, where it could command the whole room, it was in the longer wall, opposite the window… By sitting in the alcove, and keeping well back, Winston was able to remain outside the range of the telescreen, so far as sight went” (Orwell 9). Winston’s thought was the Party could not see him from the alcove. He began participating in deviance actions. He made up many different conspiracies of the past, including wars and stories. Even though he had seen things from history, he did not have an explanation for them. Winston was aware of what was being hidden from citizens. The knowledge encouraged him to act inappropriately towards the Party, even in surveillance sight.

Highlighting the authority Winston obtains from the sexual relationship with Julia, due to his mental separation from the tyranny of the party. Winston as a result, temporarily gives into his human instinctive desires and satisfies his yearning for individual power.

In this society, the Inner and Outer Party members are constantly being reminded of the Party’s power and are essentially brainwashed into thinking what the Party wants them to think and do at all times. Things like propaganda, two-minutes hate (rallies where Party members must watch a video of the Party’s enemies and express hatred towards them), telescreens which watch the people’s every move, and most importantly fear of being vaporized from their very world are what drives the citizens towards obedience and towards support for the Party. Orwell even says, “Winston kept his back turned to the telescreen. It was safer, though, as he well knew, even a back can be revealing” (Orwell 3). These examples show the many ways that the Party exercises its control. With all these things surrounding these people’s lives, it is no wonder they live in fear and are brainwashed. All they know and will ever know is of the Party. As Marx predicted, the Party controls the means of production in Oceania, so therefore they control Oceania itself (“Marxist Theory”

His job is to rewrite historical document to match the “Party’s” ideology. Winston likes the job because he could see the past. He also despises the Party and keeps a journal to write hateful message about the Party. One day a woman hands him a note that said, “I love you”. Winston and Julia start to have a relationship. They try to do it in secret so they wouldn’t be caught by the thought police. Winston hatred for the party grows and seek out O’Brien to join the rebellion. However, it was a trap by O’Brien and Winston and Julia are tortured. They are brainwashed. One day, they see each other again and Winston announce that he doesn’t love her and only love Big

Unlike the dystopian society of Oceania in George Orwell’s book Nineteen Eighty-Four, in which everyone is ruled by Big Brother; the United States is able to choose their leaders periodically (Orwell). The U.S. is able to elect who will represent them which makes the system democratic and fair. This year the United States is having an election between two candidates that received the nomination by winning the most amount of votes throughout the country. The presidential candidates were able to win because the presidential primary system allows people to vote for their ideal leader. Hillary Clinton won for the democrat party and Donald Trump is running for the republican party this year; even if most of the republican leaders were not in favor

In George Orwell’s 1984 Power is gained most effectively through control, fear and violence. Compared to a government like that of America’s, 1984 creates a more threatening structure of government where the public is limited from freedom and happiness. 1984 shows a world of a society where only the upper class has power and freedom from the harsh treatment that the general population receives. The idea of Big Bother makes the population of Oceania believe they are being watched over by a powerful force and oppresses them so they feel powerless and unable to do anything against a “great” force like Big Brother. The well-being of others depends on their willingness to agree with Big Brother and abide by their laws, if you think otherwise then you will be an accuser of thought-crime will be vaporized and removed from society or harshly punished through rigorous treatment and torture methods as was Winston and Julia. Power creates problems for others in which they do not deserve.

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

After capturing Winston Smith for thought crime, O’Brien describes real power as “tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your choosing” (Orwell 266). By this he explains that true power is being able to choose what people minds think. In George Orwell’s novel, 1984, Winston, a Ministry of Truth worker who hates the Party, slowly starts to disobey the Party rules such as having freedom of thought and individuality. He entrusts a Party member, O’Brien, with his secret for the hatred of the Party. O’Brien reveals that he is a high Party leader who will fix Winston’s corrupt mind. Throughout this novel, it demonstrates that government is controlling people’s minds and

Winston’s life is not even his own, being basically an existence based on the wants of the Party. Each and every day, Winston is woken for work by the Party issued telescreens. This occurs on all work days, forcing Winston to get ready, even if he is not fully rested. This constant feeling of anxiety gives the Party control over Winston. This control may not seem to have much effect on Winston, but by waking Winston up at a certain time, the Party is able to get more work out of him throughout the day. Winston is startled when, “the telescreen was giving forth an ear-splitting whistle which continued on the same note for thirty seconds. It was not nought seven fifteen, getting-up time for office workers.”(32). In this sense, Winston lives

Before the cruelties of Adolph Hitler’s third Reich was shown off to the public of the world he had total control over Germany and its smaller surrounding countries the same thing was seen in a second super power country which was the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which is now modern day Russia, that was ruled by Joseph Stalin and though both societies ruled completely over their citizens it was short lived.