Remove The Human Instinct

Is it the common human nature to feel power over others? A totalitarian government seeks to utilize its message of confinement and authority to control the many aspects of life. In the novel 1984, Orwell portrays totalitarianism through psychological manipulation, physical control and the control of language.

George Orwell’s 1984 is more than just a novel, it is a warning to a potential dystopian society of the future. Written in 1949, Orwell envisioned a totalitarian government under the figurehead Big Brother. In this totalitarian society, every thought and action is carefully examined for any sign of rebellion against the ruling party. Emotion has been abolished and love is nonexistent; an entire new language is being drafted to reduce human thought to the bare minimum. In a society such as the one portrayed in 1984, one is hardly human. In George Orwell’s 1984, the party uses fear, oppression, and propaganda to strip the people of their humanity.

History reveals that when a totalitarian regime seizes a nation, violence and brutality are often utilized to take control of its citizens. 1984 depicts a world engulfed by the totalitarian ideology. George Orwell applies cruelty as a way to condition the people of Oceania to abide by the philosophies of the Party, Oceania's ruling body. Although the Party promotes ideas of welfare and diligence, their true intent is to accomplish complete dominance over every facet of humanity.

1984 examines a future under the rule of a totalitarian society. One of the unique notes about Orwell's 1984, is the views that Orwell presents on humanity, and human nature. Orwell presents humanity as divided into two sides- the dominant, and the submissive, with few quickly-eradicated anomalies in between. Human nature, however, is universal, and all humans

“1984 expresses man’s fears of isolation and disintegration, cruelty and dehumanisation…Orwell’s repetition of obsessive ideas is an apocalyptic lamentation for the fate of modern man. His expression of the political experience of an entire generation gives 1984 a veritably mythic power

1984, Orwell’s last and perhaps greatest work, deals with drastically heavy themes that still terrify his audience after 65 years. George Orwell’s story exemplifies excessive power, repression, surveillance, and manipulation in his strange, troubling dystopia full of alarming secrets that point the finger at totalitarian governments and mankind as a whole. What is even more disquieting is that 1984, previously considered science fiction, has in so many ways become a recognizable reality.

1984, written by George Orwell, contains many different levers and structures of power. This novel takes place in Airstrip One, Oceania. All of these levers guide the reader through Mr. Orwell’s points he wants to make in this novel. Mr. Orwell’s purpose in book one is to warn the modern world of the damage that can come from embracing totalitarian regimes. Each structure of power, authority, the thought police, and ignorance are evident in book one of this novel by Mr. Orwell.

Historically, literature has always echoed the key issues and themes present during that time. In the period which Orwell wrote this novel, totalitarian government was a popular concept seeing implementation around the world such as Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, and Mussolini’s Italy. In the novel 1984. While Orwell’s world is a fictional one, it can be said that he uses it as a voice for social commentary, and he predictions as to what a world would be like if totalitarian governments would rule the world. This essay will aim to explore how Orwell goes about doing this.

Thesis Statement: 1984 is a well-written cautionary tale that is perfectly applicable to today’s political climate and other current events. This is shown through George Orwell’s intuitive predictions of the use of censorship, his discussion of the perception and nature of reality, and his timeless depiction of a too-real society.

George Orwell’s key objective throughout his novel, 1984, was to convey to his readers the imminent threat of the severe danger that totalitarianism could mean for the world. Orwell takes great measures to display the horrifying effects that come along with complete and dominant control that actually comes along with totalitarian government. In Orwell’s novel, personal liberties and individual freedoms that are protected and granted to many Americans today, are taken away and ripped from the citizen’s lives. The government takes away freedom and rights from the people so that the ruling class (which makes up the government), while reign with complete supremacy and possess all power.

Readers of George Orwell have long appreciated the significance of his representation of a futuristic dystopian world. ‘Big brother is watching you,’ ‘Thought police,’ ‘Ministry of love,’ ‘Hate week,’ are expressions that Orwell used to represent his preoccupation with the totalitarian regimes of 20th century. More than one out of four Americans said they have red his dystopia and use his expressions in their language. Many critics claim that the novel opened up new prospects of political awareness. ‘1984’ is a political fiction in which the government eliminates all forms of political opposition, be it real or imaginary. The atmosphere of the novel is completely depressing because there is no hope for change. The government dominates people morally and forces them to live in constant fear. His terrifying vision of a future in which all aspects of society are controlled by a tyrannical system attracted the

The main focus of 1984 is the concept of totalitarianism. Throughout George Orwell’s life he had been in contact with this concept starting with his time at boarding school. Orwell disliked the absolute power school had over him, he didn’t continue on to college. Instead of college Orwell worked as a British police officer in Burma where he enforced rules he disliked. After Burma he continued on to Spain to fight in the Spanish civil war or as he said “Fight against fascism.” After all of this Orwell returned to England just in time for World War II where he would experience Hitler (Ironically George Orwell once had a “Hitler moustache” in his passport photo). George Orwell has had quite the experience with fascism/totalitarianism and these

In “1984,” Orwell describes a terrible society where totalitarianism reaches the top. In this circumstance, personality and freedom are strangled and thought is controlled. The most frightening aspect is that citizens have no sense right and wrong. Without a doubt, the reason why these happen is the governing of the Party, which is controlling everything in the country, Oceania. Orwell uses the control of language to show the idea that the Party solidifies its dominant position.

Within the two novels, 1984 and Brave New World, written by George Orwell and Aldous Huxley respectively, they both have an overarching theme of extreme manipulation of society by the government. At first glance, the concept of the approaches used may seem relatively simple, but applying Sigmund Freud’s theories to these methods reveals how each tactic works and why. Both books achieve this all encompassing control in different ways, but they both use Freud's theories of the unconscious mind in a similar fashion. Whether the control is implemented through conditioning or close monitoring of the population’s lives, it is enhanced through Freud’s theories.

We are all affected by the process of stereotyping. Wyer and Scrull defined stereotypes as abstract knowledge structures linking a social group to a set of traits or behavioral characteristics (3). Bigots aren’t the only ones who have experiences with stereotypes and it is critical to realize that in order to fully understand how everyone is affected by stereotypes. There are stereotypes of various social groups circulating in our culture and we’re all familiar with them. According to Annie Paul, children have definite and entrenched stereotypes about blacks, women, and other social groups by five years of age. (“Where bias begins: The truth about stereotypes” 52-56). At such a young age, the growing adolescents of the world begin to form an infrangible association with stereotyping. It wouldn’t matter whether one would like to be affiliated with stereotyping or not because ultimately, it is not a choice for one to make.