Living in an Oceanian-Like Society Born as Eric Arthur Blair, George Orwell became aware of the segregation between classes while attending preparatory school as a young boy. He soon wrote books which helped open the eyes of others to the cruel world being lived in 1984. Orwell’s most popular novel 1984, allows one to become fearful of the path in which society is taking. As Orwell predicted, most of society today has become immune to the tragedies caused by governments all around the globe, Syria being a prime example. With war raging and humanity decreasing, the topic of an utopian government in Orwell’s 1984 reveals dystopian factors, relating to the Syrian government today. The government’s desire for power in 1984 plays a significant role in allowing the theme to become effective. The power can allow one to become wealthy and manipulative. Orwell illustrates this concept well when Party member, O’Brien, tells lies in order to maintain the powerful status of the Party. Orwell writes, “...the Party was the eternal guardian of the weak, a dedicated sect doing evil that good might come, sacrificing its own happiness to that of others” (Orwell 220). These lies allow individuals to become blind to the government’s real intentions, along with putting their trust in the wrong people. Having trust, respect, and to worship another individual grants power to the upper class. Orwell makes this idea clear allowing readers to comprehend that the Party fights day and night for real
How vulnerable are people to government persuasion today? On the internet, people blindingly let the government have full access to their social media accounts and google searches along with the use of surveillance cameras to monitor public areas. These tactics are very similar to those used in the novel, 1984 by George Orwell. In the novel, Orwell depicts a dystopian society named Oceania (modern day London) where the citizens lives are completely controlled and surveyed by the government. The main character, Winston Smith, after living in the society for roughly forty years, comes to a realization that the government is unjust, and must be stopped. Moreover, in the novel 1984, Orwell argues that the manipulation of minds can lead to
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.
George Orwell’s 1984 is a prime example of a deep dystopia with a totalitarian government. Totalitarian governments have full and total control. The Inner Party, which is the main form of government in Oceania, has total control over its people’s thoughts and actions. They use many forms of abuse in order to control them. The Inner Party controls the government and is the upper class. The middle class is called the Outer Party. These people are given jobs from the government and are more educated than the Proles, which make up the lower class. The Outer Party is in charge of executing the Inner Party’s policies, but they have no say in them. The government uses many forms of manipulation to control their people. The members of Oceania’s society do not misbehave out of fear of punishment. People who betray the government vanish. They disappear and there is no evidence that they even existed. The government also uses the threat of abuse to keep its people in line. People of Oceania know they can be tortured or killed for even the slightest misdemeanor. The middle class is led to believe that they are living a high quality life through a method of false prosperity. The government fools people by changing history so the only form of truth the people think they have is their own memory. Many people discard their own memories and believe whatever the Party tells them is truth. Winston Smith is the character in which the book is centered around. He has doubts
In the novel 1984 by George Orwell is about a totaltarin government attempting to destroy individuality. 1984 takes place in a oceania society driven by propaganda , that every citizen of oceania must interact with a daily intake of propaganda created by the government so that control is maintained. In this story Winston is on a mission to rebel against the people who dictate every part of his life i.e. “Big Brother”. Winston also on a quest to find someone to share is beliefs with. Today’s society has reflected on 1984 is many ways just different forms.
Winston and Julia continue to meet in the room above the shop, and eventually, the two go together to meet O’Brien at his home. O’Brien turns off his
When George Orwell wrote his novel, 1984, Hitler and Mussolini had recently been defeated in World War II, the nuclear arms race was warming up and the Soviet Union was a threat to the world. Although these are not problems in today's society, 1984 is still very relevant in current time, "The twentieth century will soon be over, but political terror still survives and this is why Nineteen Eighty-four remains valid today” (Ricks 5). In the novel 1984 the main character Winston is faced with challenges when he meets a woman named Julia. Julia makes him question his loyalty to the government. They are living under a totalitarian government that sees everything you do, hears everything you say, and knows everything you think. George Orwell’s novel 1984 is still relevant in today’s society.
"Big Brother is Watching You"(Orwell 5). This simple phrase has become the cornerstone of the conspiracy theorists dialog. George Orwell may have writing a cautionary novel with 1984, but there is little possibility that he could have foreseen how close to reality his novel would truly become.
Imagine college graduation day, walking down the aisle to receive a diploma that one has worked towards for their entire life. However, the moment is bittersweet because one’s education has put him/her into thousands of dollars in debt by the high tuition prices of colleges and loans to the government. Dehumanization by the totalitarian government in the book 1984 by George Orwell is similar to the dehumanization in modern society between the government and colleges onto the student through high tuition costs and overpowering government control which causes loss of opportunity.
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.
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
As human beings, there are distinct characteristics that separate us from feral animals; the ability to create, to appreciate art, to curiously question the world and most importantly to sympathize for our kind. However, when that exact nature is stripped from us, we tend to become mindless, restricted, cold, and degraded as an entire race. This is the setting of George Orwell’s last book, 1984. A world where human thought is limited, war and poverty lie on every street corner, and one cannot trust nobody or nothing. It is all due to the one reigning political entity, the Ingsoc Party, who imposes complete power over all aspects of life for all citizens. There is no creative or intellectual thought, no art, culture or history, and no
The dystopian fiction novel, 1984, by George Orwell, is a rough reflection of our society. In the text, three social groups are presented: the Inner Party, Outer Party, and the Proles. If comparing the Inner Party to a social group of our society, it would be the politicians. The ones who have the most freedom, power, and dictates the rules of society. Then there's the Outer Party: workers who are surveilled at all times, prohibited of having sex, and have zero freedom of thought and speech, “Never show dismay!
"To say 'I accept' in an age like our own is to say that you accept concentration-camps, rubber truncheons, Hitler, Stalin, bombs, aeroplanes, tinned food, machine guns, putsches, purges, slogans, Bedaux belts, gas-masks, submarines, spies, provocateurs, press-censorship, secret prisons, aspirins, Hollywood films and political murder" (Bookshelf I).
There are three main social classes represented in 1984 by George Orwell, the Inner Party, the Outer Party and the Proles. While 1984 is a work of fiction, similar social classes do currently and have existed in the world, they just go by different names, the Upper class, the Middle class and the Lower class. The Inner class is resemblant of the Upper class. They both make up 2% or less of the population, but carry most of the wealth and privileges. The Middle and Lower classes is where the book shifts from reality a little. The Outer party has more wealth than the Proles, but are more closely monitored. While the Proles do not have much wealth, they could get away with the a lot more than the Outer party without anyone preserving them as a threat. They make up the majority of the population and have the power in number to fight back, but they do not know or think to use that power.
Hopelessness, deep and gaping ever lasting hopelessness. If the course of humanity fails to change, to this everyone will succumb. That is the message that George Orwell has left for the future, and it would be in humanity's best interest to heed. Winston Smith of 1984 lived in a world that had been consumed by the everlasting abyss of injustice. Eventually this world became too much for our hopeful protagonist and thus, like the future that is bound to a horrific fate, he succumbed. “It was like swimming against a current that swept you backwards however hard you struggled, and then suddenly deciding to turn round and go with the current instead of opposing it” (Orwell 248). No one in this world is any different than Winston, they will follow his path like all of those before them, following the five stages of Kübler-Ross. Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance make up the cycle that every feeble life will follow and that Winston grew to know all too well.