Authority In George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four
HOW HAVE YOUR TEXTS EXPLORED POWER AND AUTHORITY
The abuse of power and authority leads to corruption. George Orwell’s satire Nineteen Eighty-four and Frank Darabont’s hellish version of prison life The Shawshank Redemption show the effects of the exercise of absolute power. These texts show that if there are no restrictions when it comes to authority it can lead to corruption.
Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-four demonstrates powerful warnings against the dangers of a totalitarian society. A theme used in Orwell’s novel is the party of Big Brother and its absolute power “we shall be utterly without power of any kind” this conveys a very controlling message towards all party members as they are totally evicted from freedom. Orwell uses three …show more content…
Telescreens are most prominently featured in the novel; they are devices that keep any one of its subjects under constant surveillance therefore eliminating any chance of secret conspiracies against Oceania. “It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander…within range of a telescreen…the slightest thing could give you away”. The Party’s surveillance tactics and technology are so advanced that even the smallest expression could give you away. “thought crime does not entail death, thoughtcrime is death”. Orwell has written about thoughtcrime throughout the novel. It was illegal to hold any negative thought against the party at any time. This gives the reader a picture of how controlled an individual’s thoughts were and the surveillance of each and every …show more content…
"These walls are funny. First you hate them… enough time passes, you get so you depend on them. That's institutionalized." This creates an image that the prison walls are constraining as it authenticates that the prison has the power over the prisoners simultaneously becoming a false support for all inmates. Through the character Brooks we learn that he believes he cannot stand alone and needs the prison as a support. “Maybe I should rob the FoodWay so they’ll let me back home.” This emphasizes the point that brooks depended so much on the prison and became an institutionalized
The abuse of power and authority leads to corruption. George Orwell’s satire Nineteen Eighty-four and Frank Darabont’s hellish version of prison life The Shawshank Redemption show the effects of the exercise of absolute power. These texts show that if there are no restrictions when it comes to authority it can lead to corruption.
Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-four demonstrates powerful warnings against the dangers of a totalitarian society. A theme used in Orwell’s novel is the party of Big Brother and its absolute power “we shall be utterly without power of any kind” this conveys a very controlling message towards all party members as they are totally evicted from freedom. Orwell uses three …show more content…
Telescreens are most prominently featured in the novel; they are devices that keep any one of its subjects under constant surveillance therefore eliminating any chance of secret conspiracies against Oceania. “It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander…within range of a telescreen…the slightest thing could give you away”. The Party’s surveillance tactics and technology are so advanced that even the smallest expression could give you away. “thought crime does not entail death, thoughtcrime is death”. Orwell has written about thoughtcrime throughout the novel. It was illegal to hold any negative thought against the party at any time. This gives the reader a picture of how controlled an individual’s thoughts were and the surveillance of each and every …show more content…
"These walls are funny. First you hate them… enough time passes, you get so you depend on them. That's institutionalized." This creates an image that the prison walls are constraining as it authenticates that the prison has the power over the prisoners simultaneously becoming a false support for all inmates. Through the character Brooks we learn that he believes he cannot stand alone and needs the prison as a support. “Maybe I should rob the FoodWay so they’ll let me back home.” This emphasizes the point that brooks depended so much on the prison and became an institutionalized