Persuasive Essay On 1984 By George Orwell

Initially I thought that the concept of a dystopian society was a prevalent issue that George Orwell faced and his usage of the title 1984 was very persuasive for his audience. The fact that it was written in 1949 and portrayed 1984 as a technologically advanced society was very interesting to me because it showed how close Orwell believed the threat of totalitarianism was and it also showed technology as being a bad thing because the telescreens were used to constantly stream propaganda as well as watch what everyone was doing. I also thought that he used the war that Oceania was fighting to show how no one really understands what they are fighting about when countries go to war. In the novel history is rewritten and at one point
However in his diary he claims “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four” (Orwell 81). This shows that from the beginning of the story he understands that the Party is trying to brainwash its civilians until they believe whatever the Party tells them to believe, however he is willing to fight against it. During the entire story Winston is rebelling against the Party and Big Brother who are trying to control him. He does many things to rebel such as writing in a diary, having a relationship with Julia, and simply thinking against the Party. When Julia and Winston get captured by the thought police they torture him and send him to Room 101 where they finally put his head in a cage and threaten to release the rats, his biggest fear. At this point Winston shouts “Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Julia! Not me! I don’t care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Julia! Not me!” (Orwell 286). This is when he has finally surrendered to the Party and they release him. Then at the end of the novel “his thoughts wandered again. Almost unconsciously he traced with his finger in the dust on the table: 2+2=5” (Orwell 290). These passages show how he has changed from being someone who was completely against the Party to someone who fully supports
Orwell is trying to show that if no one rebels and questions things someone would be able to take control and mislead people into believing what they say even if it isn’t accurate. This can be seen throughout history in instances such as Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, Mao Zedong, and more. All of these leaders controlled their people but using propaganda and distorting information so that they could essentially brainwash their citizens because the only information they were allowed access to was controlled and regulated by these leaders. I believe Orwell was trying to show how the restriction of information and the use of fear can be used to persuade people that they need to take drastic measures to protect themselves. By portraying enemies as a treat and using propaganda to instill fear in the society leaders are able to get the same reaction from their citizens that the Party was able to get from Winston when he was in Room 101. Orwell is pointing out this human flaw and showing that most people will try to protect themselves even if it meant that others would be hurt which I think is very accurate in society and is proved over and over throughout history. Even now people were willing to risk civilian lives at the suspicion that there could be weapons of mass destruction, the thought that there could be something harmful