Totalitarianism In George Orwell's '1984'
Winston and Julia and O’Brien, oh my!
In the novel, 1984, George Orwell’s primary goal is to show the harsh and unfortunate reality of a totalarian dictatorship, Oceania, through the main character Winston Smith. The country is under the rule of The Party, a rigid system that consists of three main classes; the Inner Party, the Outer Party, and the Proles, with Big Brother overlooking all. Big Brother has unreasonable customs and beliefs that he forces his people into agreeing, and is constantly looking for signs of rebellion from the citizens. Because of such strict rules, trust is out of the question in this dystopian society, which leads to the impossibility of making friends without risking one’s life. Winston however, finds ways to rebel …show more content…
Oceania is controlled by Big Brother, the ultimate ruler who oversees everything. His job is to make sure no citizens question their government’s actions or their own history. Winston is a curious character from the very beginning who knows what is right and what is wrong yet he continues to commit several thought crimes in hopes of finding out the truth about his mysterious society. Orwell demonstrates the fact that the society Winston was living in had no formal records or ways to tell anyone how old they were or even if they existed. “It must be round about that date, since he was fairly sure that his age was thirty-nine, and he believed that he had been born in 1944 or 1945; but it was never possible nowadays to pin down any date within a year or two.” (6). Winston’s character is strongly influenced by Big Brother because he is constantly being scared into submission and acceptance yet he knows it is wrong. He does everything in secret because there are cameras everywhere watching everyone. Oceania also influences Winston by damaging his psychological and sociological impacts when he is tortured into admitting he committed crimes and is then later brainwashed into accepting Big Brother’s ways. On page 252, O’Brien begins to physically harm Winston until he admits that he loves Big Brother. When Winston tells O’Brien that he hates Big Brother this is O’Brien’s reply, “You hate him. Good. Then the time has come for you to take the last step. You must love Big Brother. It is not enough to obey him; you must love him.” Because of such a demanding society that he lives in, Winston’s character that had grown to be so much more determined and rebellious from the beginning of the novel, is forced to go right back to where it was. There was no part of this punishment process that was anywhere close to humane and that was because of the society’s rules. They would do anything and everything they had to in order to
In the novel, 1984, George Orwell’s primary goal is to show the harsh and unfortunate reality of a totalarian dictatorship, Oceania, through the main character Winston Smith. The country is under the rule of The Party, a rigid system that consists of three main classes; the Inner Party, the Outer Party, and the Proles, with Big Brother overlooking all. Big Brother has unreasonable customs and beliefs that he forces his people into agreeing, and is constantly looking for signs of rebellion from the citizens. Because of such strict rules, trust is out of the question in this dystopian society, which leads to the impossibility of making friends without risking one’s life. Winston however, finds ways to rebel …show more content…
Oceania is controlled by Big Brother, the ultimate ruler who oversees everything. His job is to make sure no citizens question their government’s actions or their own history. Winston is a curious character from the very beginning who knows what is right and what is wrong yet he continues to commit several thought crimes in hopes of finding out the truth about his mysterious society. Orwell demonstrates the fact that the society Winston was living in had no formal records or ways to tell anyone how old they were or even if they existed. “It must be round about that date, since he was fairly sure that his age was thirty-nine, and he believed that he had been born in 1944 or 1945; but it was never possible nowadays to pin down any date within a year or two.” (6). Winston’s character is strongly influenced by Big Brother because he is constantly being scared into submission and acceptance yet he knows it is wrong. He does everything in secret because there are cameras everywhere watching everyone. Oceania also influences Winston by damaging his psychological and sociological impacts when he is tortured into admitting he committed crimes and is then later brainwashed into accepting Big Brother’s ways. On page 252, O’Brien begins to physically harm Winston until he admits that he loves Big Brother. When Winston tells O’Brien that he hates Big Brother this is O’Brien’s reply, “You hate him. Good. Then the time has come for you to take the last step. You must love Big Brother. It is not enough to obey him; you must love him.” Because of such a demanding society that he lives in, Winston’s character that had grown to be so much more determined and rebellious from the beginning of the novel, is forced to go right back to where it was. There was no part of this punishment process that was anywhere close to humane and that was because of the society’s rules. They would do anything and everything they had to in order to