Charging In George Orwell's '1984'

The novel 1984 reinforces the belief that the immorality and danger that accompanies holding people in prison without charging them creates concern towards the government. For instance, in 1984 there are four ministries: The Ministry of Truth, The Ministry of Peace, The Ministry of Plenty, and The Ministry of Love. The Ministry of Love’s name, like all others, is ironic as people who go against The Party are taken here to be tortured and killed. While in the Ministry of Love prisoners endure torture, even in the beginning of his time here, Winston knows this, “He felt the smash of truncheons on his elbows and iron-shod boots on his shins; he saw himself groveling on the floor, screaming for mercy through broken teeth.” (228). If the government …show more content…
They can force someone to take the fall for their own mistakes and have them confess to the nation that it was their fault not the United States, making it easier for the government to get away with horrible acts. Also, if the government puts whoever they want in prison without just-cause they force their citizens to become submissive and therefore take away their constitutional freedoms. In 1984, the citizens of Oceania live in constant fear of their government. They must monitor what they say, do, feel, and think at all times. This is an infringement upon the human being’s most basic rights. One day Winston recalls when he was walking down the street and saw a man whose face had twitched, “He thought of a man whom he had passed in the street a few weeks back: a quite ordinary-looking man… the left side of the man’s face suddenly contorted by a sort of spasm… he remembered thinking at the time: that poor devil is done for” (64). Even if someone has never had a thought against the government, if they do something that could even be construed as possibly threatening, they can be locked away