1984: A Dystopian Society In George Orwell's 1984

Improved Essays
In the book 1984, George Orwell portrays a seemingly utopian society though in fact it is a dystopian society. The leader of this seemingly utopian society goes by the name of Big Brother. Big Brother’s party follows through with law enforcement, law creation, and the employment of people in jobs. Taking place in Oceania, the Party works for Big Brother and keeps everyone in check through Telescreens, the ThoughtPolice, and other methods of watching him/her. If one does something wrong, depending on the extent, the person would either be punished or vaporized, making this system very similar to what we know as communism. The main character, Winston Smith, is very average and simple, yet curious, non-compliant, and has an appreciation of beauty …show more content…
By writing the diary, or even writing anything personal was already a huge offense. He then proceeds to write “Down with Big Brother” (Orwell 16). This is against the rules and should not be even considered for it is ThoughtCrime which is any opposition against Big Brother through unspoken acts or thoughts. By just doing this, he is committing himself to death (Orwell 11). Julia added to Winston’s downfall in this particular society by committing illegal acts such as love, kissing, and sex. Firstly, this is illegal, despite the fact that there are ‘no laws’. Julia states how the feeling after two people have sex fills one with energy and could ignite the flame for a rebellion and therefore it making it in a sense illegal when enjoyable (Orwell 121). In addition, Winston is already married to his wife, Katherine, but making love to her never appeared pleasurable to either one of them. Both Winston and Julia understand that what they are doing is wrong and Winston does wish that they were a “married couple of ten years’ standing.” (Orwell 127) Nevertheless, they continue to meet up and -accepting- that they are “stepping nearer to their graves” (Orwell 127). They do this not just for their love of each other but as a way to show their rebellion (Orwell 114-115). Along with many other crimes Winston committed, was “dealing with the free market”. “Party members were supposed not to go into ordinary shops” (Orwell …show more content…
When Winston and Julia hid in a room after spending the night together, Winston sees a rather large women, unlike women who are in a higher class in the Party, and he says that she is beautiful. He understands that she was like this from childbearing and viewed her as a figure of fertility and he still could recognize her “strong arms,… warm heart, and [her] fertile belly” (Orwell 197). He also notices the beauty of Syme’s personality. “Syme will be vaporized. He is too intelligent. He sees too clearly and speaks too plainly.” The Party does not like such people. One day he will disappear. It is written on his face.” (Orwell 51) Winston believes this and it does end up being true. He -notices- that Syme is unique and that he is intelligent but he sadly does not fit in well with society leading to his

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    1984 Peace Without War

    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Winston knows that he is doing the right thing, and is therefore at peace with himself even though he is not mediocre. Winston has the pertinacity to realize that, “ There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth, even against whole world, you were not mad…. He [Winston] was safe, everything was alright.” (Page…

    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    She is not afraid of taking risks. She don’t care what the government is doing because she is not affected by it. She do whatever makes her happy. While Winston is too deep in focusing in the past, Julia is only focus on the future. The past doesn’t matter to her and it doesn’t bring joy to her life for finding out about the…

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Archetypal Hero Journey

    • 1084 Words
    • 5 Pages

    For Winston in 1984, Julia is his goddess. It is through her that he discovers a new love and desires for life. “The paperweight was the room he was in, and the coral was Julia’s life and his own, fixed in a sort of eternity at the heart of the crystal” (2.4). With Julia, Winston becomes tied and finds new meaning in his life.…

    • 1084 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    1984 Conformity Analysis

    • 3545 Words
    • 15 Pages

    Keith Nathan Vincent So Tiu EN2020 Professor Rosenstein 7 April 2015 The Subjugation of Individuality in the Presence of Social Constructs in George Orwell’s 1984 and Apuleius’s The Golden Ass Change is defined as an act or process through which something becomes different (Oxford Dictionaries “Change”); and it may start with a deviation from social conventions. In order for society to function effectively, its inhabitants must believe in the ideals of the governing body. With this necessity in mind, it is important to consider social conformity.…

    • 3545 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    They clearly and constantly emphasize that “there will be no loyalty, except loyalty toward the Party. There will be no love, except the love of Big Brother.” (220). The only love that is sanctioned by the Party is the love between its members and Big Brother. Orwell’s novel is, in a sense, Winston’s journey on th way to becoming submissive and loving Big Brother.…

    • 1406 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I have seldom seen anyone come over to us so promptly. You would hardly recognize her if you saw her. All her rebelliousness, her deceit, her folly, her dirty-mindedness – everything has been burned out of her. It was a perfect conversion, a textbook case" (Orwell 259). Julia’s betrayal of Winston is demonstrative of the fragility of even the strongest loyalty; loyalty that she swore would never be swerved even under extreme…

    • 908 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I used to dread the walk down the hallway to the 1st grade classroom due to hearing the derogatory marks aimed at me. My crime was being different. I spoke Punjabi instead of English because it gave me comfort that no one else attempted to give. I wore my clothes differently out of respect for my religion and ate my culture’s food. I kept my head down whenever they told me to go back from where I came and suffered due to my differences.…

    • 1214 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    1984 Betrayal

    • 1313 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Whether it is through a loving yet detrimental bond between two main characters, an explicit lie made by a supposed friend and Brotherhood member to Winston, or the ultimate self-inflicting factor, betrayal has a significant influence on the novel. A major relationship in which the majority of the novel’s plot is based around, is the relationship between Winston Smith and Julia. Not only is this relationship important in terms of the plot, it is very relevant in the idea of trust leading to betrayal. In their eyes, it is a way for the two to go against the Party in control of everyone, so an indestructible trust must be present.…

    • 1313 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As Winston’s longing for rebellion advanced throughout the book, he was destined to be imprisoned due to his “crimes”. After being caught and tortured, Winston’s thoughts were complete contradictions to what he originally believed in: “But it was all right, everything was all right, he had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.” (Orwell, 298). His will to rebel was gone all together and he was no longer himself.…

    • 1045 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When Winston and Julia meet O’Brien and take vows to be inducted into the Brotherhood, they agree to do inhumane acts, “’You are prepared to commit murder?’ ‘Yes’ ‘To commit acts of sabotage which may cause the deaths of hundreds of innocent people?’ ‘Yes’ You are prepared to cheat, to forge, to blackmail, to corrupt the minds of children, to distribute habit-forming drugs, to encourage prostitution, to disseminate venereal diseases – to do anything which is likely to cause demoralization…

    • 1954 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    He writes in his diary because he must voice his thoughts about the Party and there is nowhere else he can do so under their unrelenting eye. Julia on the other hand is fine with her life because she has found a way to appease both of these desires to a degree of relative symmetry. The relationship between conformity and dissent is an equilibrium; (*) when one is faced with a lack on one aspect and a surplus of another, the individual shall strive to resolve the conflict by attempting to equalize the balance. When Winston starts meeting up with Julia he forms a strong connection to her.…

    • 1221 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Winston smith rebels against the party as he has a love affair with Julia, rents Mr.Charrington's, wants to join the brotherhood, and buys a paperweight. To begin, Julia and Winston's relationship are a form of "ownlife"(Orwell 82) which is a direct rebellion against the party. The “sex instinct [creates] a world of its own which [is] outside the Party's control and which therefore [has] to be destroyed if possible. ”(Orwell 132-133).Winston and Julia engage in a powerful political act that Winston considers to be a “blow struck against the Party” (Orwell 126). Therefore, for Winston and Julia, the act of having sex is an emotional release which helps them rebel against the Party.…

    • 454 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Individuality is a particular quality a person possesses that distinguishes one person from others, and presents uniqueness upon that individual. Individuality promotes independence and self-will, which is evident throughout many literature pieces as the individuality of characters advance. Within the novel 1984, Winston Smith is the epitome of a citizen possessing individuality within Oceania as his efforts to maintain self-control of his progress in this totalitarianism society work against him. His distrust in humanity is the root cause of his rebellion against Big Brother. As he and his new love, Julia, revolt against Oceania’s laws through their individuality, O’Brien catches, captures, and betrays them.…

    • 1459 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Smith represents un ordinary feeling of an English man, taking a valiant effort in extraordinary circumstances. He represents the change to human being through the effort of making his circumstances better. The sympathetic nature in his character allows the reader to predict the outcome of the novel in the…

    • 1125 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Elliott Larson Novel Assignment #1 - Julia and Winston In 1984 by George Orwell, we are shown how individuals with some incredible contrasting traits fall deeply dependent to each other in love. They share a common ground: they are both secret rebels of the brainwashing force that is Big brother. They unanimously hate the regime controlling their life, but their ways of rebellion against the party can differ greatly. By looking at their physical being, their ethical and moral groundings and which aspects of humanity they each represent in the novel, we can see how these two opposing characters form together into an unbreakable bond.…

    • 904 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays

Related Topics