1984 Authority

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In George Orwell’s 1984, authority and its place in society is a prominent theme throughout the whole of the book -- in fact, one could say it is the theme of 1984. It is, in general, anti-authority. Winston Smith opposes authority at nearly a molecular level until he has it literally beat out of him. Julia is not rebellious in the same bone-deep way as Winston, but she is subversive nonetheless -- a “rebel from the waist downwards,” as Winston puts it. The entire book is a treatise on the ill effects of totalitarianism on people and the world at large; Orwell wrote it at a time where several totalitarian regimes existed (i.e. Spain, Germany), but the pushback against such ideas was little to none on a global scale. Orwell clearly meant to get the message across that any type of authority approaching totalitarianism or fascism was rotten to the core. …show more content…
It seems that democracy -- government for the people, by the people -- is the answer. Throughout the whole book the idea that the proles, i.e. the masses, are the only hope is repeated over and over. It is, as Winston surmises and O’Brien later confirms, the essential truth of Goldstein’s book. This is a pretty obvious reference to democracy; in a true democratic state, the proles would have the most power, as they comprise eighty-five per cent of the population of Oceania.
Power becomes corrupted as soon as it is absolute; as Goldstein’s book says, the leaders of Oceania were, “hungrier for pure power,” which would be the thing to corrupt them. They weren’t “infected… by liberal ideas,” and as such amassed more, and more absolute, power than ever before. This power is definitely presented as evil to the core; the whole book is about rebellion against it, and even Winston’s eventual succumbation to the Party’s ideals and Big Brother is something the reader is supposed to be disgusted

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