George Orwell, a pseudonym for communist Eric Blair, was a prominent, political writer in the post-World War II era who eminently opposed totalitarian states. In 1984, he fabricates a dystopian society where the citizens are desolated of their humanity and that of the individual does not exist. The novel takes place in Oceania in Airstrip One, where the Party and its leader, Big Brother, seek absolute power over these citizens. Consequently, the suppression of innate urges, encouraged through various forms of media in Oceanic society, causes a number of problems, not just for the main characters, but for the society at large.
Throughout the novel, forced repression of natural impulse can be manifested, especially that of love, sex, and loyalty. …show more content…
Since Big Brother is watching and the Thought-Police are on the lookout, it is astringently preposterous for any kind of individualism to flourish. Each morning, the Party forces all members to go through colossal workouts called ‘Physical Jerks’ to stay fit, work long and tiring hours each day, and participate in almost every activity, especially Hate Week; which is an event delineated to escalate the acrimony for the current enemy with an addition of working overtime to prepare; thus, leaving the citizens too tired to even think of rebellion. Correspondingly, each and every citizen and member of the Party is to call each other ‘comrade’ and to dress exactly the same each day. Those that are not a part of the Inner Party are set to the dupe standards of living, as “in any time that he [Winston Smith] could accurately remember, there had never been quite enough to eat, one had never had socks and underclothes that were not full of holes, furniture had always been battered and rickety, rooms underheated, Tube trains crowded, houses falling to pieces, bread dark-colored, tea a rarity, coffee filthy-tasting, cigarettes insufficient - nothing cheap and plentiful except synthetic gin” (Orwell, 59). Furthermore, Airstrip One and Oceania’s official language is that of Newspeak, which is derived from the English language and has hundreds upon thousands of words removed or …show more content…
By definition, totalitarianism is a political society where the state recognizes no limits and endeavors to administer every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible. The Party of Oceania is eminently culminating in its universal control over the society. This is evidenced by its ability to break the independent thinker and its mastery of psychological control by utilizing all technological developments, especially that of the telescreen. The telescreen keeps watch over every citizen all day, every day; however, only those belonging to the Inner Party can turn it off for half an hour at a time. These telescreens and hidden microphones monitor citizens all the time. Personal privacy and space are never granted throughout the novel. In fact, everywhere the citizens go, there are omnipresent signs saying, “Big Brother is watching you.” In addition, all records of the past have been ultimately destroyed, so that the Party may stay in power, as “every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book has been rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street and building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right” (Orwell, 155). In fact, all citizens can only remember from a range of a couple of
Throughout the novel, forced repression of natural impulse can be manifested, especially that of love, sex, and loyalty. …show more content…
Since Big Brother is watching and the Thought-Police are on the lookout, it is astringently preposterous for any kind of individualism to flourish. Each morning, the Party forces all members to go through colossal workouts called ‘Physical Jerks’ to stay fit, work long and tiring hours each day, and participate in almost every activity, especially Hate Week; which is an event delineated to escalate the acrimony for the current enemy with an addition of working overtime to prepare; thus, leaving the citizens too tired to even think of rebellion. Correspondingly, each and every citizen and member of the Party is to call each other ‘comrade’ and to dress exactly the same each day. Those that are not a part of the Inner Party are set to the dupe standards of living, as “in any time that he [Winston Smith] could accurately remember, there had never been quite enough to eat, one had never had socks and underclothes that were not full of holes, furniture had always been battered and rickety, rooms underheated, Tube trains crowded, houses falling to pieces, bread dark-colored, tea a rarity, coffee filthy-tasting, cigarettes insufficient - nothing cheap and plentiful except synthetic gin” (Orwell, 59). Furthermore, Airstrip One and Oceania’s official language is that of Newspeak, which is derived from the English language and has hundreds upon thousands of words removed or …show more content…
By definition, totalitarianism is a political society where the state recognizes no limits and endeavors to administer every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible. The Party of Oceania is eminently culminating in its universal control over the society. This is evidenced by its ability to break the independent thinker and its mastery of psychological control by utilizing all technological developments, especially that of the telescreen. The telescreen keeps watch over every citizen all day, every day; however, only those belonging to the Inner Party can turn it off for half an hour at a time. These telescreens and hidden microphones monitor citizens all the time. Personal privacy and space are never granted throughout the novel. In fact, everywhere the citizens go, there are omnipresent signs saying, “Big Brother is watching you.” In addition, all records of the past have been ultimately destroyed, so that the Party may stay in power, as “every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book has been rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street and building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right” (Orwell, 155). In fact, all citizens can only remember from a range of a couple of