Isolation Vs. Isolation In George Orwell's Novel, 1984

The topic of isolation vs. intimacy has been analyzed since the 1900s when Erik Erikson made it stage 6 of his theory of psychological development. Isolation is at it’s highest effect during a person’s young adult life. Winston is a younger adult in George Orwell’s novel, 1984 (1944), and he is faced with the dilemma of isolation vs. intimacy when he begins to fall for a girl named Julia. As he lives in a futuristic society that eliminates the free thought of their citizens by forcing them to live in fear and isolation, physically and mentally, through their harsh laws and invasive government. Oceania’s government involves thought police that monitor the thoughts and actions of Winston and his comrades. While Orwell illustrates the detrimental …show more content…
Winston’s mental state can be best interpreted because the reader is given his thoughts. With this it can be seen that Winston is struggling to find happiness in a society that forces him to adapt to constant isolation. Winston became “lost in a monstrous world where he himself was the monster” (Orwell 34). Winston saw himself as a monster because he followed along with Oceania’s goal. He didn’t fight back against the absurd rules of Oceania and therefore he couldn’t say that he wasn’t different from them. If he resisted following these rules then he could see himself as a driving force in ending them, even if it meant his outcome would be death. To keep this possibility of resistance down Oceania enforced isolation heavily. In Oceania “you did not have friends nowadays, you had comrades” who only partook in light hearted discussions. Without something as simple as friendships a person has no one to share their thoughts with, he/ she is forced to keep their ideas to themselves. This is brilliant for keeping down a revolution but detrimental to the well being of citizens who are now repressed and stuck believing they are alone if they have an ideology that differs from that of the government. In today’s society depression is the leading side effect of isolation. As the use of technology increases “levels of happiness have gone down, while rates of suicide and depression have multiplied” (Smith “Social Connection Makes a Better Brain”). This decrease in happiness is directly related to social media, yet nothing is being done to counteract its effects. If this dilemma is continually ignored then it will only worsen until too much damage is done to society. In an observation study conducted over nine years it was learned that that “people who were disconnected from others were roughly three times more likely to die” during the study (Brody “Social