1984 George Orwell Power Analysis

20th century author George Orwell’s 1984 is a bleak yet powerful depiction of a dystopia deprived of individualism and free thinking. Several themes are explored throughout the novel’s progression such as freedom, gender, and technology. However, Orwell’s message about power is especially strong. 1984 is essentially a warning of the corruption and apathy that power brings when it is abused, as can be seen from the perspectives of the protagonists and progression of events. In the country of Oceania, the government is controlled by what is referred to as “the Party”. This name refers to members of the English Socialist Party (or Ingsoc, for short). Power is everything to them and they must have power over all aspects of their territory. The …show more content…
He begins to question the Party and slowly rebels with a newfound colleague and lover, Julia. Winston’s realizations about power start within the first act of the book when Orwell writes, “[Referring to Emmanuel Goldstein and his constant ridiculing] In spite of all this, his influence never seemed to grow less.” (1984, Page 12) In this scene, he is acknowledging the difficulty of taking away power even from a near universally-hated figure along with the lasting impact of having influence. However, these thoughts don’t conform with the Party’s totalitarian nature. Only the Party can have power, and those who oppose that notion will be indubitably punished. Despite it, Winston continues in his small rebellion with his goal being to tear down the Party. He searches for proof against the Party, even questioning elderly people about any memories that they can still describe (albeit this turned out fruitless). (Page 83) To Winston, power is lasting force and control. He doesn’t necessarily want it for himself but would rather force it from the …show more content…
She acknowledges its effect and the privilege in having it, but only questions it in specific circumstances. She could care less about the rewriting of the past or the newest developments in Newspeak. However, she could speak for hours on end about the unfair regulations regarding sexuality. On page 117, Orwell wrote, “With Julia, everything came back to her own sexuality. As soon as this was touched upon in any way she was capable of great acuteness.” Meanwhile, later he describes her unquestioning acceptance of history and other school lessons. (Page 136) Despite her selectivity, she still works against the Party in whatever way she can simply to weaken the corruption it has