1984 George Orwell Family Analysis

The word family has a wide range of connotations and denotations, holding a different meaning to everyone. In the novel 1984 written in 1949 about a futuristic dystopia, the “average” family is not what one would consider to be a healthy or stable in modern society. Winston Smith, the main character, allows the reader to witness how the government has taken over society to give itself complete control of its citizens. Winston recognizes the destruction of family and the unwavering control of the government on its citizens, but Orwell leaves it to the readers to connect family values to the authority of the government. Without the “private, cohesive groups” normally provided by familial structure, the government has one less obstacle in their path to complete control of citizens (Blakemore). The destruction of familial bonds and loyalty by the Junior Spies in Orwell’s Oceania may seem ridiculous and doubtful, but in reality these conditions are very similar to those created by Hitler Youth during the Holocaust when children often “denounced their parents when they behaved in ways not approved by the Reich”(Blakemore). Similarly, the Junior Spies in 1984 “systematically turned against their parents and taught to spy on them and report their deviations” (Orwell 133). By destroying the primacy of familial …show more content…
Although, from the outside, these “families” look fairly normal by modern standards, consisting of parents and children, the power dynamic of the family is reversed because of the discipline the government exerts over the children. Through youth organizations such as the Junior Spies or the Hitler Youth, the government “[prevents] men and women from forming loyalties which it might not be able to control” (Orwell 65). Although parents still loved their children, it is more of a respect for the power the children