1984, a heinous vision of a past future, shows a terrifying concept of complete control of the human race. It teaches that power is only ever used for power’s sake, and that nothing else matters, except for power. However, to get to that point, the human race must be convinced wholeheartedly and completely that the Party is correct. There must not be a shadow of doubt in their collective mind, and what better way to do that then with logical fallacies? Logical fallacies are errors in reasoning, often used in attempts to strengthen one’s argument, but often have the opposite effect. These logical fallacies can most easily be found when O’Brien, a member of the Inner Party, is torturing Winston. O’Brien uses them to convince Winston of complete love of Big Brother. Logical fallacies completely persuaded Winston, because when he was tortured, he was squeezed empty, then O’Brien filled him up with fallacies, specifically anecdotal, false dichotomy, and strawman, about Big Brother. When his torture began, Winston was still able to hold onto his sanity, but by part way through he was reduced to a weak and blubbering sack of bones, this is where O’Brien begins to use fallacies, starting with anecdotal. For example: “‘ In the Middle Ages there was the Inquisition. It was a failure. It set out to eradicate heresy, and ended up by …show more content…
Among many others, O’Brien uses the logical fallacy strawman to convince Winston to love Big Brother. . Strawman means to misrepresent someone 's argument to make it easier to attack. This happens when Winston is asking about Big Brother and whether or not he exists: “‘Does Big Brother exist?’ ‘Of course he exists. The Party exists. Big Brother is the embodiment of the Party.’ ‘Does he exist in the same way I exist?’ ‘You do not exist’” (Orwell 259). Here O’Brien deliberately ignores and misrepresents Winston’s question, and gives an even more confusing answer, but somehow wins the argument anyway. That is perfect use of
This dilemma is shown throughout history and has led to severe consequences. Fear is used as a tool in both The Time Machine and 1984 sometimes for different
Dystopian texts espouse a variety of didactic messages that depend significantly upon both the context and zeitgeist of the time in which they were created. Differences can be found when comparing the techniques and perspectives the authors have chosen to represent their contextual concerns to audiences. Together both Fritz Lang’s silent black and white film ‘Metropolis’ 1927 and George Orwell’s novel ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ (*referred to as 1984) 1948, confront and provoke audiences to consider the impact that (abusive power + unquestionable control= insert question statement) can have not only on the characters in these two texts, but also on the cultural and political lives of the reader and viewer. By subjugating & dehumanising the lower classes, dictators are
In the novel “1984” by George Orwell, the Inner Party uses cruelty in a politically and socially effective way by using methods such as torture, starvation, imprisonment, and room 101 as crucial motivation for those being tortured to not only confess but repent of their sins against the party. Furthermore, the use of cruelty by the Inner Party unveils both the victim and perpetrator’s inner conscience. The use of cruelty throughout “1984” by the Inner Party and O’Brien reveals how cruelty functions in the work as a means of oppression and a catalyst of subservience.
In this book they talk about some capabilities of Big Brother. “Winston kept his back to the telescreen … it was over though , as he well knew even a back can be revealing.” They surveillance members of the organization 24/7, so Any little move they made was known. Winston’s job was to change the past. “Who controls the past controls the future, who controls the present controls the past”.
Big Brother was never one to be questioned, and he made the consequences known to anyone who did so. Winston clearly expressed his hatred for Big Brother and all of the restrictions placed on members of society in the beginning of the book. Despite this, he constantly hid his facial expressions and thoughts from the telescreens, in great fear that the thought police would catch him. Contrary to that outward conformity, he was always inwardly questioning Big Brother. He directly broke the law by writing in a journal, especially since
O’Brien attacks Winston and calls him a “lunatic…. a minority of one.” O’Brien uses ad hominem and attacks Winston’s character, which has nothing to do with the argument. Next, O’Brien asks questions and makes statements like “you are no metaphysician…does the past exist concretely in space…where the past is still happening.” O’Brien makes a statement about Winston not being a philosopher of what is true and real, and then goes on to ask him questions about what is real and true.
The people willingly obey and follow all their orders without knowing what they are actually doing. Many of these individual’s jobs, like Winston’s, are to hide and change facts to allow people to have faith in the Party. Many “books… were recalled and rewritten again and again, and were invariably reissued without any admission that any alteration had been made” to hide information from the people. The protagonist, Winston, figures out the real problem with this system and realizes the Party has tricked their citizens. Orwell exhibits the citizen’s oblivious attitude toward everything shown to them and their growing faith for the party allows them to follow the party’s orders.
At the beginning of the novel, Winston made it prominent that he dissented Big Brother and his party’s idea. He wrote in his diary, in Book 1 Chapter 1, “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER…” (Orwell 18). This shows that Winston dissented his country’s government and was willing to rebel for he knew deep inside that
During a daily exercise known as the Two Minutes Hate, all Party members view a video usually featuring a speech denouncing the Party’s ideals and advocating for freedom and democracy. Even though Winston secretly supports these principles, he feels compelled to and even cannot avoid joining the frenzy of the Hate, entering a blind but abstract rage. He mentions that, “And yet that rage that one felt was an abstract, undirected emotion which could be switched from one object to another like the flame of a blowlamp. Thus, at one moment Winston’s hatred was not not turned against Goldstein at all, but, on the contrary, against Big Brother, the Party, and the Thought Police….(Orwell 14). This is how Winston’s fear differs from that of other people’s.
In the novel 1984, by George Orwell, he uses truth and reality as a theme throughout the novel to demonstrate the acts of betrayal and loyalty through the characters of Winston and Julia. Orwell expresses these themes through the Party, who controls and brainwashes the citizens of Oceania. The party is able to control its citizens through “Big Brother,” a fictional character who is the leader of Oceania. Big Brother is used to brainwash the citizens into whatever he says. Orwell uses truth and reality in this book to reflect on what has happened in the real world such as the Holocaust and slavery.
George Orwell’s 1984: How Doublethink is the Most Powerful Weapon for Control Being able to believe two paradoxical statements at one time sounds impossible but it is more common than believed. It is called doublethink, which is the ability to hold two contradictory beliefs on a topic and wholeheartedly believing them both at the same time. This term was coined by George Orwell and it becomes the main tool for control over the citizens of Oceania in his novel 1984. Orwell created a totalitarian future in hopes it would serve as a warning to preceding generations as to how the government can metamorphose into having complete power over a population to the point where they even control the thought process of the human mind.
The struggle between O'Brien and Winston at the end. O'Brien is attempting to condition Winston into loving big brother but Winston's resistance lies in the fact that big brother may be able to control people but they cannot control his thoughts. For Example “He sat back in his chair, slightly ashamed of himself, and laid down the pen. The next moment he started violently.
Big brother is ruining a totalitarian government, which is also a form of socialist government. This style of government has a dictator and has little or no freedom. Winston sees that this government can do nothing but spells out bad news, it also do nothing for human rights. O’brien sees it as a way for big brother and the inner party to flex their power to the people of oceania. Winston understands all of the outcomes that their government has so thats why he is trying to stop it
The proposal of Big Brother is to strip away the human qualities, such as emotion, so that everyone is alike and easier to control. To contrast, Winston is able to tell the difference and able to detect the false ideas of tyranny and disobeys the rules. His first rebellion was writing his thoughts
Winstons universe is filled with humans who act like and are treated like rats. when the time comes Outer Party members and Proles will become drones- inhuman cogs in the Partys machinery. Winston and his dear citizens are rats trapped in Big Brothers cage if forces such as those represented by Big Brother are allowed to rule then they are no better than senseless