Authority In George Orwell's '1984'

Perspectives towards authority depends on the beliefs of one’s community. As the novel “1984” by George Orwell, suggests, the way one views leadership can be shaped by the authorities themselves. The novel is told from the perspective of Winston Smith, whose descriptions create the settings of a society that unknowingly fall victim to the corruption of its rulers. Thus, George Orwell depicts the corruption of authority when greed exceeds need and goes beyond established social structures in “1984”. As the novel progresses, through Winston, the author emphasizes the idea of corruption, presenting the control of society with the want for power. To be more specific, Winston is a member of the Outer Party, and deeply disagrees with the Party’s

Dominance over the people depends on the people in it. As a result, the notion of an ideal citizen is dependent upon the community that fosters it. Orwell clearly depicts this, as the Party does not simply control society, rather it influences it and affects the upbringing of children. In a particular section of the novel, Winston is helping his neighbor, Mrs.Parsons, when he observes the behavior of her children, describing the presence of a “sort of calculating ferocity in the boy’s eye, a quite evident desire to hit or kick Winston and a consciousness of being very nearly big enough to do so” (Orwell 23). Though this at first may be seen as the behavior of an unruly child, in reality this behavior reflects on the education the children receive in Winston’s society. Furthermore, the fact that it was considered ordinary “for people over thirty to be frightened of their own children” provides insight towards the ideals created by the Party for the values of society (Orwell 24). Based on this, one can see that the ideal citizen is one that behaves in the way the community expects him or her to. In today’s world, an ideal citizen is one who is loyal to their government, but also has good moral character and is able to differentiate wrong from right. On the contrary, the citizens in George Orwell’s “1984” novel, are expected to follow the principles of the Party, following Ingsoc orthodoxy, whether they themselves agree with it or not. In this manner, this reflects upon one of the concepts in the book known as “doublethink”, which is purposely used to persuade people of conflicting facts (Orwell 35). The ideal citizen in every society is often engendered by the environment in which one lives in, influencing one’s beliefs and