ipl-logo

Theme Of Government In George Orwell's '1984'

540 Words3 Pages

In George Orwell’s 1984, he utilizes motif, imagery, and irony to display the negative effects of a totalitarian government can have on society. To begin, Orwell uses motif, more specifically the recurring theme of manipulation and authority, to convey his purpose. In Part I Chapter IV, Winston explains his job and what he does at the Ministry of Truth: “Every prediction made by the Party could be shown be documentary evidence to have been correct [...] Everything faded away into a shadow-world in which, finally, even the date of the year had become uncertain” (Orwell 40, 41). As Winston explains what he does for a living, readers begin to realize that Winston takes false predictions made by Big Brother and rewrites them to be true. The government literally rewrites history to make it seem like the ominous “Big Brother” is always correct. The totalitarian government in this novel is manipulating people’s minds by changing the past. Furthermore, employees of the government/Inner Party members like O’Brien manipulate minds to extremities. After hours of torture where O’Brien continually shows Winston four fingers but insists that there are five, Winston becomes unsure due to the extent of pain he has been in: “‘How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?’ …show more content…

I don’t know. You will kill me if you do that again. Four, five, six一in all honesty I don’t know.’ ‘Better,’ said O’Brien” (Orwell 252). O’Brien deliberately tortures Winston to get him to state what he wants to hear. Orwell intentionally included the thematic concepts of manipulation and authority in 1984 to show the negative effects of a totalitarian government and how it not only tortures people, but also twists and manipulates their

Show More
Related

Assess The Role Of The Government In The Book 1984 By George Orwell

877 Words | 4 Pages

Andrew Jackson, a past president of the United States of America, once said, "It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their own selfish purposes." In the novel titled 1984, the government uses their power and inhumane methods to keep people siding with the government. The presentation topic that most closely related to 1984 is the police and government and warnings about the dangers the police and government could bring. In the book, the Party uses surveillance and the collection of data to control the people of Oceania, and intimidation and police brutality are also used to control the people.

Read More

How Does 1984 George Orwell Form Of Government

1324 Words | 6 Pages

Government exists for the people, not to control the people. After reading 1984 I had many takeaways about the book's overall meaning, strong opinions on the characters of Winston and Julia, and an overall opinion of the book. In 1984 the government, led by Big Brother, watches everything their people do and even controls their very thoughts. This form of government catches my attention because of how controlling it is over their people. Also, the government makes the citizens so clueless as to where they completely hypnotize them to agree with every single one of their ideas.

Read More

The Power Of Government In 1984 By George Orwell

506 Words | 3 Pages

Regardless of the government system, the people will always have the most power if they practice thought. In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, a totalitarian government is able to take full control over the citizens because of their ignorance. As the government began to grow stronger with the power the people were feeding them, the human race began to diminish. The new human race created by the government was called the Proles, they were unintelligent and unable to think for themselves by following the government. Relying on the government disabled them to practice thought and only knew what the government had taught.

Read More

Comparison Of Fear In 1984 And The Time Machine By H. G. Wells

2740 Words | 11 Pages

(Orwell 108). Winston thought for sure that the Party was monitoring him and that he would get caught and taken away. Winston was always worried about being punished for thought crime. Mr. Parsons, whose children were spies and informed on their father, was taken away because of what he had said about The Party, “Down with big brother!’ Yes, I said that”’

Read More

The Importance Of Control In George Orwell's 1984

796 Words | 4 Pages

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”.

Read More

Powerful Government In George Orwell's 1984

1016 Words | 5 Pages

Powerful Governments A government is to be in charge of the economic affairs, policy, and actions of a country. There are various types of governments, with laws and restrictions that citizens are to follow. These laws and restrictions can easily be taken to extremes as portrayed in George Orwell’s 1984.

Read More

Humanity In George Orwell's 1984

404 Words | 2 Pages

The word humanity refers to the human race as a whole and the qualities that make us human, such as the ability to love and have compassion. In our modern world, we take human nature for granted, but in George Orwell’s 1984, he shows us a society in which there is no humanity, and those that fight for it die trying. The totalitarian government, known as the Party, uses isolation, fear, and lies to destroy the humanity in their citizens and maintain absolute power over Oceania.

Read More

Government Manipulation In George Orwell's 1984

870 Words | 4 Pages

Government Manipulation in 1984 People generally rely on the government as a source of protection and stability. However, the government does not always have the citizens’ best interests in mind, as shown in 1984. The government has the power to distort realities and the ability to detect the truth. They can manipulate, or influence people’s minds without them even knowing. George Orwell’s 1984 uses a futuristic dystopia to show how the government is able to manipulate human values through the use of fear.

Read More

1984 Victory Gin Analysis

973 Words | 4 Pages

Living through the first half of the twentieth century, George Orwell watched the rise of totalitarian regimes in Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Soviet Union. Fighting in Spain, he witnessed the brutalities of the fascists and Stalinists first hand. His experiences awakened him to the evils of a totalitarian government. In his novel 1984, Orwell paints a dark and pessimistic vision of the future where society is completely controlled by a totalitarian government. He uses symbolism and the character’s developments to show the nature of total power in a government and the extremes it will go through to retain that power by repressing individual freedom and the truth.

Read More

1984 Theme Essay

1559 Words | 7 Pages

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.

Read More

Repetition In George Orwell's 1984

1261 Words | 6 Pages

George Orwell was an English novelist and journalist best known for his dystopian novel 1984 which was based on totalitarianism. Winston Smith, an employee in the Records Department for the Ministry of Truth and protagonist of this story, lives a life characterized by rebellion and hatred for the Party. His doubts for the Party’s actions and its control on truth begins to take a journey of discrete insurrection and the meeting of Julia, a young woman with cunning spirit and a worker at the Fiction Department. The plot rises as both of them have corresponding views on the Party; in this particular excerpt, George Orwell establishes antsy with this situation as Winston and Julia are caught by the Thought Police. Orwell’s use of repetition, details

Read More

Lack Of Individualism In George Orwell's '1984'

819 Words | 4 Pages

Joseph Goebbels once said,”Propaganda works best when those who are being manipulated are confident they are acting on their freewill”. This statement is proven to be true in 1984. The author, George Orwell, creates a fictional dystopian society in which the population is manipulated into thinking they live in a great world, whereas the government has full control over them. In 1984, George Orwell’s prime message, supported by the article called Liberty in North Korea by Hae Re, was the lack of individualism gives power to the applicable leader, which is conveyed using the characters speech and symbolism. Orwell’s dystopian society showed the author 's message through what a character was saying and symbolism.

Read More

Means Of Control In The Book 1984 By George Orwell

1756 Words | 8 Pages

In the book 1984 by George Orwell (1949) , the government uses physical and mental methods to control the citizens of Oceania. Orwell portrays an undemocratic government, INGSOC (English Socialism), ruled by a dictator they call big brother. Who seems to have the power to control and the right to anything possible. All the people in Oceania have no freedom at all. The government have physical and mental methods of controlling the population.

Read More

1984 Who Controls The Past Essay

885 Words | 4 Pages

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

Read More

Totalitarianism In George Orwell's 1984 And The Real World

1784 Words | 8 Pages

Comparisons between the world that Orwell described and current world activities can be made. The novel 1984 depicts a totalitarianistic government which can be related to historical events such as World War II, and to events that are currently happening today such as the NSA and the spying incidents that occurred in the United States. The novel of 1984 displays themes of totalitarianism. One example directly from the novel 1984 is this quote written by the author George Orwell; “Down in the street little eddies of wind were whirling dust and torn paper into spirals, and though the sun was shining and the sky a harsh blue, there seemed to be no color in anything, except the posters that were plastered everywhere.

Read More

More about Theme Of Government In George Orwell's '1984'

Open Document