1984 is a novel in which its government has total control over what you do, how you think, and how you behave, George Orwell’s renowned novel prophesized his view of a 1984 dystopia. An ordinary, middle aged man named Winston Smith has gone about his life living the way everyone in Oceania did, doing what they were told without questioning anything, all while under the complete and utter control of their totalitarian government. He soon discovers the truth, and struggling to keep his secret, Winston goes on to find a group that fights the dictatorship. Despite how perfect the people in oceania may think their lives are, they are unaware of how the government portrays misleading information to them that they accept as facts, slowly shaping them
Julia is Winston’s lover one of the only people Winston can trust. She hates the party and Big Brother just as much as Winston does. Both Julia and Winston have to be cautious and keep away from the telescreens, which are big T.V. screens that watch citizens for unorthodox behavior. They also have to stay away from the thought police, which also watch citizens for unorthodoxy. That could include knowing too much, disobeying Big Brother, or even thinking too much about society. Julia rebels against the party for different reasons than Winston does. Winston rebels by thinking about how the world used to be and how it could be better. Julia rebels only to live for the now moment and to have fun, which includes the unorthodox act of sex. A love affair was the reason why Julia and Winston met: “He flattened it out. On it was written, in large unformed handwriting: I love you” (Orwell 90). Julia took a chance betting that Winston was also against the party and gave him that note. Winston and Julia are able to enjoy each other’s company, and together they rebel against Big Brother. This was not the first time that Julia had an affair with another man and broke the laws of the party: “Of course. Hundreds of times – well scores of times anyway” (Orwell 105). Julia loves having sex because it breaks the party’s rules. She does not let the party get the best of her. Not only is Julia unorthodox, but O’Brien is unorthodox
Both Winston and Julia have a lot of personality that goes against the Party and Big Brother, so when their true character comes out they end up getting into trouble. Through the “characters’ actions”, in 1984, Orwell suggests individuality leads to rebellion.
After meeting her, Winston realizes that he rebels because it is the only way to gain freedom. “The sexual act, successfully preformed, was rebellion. Desire was a thought crime” (Orwell, 68). In a way, Julia gives him the strength he needs to continue to fight for freedom. “I have not betrayed Julia” (Orwell, 273.) This also shows how willing Winston is to sacrifice himself for love, as it can end in both of them getting caught. In addition to this, one of the first times that Winston talks about Julia, he begins to feel the rebellion. “Thus, at one moment Winston’s hatred was not turned against Goldstein at all, but, on the contrary, against Big Brother, the Party, and the Thought Police” (Orwell, 14). Publicly revolting in Oceania is extremely dangerous since there is too many telescreens watching over him. “All that they did was to keep alive in him the belief, or hope, that others besides himself were enemies of the Party” (Orwell, 17). It is at this moment in the book that Winston becomes known as the heroic
George Orwell’s novel 1984 presents us two characters who are entirely different, but still complement each other entirely, the protagonist Winston and his love-interest Julia. Julia’s optimistic character highlights Winston’s fatalistic one. Winston believes he and Julia are compatible and can relate to each other because they share the same believes. They both detest Big Brother and want to rebel against the Party. While this is true, their similarities seem to end there. There are in fact major differences between the two that set them apart from each other. What makes Julia inherently different from Winston is the fact that her rebellion, as opposed to Winston’s, is purely self-centred.
George Orwell’s novel, 1984 and The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, both share fear as a common theme. Fear as a tool can control, change, and force people to do things that do not seem acceptable, such as make people turn on others, become violent, and forgo their belief system. Fear can be used in many different ways, such as controlling a population of people to gain power or wealth. In The Time Machine, a group of people called the Eloi, had direct power over another group called the Morlocks. In 1984, one small group of people called the “brother hood” had complete control of society. 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
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. The novel describes the journey of Winston Smith as he rebels against the Party and tries to maintain his human qualities. By creating a totalitarian government in the novel 1984, George Orwell is able to express how important humanity is to not only Winston but also
Winston fails to stay true to his belief of staying loyal to Julia going against how a hero is someone who is idealized for being moral. As part of the Party’s plan to reintegrate those who have rebelled against them, the final step is going to room 101 that holds “the worst thing in the world” (283). Winston and Julia have fail to betray each other throughout their obscure time in the Ministry of Love until one of Winston’s greatest fears, rats are literally brought to the table. Winston fears rats more than anything and he did not want to interact with them in any negative way causing him to yell out “'Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don't care what you do to her” (286). A hero faces their fears and when Winston will not come face to face with the rats he is proving to not be a hero. Winston fails to be ethical and right when it comes to facing his own fears, which indicates that he is an anti-hero. Likewise to Winston’s failure to show heroicness once he got wrapped in misfortune, Winston is similarly an anti-hero when he lacks integrity and though Winston has heroic qualities, he fails to stick to his viewpoints towards the Party throughout the entire novel. The Party has a way of putting ideas into the minds of their citizens that are false, but sometimes they are still obey because what the
Julia wasn’t much interested in reading, and Winston was surprised to discover that “the difference between truth and falsehood did not seem important to” (193) Julia. While Winston was greatly concerned about the party’s manipulation of truth, Julia was more interested in freedom of individuality. The clever thing was to break the rules and stay alive, whether it was a love affair, swearing, wearing makeup or obtaining luxuries on the black market. She took great pride in her ability to bring real sugar, real milk, and real coffee to her meetings with Winston (177). Julia’s desires to bring these prohibited items to their meetings, as well as her disinterest in exposing the part indicate that she rebels simply to undermine the party in her own small ways and gain individual freedom. Unlike Winston, whose actions and desires regard both himself and future generations, Julia’s actions stem purely from her own personal desires. By characterizing Julia as interested in individual freedom, Orwell emphasizes, again, the extent to which governments need to control their citizens in order to maintain power. By using these characters to highlight the control of the party, Orwell shows the dangers of totalitarian governments and the extremes to which they will go to maintain
In today's century, John Steinbeck and George Orwell have an influential mark on American literature. One of John Steinbeck's most known novel is Of Mice and Men. This novel is about two characters, George and Lennie, who are migrant workers that move from ranch to ranch struggling to earn a living during the Great Depression. On the other hand, George Orwell's most prominent novel is 1984. 1984 tells the story of man, Winston Smith, a man living in Oceania, a dystopian society, finding a way to escape the tyranny of Big Brother. John Steinbeck and George Orwell are greatly affected by the state of society in their lifetimes. Both authors use their novels to highlight the themes of control and the affects of change
The novel 1984 by George Orwell reveals the destruction of all aspects of the universe. Orwell envisioned how he believes life would be like if a country were taken over by a totalitarian figure. Nineteen eighty-four effectively portrays a totalitarian style government, in which elected representatives maintain the integrity of a nation with very little citizen participation in the decision-making process of the legislative body. Although the authors ideas are inherently and completely fictional, several concepts throughout his book have common links to today’s society which is somehow a realist perspective. Orwell integrates devices such as irony, satire, and motifs to illustrate the life unfulfilling life of Winston Smith.
The heroic efforts by Winston and Julia were completely thwarted. Winston had finally shown signs that he could be a hero. But they were ruined by O’Brien. Julia and Winston are forced to separate and then they are both subject to torture. The downfall of Winston begins at this point, any heroic signs that had begun to sprout out of Winston were utterly destroyed. He went back to his old ways of only looking out for himself. The qualities of a typical hero once again vanished. Winston was tortured so much that he ratted out Julia and confessed everything. He even said he’d rather Julia be tortured and die than himself. He had betrayed her, and he had betrayed himself. “I betrayed you. She said. I betrayed you. He said.” (292)He promised himself that this would not happen. And he just kept tumbling and tumbling.
In the book 1984, Winston’s “safe haven” is the idea of rebellion. Whether it is him dreaming of it, seeing Julia, or writing in his diary, he takes comfort in whatever act he can take against the Party. Much of the narrative has to do with Winston’s thought process. It is not an objective approach to the situation, and is therefore full of personality and opinion. Winston’s hopes and dreams of rebellion become a crucial part of the text, adding insight as well as limiting perspective to that of only one character.
In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, the main theme is of conformity to the wants of society and the government. Themes of dehumanization of our species, as well as the danger of a totalitaristic state are repeatedly expressed. Orwell demonstrates this theme by using setting and characters in the novel. The setting helps to convey the theme because of the world and kind of city that the main character lives in. Winston’s every move is watched and controlled by the governmental figurehead known as “big brother”. The characters in the story are used to show the theme in the sense that most are essentially brainwashed by, and therefore loyal to and under control of, the overbearing government. The main conflict of the story is between the main
With regards to morality and ethics, Winston and Julia’s judgment and beliefs greatly differ. Winston, characterized as an idealist, deeply suffers from the existent totalitarian authorities and their full control of everything. The extent of his hatred of the Party becomes apparent when he first makes love to Julia, as he considered it a “political act” against them rather than an act of love. Thus, his passion and emotion was stirred by his desire to rebel against the Party and commit a crime under the rules of Oceania. On another note,