Examples Of A Totalitarian Regime In 1984 By George Orwell

In the novel 1984, Orwell strategically develops a totalitarian regime that negatively influences its citizens and their quality of life. One universal theme presented by Orwell is that everyone’s mind is corruptible, it is just a matter of how far you push them mentally and physically.

In one example, Winston surrenders his love for Julia in fear of losing his life in a near-death experience with rats. This moment is significant as Winston and Julia promised each other that they would never sacrifice their love for one another under any circumstances. Yet, at this moment we see just that, as Winston repeatedly tells O’Brien to “[d]o it to Julia!, do it to Julia” (Orwell 300). Despite Winston’s love for Julia and his extreme mental strength to rebel against the thoughts that the party

One instance of this is the chinless man offering the hungry man a piece of bread. This act of kindness is positively looked at by many but in the world of Oceania, the way the guards took action would make many think that the chinless man committed a horrendous crime such as murder. After opening the door the guards “let free a frightful blow” (Orwell 247) and this blow was so ferocious that “dark blood was oozing from his mouth and nose” (Orwell 248). After this beating the man totally changed his demeanour and instead of being kind toward other prisoners who were clearly suffering he became reserved and refused to help. The change in demeanour is proof that physical abuse plays a large part in changing an individual's mind as this man changed his moral values in fear of being punished any further. Unlike Winston however, he changed his mindset almost immediately while Winston endured much more physical abuse over a longer period of time which is a testament to Winston’s amazing mental strength in the face of