1984 Fallacies Analysis

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

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