1984 Fear And Manipulation Essay

Fear and Manipulation

Through examining unconscious processes, Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory aims to explain how people acquire their personalities and behave in social situations. Several ideas claim that brainwashing affects a subject's attitudes, values, and beliefs as well as their ability to think independently or critically. In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, the story talks about the oppression a man named Winston faces. He lives under the watch of “Big Brother” and is constantly being controlled by the Party which has everyone in the town under surveillance. Watching their every move and making sure they believe what the Party wants them to believe. Winston however does not agree with the Party’s ideas and goes against them,

In the book 1984, the Party has put telescreens, like a camera, in the houses of the people and all around the community. They employ it to keep an eye on their members; “the telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously. Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it; moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as heard. There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment.” (Orwell

In 1984, O’Brien manipulated Winston into trusting him but in reality, was trying to catch Winston in the act of disobedience and betrayal. Winston got caught by the Thought Police and was taken to the Ministry of Love. As O’Brien was talking to Winston there, he was trying to persuade him to the Party beliefs, “reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Not in the individual mind, which can make mistakes, and in any case soon perishes: only in the mind of the Party, which is collective and immortal. Whatever the Party holds to be the truth, is truth” (Orwell 205). O’Brien wanted to make sure Winston knew what the Party says, is what goes. They are always right and that he shall be taken and put in “jail” for thinking differently. Winston was forced to believe the government and manipulated into thinking his beliefs were all made up and a fiction of his imagination. Manipulation can cause people like Winston to actually believe what others are saying and not their own truths. Fromm states, “He, like Adam and Eve, is punished for his disobedience. But he does not repent and ask for forgiveness” (Fromm). The idea Fromm holds is like Winston’s in the story. He gets punished for all he has done, they were trying to change his mind since he believed differently than the party. All the thoughts and beliefs Winston had, still held in his mind even while he was getting told