During World War II, political corruption exasperated many individuals, especially the prolific author George Orwell. George Orwell’ 1984 warns of the dangers of corruption, ambitious figures and vicious tyrannies whilst reflecting on salient events in his life. His novel 1984, is set in a futuristic society of Oceania, where the ruling party and its leader, Big Brother maintains absolute control over its citizens. He emphasizes the danger of losing one’s individuality whilst under the control of a totalitarian regime. In Oceania, citizens are unable to express themselves under the party’s rule fearing persecution. The Party retains its power through the destruction of history, the invasion of privacy and the outlaw of love. In 1984, using …show more content…
Winston works at the Ministry of Truth where he changes historical articles to fit with the current political doctrine. In order to match the party’s ideals, “Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book has been rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street and building has been renamed, and every date has been altered” (Orwell,178). Through the falsification of records, the party is able to gain control over its citizens as they are unable to identify the veracity of the work published by the party. To continue, the Party eradicates the language proficiency of its citizens with the introduction of Newspeak, a language created by the party. Syme, a language specialist, speaks of its true purpose when he says, “Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it. Every concept that can ever be needed will be expressed by exactly one word, with its meaning rigidly defined and all its subsidiary meanings rubbed out and forgotten" (Orwell, 60). As words slowly become annihilated, citizens are unable to express themselves, limiting their