ipl-logo

1984 Individualism Analysis

1376 Words6 Pages

1984’s Representation of Individualism and It’s Real World Connections

George Orwell wrote 1984 to show the destruction a totalitarian government can have on one’s individualism, as shown by Winston’s experiences in the book. By creating such a story, Orwell alludes to several totalitarian governments in reality, such as the Khmer Rouge, Viet Cong, and most infamously, the Nazi Party. These regimes, including the Party in 1984, all strip away one’s individualism by means of torture, poor conditions, or violence.

Shockingly, the Khmer Rouge (pronounced: keh-mai), which ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, is very similar to Orwell’s 1984. Language and certain diction was restricted, censored, and limited. According to Philip Short’s biography …show more content…

“He was walking up a cobbled street … with battered doorways … which were somehow curiously suggestive of rat holes. There were puddles of filthy water here and there…” (Orwell 82). The mention of rat holes and filthy water implies that the conditions the proles lived in was very unsanitary and often susceptible to disease. Unfortunately, these conditions existed amply in Cambodia. Millions of citizens in Cambodia lived in similar conditions, and after the Khmer Rouge started its reign, these citizens fell victim to famine - killing …show more content…

“If there is hope, it lies in the proles” (Orwell 69) Considering that the proles have the most freedom out of everyone in 1984, it could be implied that the proles have the opportunity to revolt and break free of the societal controls the Party has developed. However, it is due to their incognizance that they remain where they are. “Until they become conscious they will never rebel…” (Orwell 70) As a result, George Orwell conveys that the lack of consciousness the proles embody, plus the content they have with their impoverishment, is not enough to overthrow the Party.

In conclusion, the people of Cambodia and 1984 have much in common. The restrictions of language inhibit the freedom of expression that compiles individualism. The Khmer Rouge and the Party have placed its citizens in poverty-stricken communities. Due to this, the proles and Cambodian citizens do not have enough willpower to overthrow their government. The opportunity to revolt and express individualism is unsubstantial. A controlling government is influential enough to deter the people of that society from trying to defy the governing

Show More
Related

Khmer Rouge And Pol Pot Similarities

509 Words | 3 Pages

In cambodia, the uprising was much different from Stalin to Khmer Rouge. Khmer Rouge was lead by Pol Pot, a man originally from Vietnam but moved to france becoming a powerful leader as a communist. Pol Pot eventually became one of the most powerful communist leaders of all time. He then starts the group Khmer Rouge and takes over Cambodia. Another very important detail creating difference between the two hardships in two different countries would be the amount of time the country was under distress because of their cruel leaders.

Read More

Cambodian Genocide Causes

958 Words | 4 Pages

Pol Pot, the leader of the Khmer Rouge, is no ordinary dictator; he was highly driven by the ideology of total revolution which had four separate, but related components. First, and most important of all, is the push for total independence and self-reliance, second, the dictatorship of the proletariat, third, total and immediate economic revolution, and lastly, a complete transformation of Khmer social values (Jackson 135). To implement this ideology of total revolution, the Khmer Rouge had to resort to permanent purges in order to eliminate all potential competitors and to “create a society with no past and no alternatives” (Jackson 137). Pol Pot divided Cambodian society into five classes: the working, the peasants the bourgeoisie, the capitalist, and the feudal class. However, in an effort to create an egalitarian society, the only acceptable classes were the “workers, peasants, and the revolutionary army” (Jackson 136).

Read More

Who Is Brainwashing In First They Killed My Father

228 Words | 1 Pages

During the Khmer Rouge’s takeover of Cambodia depicted in First They Killed My Father,by Loung Ung, brainwashing often took place to manipulate the people of Cambodia to despise the Vietnamese “invaders.” Most brainwashing occurred in children, because of their impressionable minds. Given the right amount of propaganda to its children, a tyrannical force, such as the Khmer Rouge, can control the population into fighting for them. In First They Killed My Father, children are made into soldiers for the Khmer Rouge, and are taught to resent the “Youn” population. This brainwashing is seen in Met Bong as she says, “The Youns hate you.

Read More

North Korea And 1984 Comparison Essay

552 Words | 3 Pages

A Fictional and Non-fictional Communist Government Throughout history, there have been many different ways a government can control its people, but these two radical styles of ruling-in North Korea and the novel 1984- are comparable in many ways. The novel 1984, written by George Orwell, depicts a society of extreme control by the government. North Korea’s government has a tightly help grip on their loyal people. Both the fictional and nonfictional versions of this ruling style, teach a person new ideas about the world today. The citizens of North Korea and the novel 1984, have a strong devotion to their leader, a sense of unity and the need to be the same, and sometimes a rare urge to rebel.

Read More

Lack Of Individualism In George Orwell's '1984'

819 Words | 4 Pages

Joseph Goebbels once said,”Propaganda works best when those who are being manipulated are confident they are acting on their freewill”. This statement is proven to be true in 1984. The author, George Orwell, creates a fictional dystopian society in which the population is manipulated into thinking they live in a great world, whereas the government has full control over them. In 1984, George Orwell’s prime message, supported by the article called Liberty in North Korea by Hae Re, was the lack of individualism gives power to the applicable leader, which is conveyed using the characters speech and symbolism. Orwell’s dystopian society showed the author 's message through what a character was saying and symbolism.

Read More

1984 And 1984 Comparative Essay

508 Words | 3 Pages

Dystopian texts espouse a variety of didactic messages that depend significantly upon both the context and zeitgeist of the time in which they were created. Differences can be found when comparing the techniques and perspectives the authors have chosen to represent their contextual concerns to audiences. Together both Fritz Lang’s silent black and white film ‘Metropolis’ 1927 and George Orwell’s novel ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ (*referred to as 1984) 1948, confront and provoke audiences to consider the impact that (abusive power + unquestionable control= insert question statement) can have not only on the characters in these two texts, but also on the cultural and political lives of the reader and viewer. By subjugating & dehumanising the lower classes, dictators are

Read More

1984 George Orwell Income Inequality Analysis

475 Words | 2 Pages

Those whom are part of the inner party are constantly surveillanced and kept “wealthy”. 1984 is effective because the higher class gets privileges that the middle and low income don’t have. It also thrives to predict how the party and current government rises in power and the poor stay poor. Yet, it fails to accurately suggest that

Read More

Essay On 1984 Freedom

636 Words | 3 Pages

In the book of 1984 The people like winston and others that aren’t associated with the Party are stripped of their freedom. They have no rights from being almost enslaved by the Thought Police, they have little to no education rights, and they have absolutely no say in there marriage of who they want to marry. Freedom is a part of who you are supposed to be, if you don’t have freedom then you really aren’t your own

Read More

Proles In George Orwell's 1984

853 Words | 4 Pages

In 1984, a dystopian novel written by George Orwell, proles are represented as being generally incompetent in the ability to think and rebel against their stolen rights. However, as the story progresses, Winston comes to a realization that proles are the only ones with the character of human beings and the strength to gain consciousness to overthrow the party. Through this characterization of the proles, Orwell satirizes the detrimental effects of Stalin’s totalitarian government in employing total control and perpetual surveillance of the people in USSR to maintain an established hierarchy. The nature of how the system views the proles is clearly visible through the treatment and description of the proles in the eyes of Winston.

Read More

The Importance Of Social Class In 1984 By George Orwell

1073 Words | 5 Pages

1984 by George Orwell makes several statements about control, security, and how governments should treat their citizens. However, a reader can also look at chapters 1-7 of the book as a statement on social classes and how the government keeps everyone in a certain social class. What values does the work reinforce? The book is mainly about control of the government.

Read More

1984 Totalitarianism

884 Words | 4 Pages

In 1984, George Orwell depicts a dystopian society pervaded by government control and the obsolescence of human emotion and society. Winston is forced to confront the reality of a totalitarian rule where the residents of Oceania are manipulated to ensure absolute government control and servitude of the people. The theme of totalitarianism and dystopia is employed in 1984 to grant absolute power to the government and ensure the deference of the people through the proliferation of propaganda, the repudiation of privacy and freedom, and the eradication of human thought and values. The repudiation of privacy and independent thought and the ubiquity of government surveillance is employed to secure absolute power to the government over the populace

Read More

Marxism In 1984

1115 Words | 5 Pages

The book 1984 describes a totalitarian society where citizens are forced to renounce all liberties for the sake of social order. They are guided by the rule of a single figurehead called Big Brother, whom the they are manipulated to entrust their lives to. This figurehead exercises his powers of governing every aspect of the people 's lives by observing and manipulating the populace. Big Brother also divides his subjects into classes as a means to keep the populace oppressed. Throughout this literary narrative the main character, Winston Smith, struggles to survive in this society as he struggles to fit the conventional mold that is preached.

Read More

1984 George Orwell Dictatorship Analysis

954 Words | 4 Pages

One of the themes of 1984 by George Orwell is how it represents living in a dictatorship. There are many troubles that come with living in a dictatorship. In the book, everyone is ruled by a dictator called Big Brother. No one knows if he is real or not, but he makes all of the rules. An example from the book about dictatorship is, “Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimeters inside your skull.

Read More

1984 Victory Gin Analysis

973 Words | 4 Pages

Living through the first half of the twentieth century, George Orwell watched the rise of totalitarian regimes in Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Soviet Union. Fighting in Spain, he witnessed the brutalities of the fascists and Stalinists first hand. His experiences awakened him to the evils of a totalitarian government. In his novel 1984, Orwell paints a dark and pessimistic vision of the future where society is completely controlled by a totalitarian government. He uses symbolism and the character’s developments to show the nature of total power in a government and the extremes it will go through to retain that power by repressing individual freedom and the truth.

Read More

The Dystopian Language In George Orwell's 1984

869 Words | 4 Pages

Nineteen eighty-four is a highly constructed dramatic experience which effectively delineates totalitarianism and controlling governments within Oceania, revealed through its respectable language. The language used by Orwell critics how the dystopian land of Oceania was during the time of the cold war. Within the last paragraph of 1984, Orwell effectively depicts the dystopian world of Oceania and shows that through the extreme control of human nature by using INGSOC’s, the representation of big brother and the act of dehumanisation, portraying that the government is purely a one sided and controlling government. Through Orwell 's use of techniques, he prompts the reader to question the ideals totalitarianism and government control. Thus, the audience is informed that the totalitarian government has a vast amount of capabilities, that can be used ultimately to control the minds of individuals in 1984.

Read More

More about 1984 Individualism Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document