George Orwell 1984 Individuality

With diverse ethnicities, occupations, and ideologies, individuality is an innate part of humanity. Independent thought and reasoning is encouraged as means to a smarter and safer society. However, in the dystopian novel 1984 by George Orwell, the ruling government strives to alienate humanity’s individuality in an attempt to consolidate power. Orwell depicts an oppressive society ruled by the ruling class called the Party, where Winston, an individual, struggles against the totalitarian government. By the end of the novel, Winston is destroyed and the Party continues to dictate conformity among the masses. The Party’s destruction of society’s individuality reveals humanity’s potential for evil and corruption in their struggle for power over

The most blatant use of technology for spying are the highly intrusive telescreens, which combine cameras, microphones, and televisions, in order to monitor everyone’s actions at all times. Everybody lives under the “assumption that every sound [they] made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized” (4). Through this removal of privacy, the Party is able to destroy any desire for individuality or free thought. In constant fear of vaporization by the Thought Police, it becomes instinct for a citizen to conform to acceptable standards. Besides surveillance, the telescreens serve another purpose: they perpetuate propaganda. The fictional book, The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism, explains, “Every citizen... could be kept for twenty-four hours a day under the eyes of the police and in the sound of official propaganda, with all other channel of communication closed. The possibility of enforcing not only complete obedience to the will of the State, but complete uniformity of opinion on all subjects, now existed for the first time” (206). These two applications of telescreens, espionage and propaganda, force conformity among the masses by eliminating individual tendencies and unifying everybody under common media. This abolishment of individuality through telescreens, demonstrates humanity’s potential for

The Party exploits surveillance, the manipulation of emotions, and censorship to achieve its goal. Constant monitoring, the promotion of nationalist emotions, and the spreading of ignorance blend together to enforce conformity on a massive scale. By preventing individuals from forming and exterminating any that do, the Party has constructed a well refined system with the sole purpose of crushing individuality. Resulting in the complete and utter abolishment of individuality, the Party’s greed for power serves as a mirror for humanity’s potential evil. In the name of power, mankind is not afraid to crush the souls of innocent people and destroy the most integral part of humanity: