ipl-logo

1984 Theme Essay

1559 Words7 Pages

In the novel 1984, by George Orwell, he uses truth and reality as a theme throughout the novel to demonstrate the acts of betrayal and loyalty through the characters of Winston and Julia. Orwell expresses these themes through the Party, who controls and brainwashes the citizens of Oceania. The party is able to control its citizens through “Big Brother,” a fictional character who is the leader of Oceania. Big Brother is used to brainwash the citizens into whatever he says. Orwell uses truth and reality in this book to reflect on what has happened in the real world such as the Holocaust and slavery. The society of this novel was a dystopia and it is how George Orwell viewed the world. In the novel 1984, Orwell portrays the acts of betrayal and …show more content…

A way that they used lies is when O’Brien and Mr.Charrington betrayed Winston and Julia. "Shortly after waking up from a long nap, Winston and Julia hear a voice from a hidden telescreen which suddenly commands them to stand in the middle of the room. Mr. Charrington enters with a crew of stormtroopers who beat Winston and Julia, then hurry them separately away" (Orwell 235-236). This is the first act of betrayal that is shown in the novel 1984. Another way that the party used lying as a way to control the citizens is by the ministry of truth. This is the Ministry that Winston works at, and his job is to correct and edit documents. "This process of continuous alteration was applied not only to newspapers but to books, periodicals, pamphlets, posters, leaflets, films, soundtracks, cartoons, photographs to every kind of literature or documentation which might conceivably hold any political or ideological significance" (Orwell 40). This passage refers to the process of changing the past, which is Winston's job. By controlling the past, the Party is able to manipulate the minds of the citizens. This is an example of how the party lies to the people. Hitler did the same thing during the

Show More
Related
1971 Words | 8 Pages

Many a literary critic claims that the strongest aspect of the book 1984 by George Orwell is its plot. Indeed, there is some merit in this conclusion, as the entire purpose of Orwell’s writing of this book was not to create a literary classic, but to warn the public about the dangers of communism if it got out of hand, and what better way to do this than to write an engaging plot? Others may claim that 1984’s greatest strength is in its character development. This aspect, too, is quite strong in the book, as not only are the minor characters effected in serving the dystopian theme, but the major characters are believable and very human in their failings. Winston’s transformation from an oppressed office worker to revolutionary and finally

Read More
404 Words | 2 Pages

The novel describes the journey of Winston Smith as he rebels against the Party and tries to maintain his human qualities. By creating a totalitarian government in the novel 1984, George Orwell is able to express how important humanity is to not only Winston but also

Read More
1261 Words | 6 Pages

George Orwell was an English novelist and journalist best known for his dystopian novel 1984 which was based on totalitarianism. Winston Smith, an employee in the Records Department for the Ministry of Truth and protagonist of this story, lives a life characterized by rebellion and hatred for the Party. His doubts for the Party’s actions and its control on truth begins to take a journey of discrete insurrection and the meeting of Julia, a young woman with cunning spirit and a worker at the Fiction Department. The plot rises as both of them have corresponding views on the Party; in this particular excerpt, George Orwell establishes antsy with this situation as Winston and Julia are caught by the Thought Police. Orwell’s use of repetition, details

Read More
1109 Words | 5 Pages

O’Brien’s use of starvation, the electric chair, and mental bullying serves as a crucial motivator for intelligent, problem causing citizens such as Winston to confess and repent willingly eventually. Finally, the use of cruelty by Big Brother reveals the inner and destructive conscience of the party in order to ensure that society is orderly and continually worshipping Big Brother. The suffering and eventual destruction of citizens such as Winston reveals that a free-thinking society is still intact, however, any government’s use of torture could and did destroy the will of a majority of those that were so horribly imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps across Europe. Therefore, the cruelty used throughout the novel “1984” functions in the work as an effective scare tactic that is able to exterminate an entire society while simultaneously creating a new master race that is intellectually void and completely subservient to Big

Read More
637 Words | 3 Pages

In 1984’s society, the government has complete control over the media, history, books, and every piece of information. Winston, the main character, works in the Ministry of Truth, which is a government agency that alters information to make the government constantly right even if that means misleading their citizens. “The best books…are those that tell you what you already know ” (Orwell 200). This quote connects to the 1984 government because they were always changing history, news, and any information that proved them wrong, but that the best books were the ones that proved your memory right and didn’t contradict what you already

Read More
692 Words | 3 Pages

He is unable to differentiate from the truth truth and that which the Party wants him to believe. Caught up in the constant battle in his mind, Winston is imprisoned by the Party. Leading up to his capture, Winston takes part in several rebellious acts that the Party watches, such as having an affair with Julia, thoughtcrime, and writing in his diary. During the time he is locked up, the Party spends their time forcing Winston to succumb to their truth. Through mental and physical torture, the job is not finished until Winston wholeheartedly accepts the truth.

Read More
772 Words | 4 Pages

1984, written by George Orwell, explores a society where there is explicitly no form or expression of individuality, in this society laws and concepts such as ‘Doublethink’ and ‘Newspeak’ have been created in order to manipulate the population of Oceania. In addition, Parties have been formed with each assigned with a particular area such as the Ministry of Truth, where in this Party history is adjusted and either almost rewritten or completely removed. Throughout this novel individuality becomes diminished whilst children are becoming conditioned to follow the ways of this totalitarian society. Winston’s involvement in the Ministry of Truth displays how altering objective truth contributes to the corrupted system that leads to the manipulation

Read More
751 Words | 4 Pages

The people willingly obey and follow all their orders without knowing what they are actually doing. Many of these individual’s jobs, like Winston’s, are to hide and change facts to allow people to have faith in the Party. Many “books… were recalled and rewritten again and again, and were invariably reissued without any admission that any alteration had been made” to hide information from the people. The protagonist, Winston, figures out the real problem with this system and realizes the Party has tricked their citizens. Orwell exhibits the citizen’s oblivious attitude toward everything shown to them and their growing faith for the party allows them to follow the party’s orders.

Read More
1000 Words | 4 Pages

Most people have taken a history course at some point in their life. They walk into class, take notes on the lecture, and study for an exam. No one ever questions if the information they are receiving has been altered from the truth. They memorize the data they have learned, then pass it on to others. How is everyone so sure the information we read in textbooks is true?

Read More
796 Words | 4 Pages

George Orwell’s 1984 is a precautionary tale of what happens when the government has too much control in our lives. The protagonist, Winston Smith, is at odds in a world in which he is not allowed to counter the government’s surveillance and control. Perhaps more striking is the noticeable relationship between the novel and modern society. In George Orwell’s novel 1984 the book predicts the surveillance of Big Brother in modern day societies.

Read More
1499 Words | 6 Pages

In George Orwell’s 1984, the three slogans of the Party—”War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, and Ignorance is Strength” (page 4)—are significant paradoxes that are used to reveal the theme of the novel that fear and ignorance allow one to be easily controlled. The three slogans are introduced early in the novel when Winston Smith thinks about his job at the Ministry of Truth. The building is described as “an enormous pyramidal structure of glittering white concrete, soaring up, terrace after terrace, three hundred meters into the air... it was just possible to read, picked out on its white face in elegant lettering, the three slogans of the Party: War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength” (4). The three slogans present

Read More
765 Words | 4 Pages

This is a literary analysis on the novel 1984 by George Orwell. 1984 is a more recent classic dystopian novel. Written in 1949, it's based in the future year of what is presumed to be 1984. It focuses on the life of Winston Smith, a member of the newly established Party that rules over a territory called Oceania and that is led by a man called Big Brother. This novel provides a rather frightening insight into a dystopian socialist environment.

Read More
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
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
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

More about 1984 Theme Essay

Related Topics

Open Document