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Who Is George Orwell's A Totalitarian System?

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In George Orwell’s book 1984, readers get a closer look at a totalitarian system of Oceania through Winston Smith’s eyes. The system operates through four social groups: Big Brother, Inner Party, Outer Party and the most notable of all, the proletarian class. The proles are described as the working class but inferior compared to the other 3 social groups. While considered insignificant by the Inner party, they are quite significant in Winston’s mind as the proles could rebel against the Inner party if they realized the truth behind the party’s system. The totalitarian system of Oceania has a continuous cycle of deconstruction and reconstruction over their reality and utilizes it to exert their control over all their citizens. Also by using …show more content…

They are described as, “... a whole world-within-a-world of thieves, bandits, prostitutes, drug-peddlers, and racketeers of every description, it was of no importance” (72). The proles makes up eighty-five percent of Oceania’s total population and is considered to be the lowest social group among the four that are present. While being larger than the Inner Party, the proles continue to dutifully follow the rules set by their supposedly superior class and savior, Big Brother. Being a part of the proletarian class meant that lower-class citizens has to live with the bare minimum and all mattered was surviving with what they had. The quality of their living conditions are low as they are considered insignificant by the dominant social group, the Inner Party. “There were puddles of filthy water here and there among the cobbles. In and out of the dark doorways, and down narrow alleyways that branched off on either side...” (82). The quote hints that the living standards of the proles differ greatly when compared to the Outer Party’s Victory Mansions and the Inner Party’s larger living …show more content…

Even when appraised as the inferior social group, the proles are still watched for signs of rebellion as, “Every citizen, or at least every citizen important enough to be worth watching, 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 channels of communication closed” (206). Furthermore Oceania as a country, has adopted a totalitarian society order to restrict the population to surrender their mind, body and soul to the Big Brother to achieve the sense of equality among all social groups. “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). By imposing their decisions upon the majority of the population, the Party establishes the point that only they can control or dispose of any object or person. Moreover, Orwell expresses that a totalitarian government will put an end to individuality and emphasize the importance of unity among all citizens through the use of indirect manipulation and propaganda. “Indeed, so long as they are not permitted to have standards of comparison, they never even become aware that they are oppressed” (207). The totalitarian system of Oceania brings forth the unity and peace that only exists within the nation during the time of wars.

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The world of George Orwell’s Oceania is an authoritarian society where the cultural hierarchy includes the inner party, the outer party, and the proles. By definition, an authoritarian society has no governing body to protect the rights of citizens. The outer party members of Oceania have no rights except the right to love and obey Big Brother; the inner party members are compelled, on pain of death, to love Big Brother. The only “citizens” that have any rights are the proles, the lowest of the low in Oceania. They are considered to be free like weeds growing in a meadow.

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Demonstrating how the party’s ideals have caused Winston to automatically make the assumption that all proles are subhuman. In the text, Winston never actively challenges this presumption; consequently, displaying his unconscious superiority complex caused by the government's orthodoxical ideals. Correspondingly, the use of the third-person in the second quotation serves to distance Winston from the proles; further empathizing the class division between Winston and the proles, which distinguishes the likelihood of insurgency to

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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.

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by dividing the populace into sections in hopes of ultimately keeping members powerless. The society of Oceania is divided into four sections with Proletarian (at the bottom), Outer Party, Inner Party, and Big Brother (at the top). The Proles and Outer Party reflect the lower classes in the U.S. meanwhile the Inner Party and Big Brother represent the upper classes whom possess the most power in society. “But the proles, if only they could somehow become conscious of their own strength, would have no need to conspire” (2). The Proles are comprised of the majority of the population of Oceania and if they wanted to have the potential of causing a change in their government.

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The novel 1984 by George Orwell reveals the destruction of all aspects of the universe. Orwell envisioned how he believes life would be like if a country were taken over by a totalitarian figure. Nineteen eighty-four effectively portrays a totalitarian style government, in which elected representatives maintain the integrity of a nation with very little citizen participation in the decision-making process of the legislative body. Although the authors ideas are inherently and completely fictional, several concepts throughout his book have common links to today’s society which is somehow a realist perspective. Orwell integrates devices such as irony, satire, and motifs to illustrate the life unfulfilling life of Winston Smith.

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