Assess The Theme Of Power In The Novel 1984 By George Orwell

The novel “1984” by George Orwell is one of the best books of its time. This novel discusses many common themes throughout his time and progressively builds on the modern era. These themes are totalitarianism, psychological manipulation, and power. In the novel, their government is totalitarian, and the party’s leader, Big Brother, restricts people to their individuality and freedom. This novel is slowly becoming a reality. We are seeing more and more themes from this book reveal themselves in the modern era. The novel”1984” by George Orwell shows how manipulation, control over one’s identity, and power are all key themes in a totalitarian society. This book intertwines themes into a real-world problem and shows what life would be like if a

“There was one on the house-front immediately opposite. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption said, while the dark eyes look deep into Winston's own.(Orwell 4) Big Brother also manipulated their thoughts by replacing them with their own. This means individuality is no longer a thing, as is your self-expression. ”He did not know how long she had been looking at him, but perhaps for as much as five minutes, and it was possible that his features had not been perfectly under control.”(Orwell 79) The book implements real-world tactics like surreptitious surveillance. This is when one thinks on the opposite belief so when you are being watched you will think you are alone and act freely. In the novel, this tactic was used by the police to monitor the citizens. Just like in the book, there are many ways surveillance tactics may be being used today. “It could easily be carried out with the microphone built into your cell phone, the microphone in your computer, or with a micro-miniature device built into any wall, piece of furniture, appliance, or vehicle. You can be monitored with a device mounted atop a power pole across the street.

These are all used to persuade the easygoing minds of Oceania to take control of their way of thinking. “The Party takes propaganda to totalizing limits in its project of political control over not just everything that people do or say but everything they think or believe.”(Yeo) Big Brother does everything they can to manipulate the civilians of Oceania. Many forms of propaganda are used and staged events that take place to persuade the people. “Having been bombarded with propaganda on the way to his flat, Winston is immediately confronted with it once again, this time coming from the telescreen broadcasting “a list of figures which had something to do with the production of Pig Iron'' (Orwell, 2003: 4). (Yeo) Just like in the novel, propaganda is used throughout the real world to persuade people's minds and take advantage of their way of thinking. Propaganda is a dangerous tool that can be seen everywhere. In the modern era, we can see it being used through social media, fake news, and being spread through misinformation to manipulate social media users.