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Context Of 1984

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1984 Critical Analysis 1984, written and published by George Orwell in 1949, follows main character Winston Smith, who lives in a totalitarian country known as Oceania. Within this country, all citizens are closely monitored by the government (also known as “The Party”) and the ruler of Oceania, known as “Big Brother.” Everyone is constantly watched through “telescreens,” TV’s that also serve as cameras for the government. Any individual thought is punishable by death, and known as a “thoughtcrime,” as all citizens must believe and think only what The Party tells them to. Tired of his monotonous life and unagreeing with The Party’s forced ideologies, Winston decides to rebel. Throughout the entirety of the novel, Orwell uses a historical …show more content…

Orwell examines the story in relation to its historical backdrop, in this case basing his novel off of WWII and Soviet Russia, in order to illustrate what could happen to the world under totalitarian rule (such as Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany.) Orwell bases Oceania, The Party, and Big Brother on Soviet Russia/ Stalin’s regime. He mirrors a lot of real historical events around WWII throughout 1984. This can be seen in the “Two Minutes Hate,” a propaganda video shown to all Oceania citizens in order to arouse hatred towards the opposing party (Emmanuel Goldstein and “The Brotherhood). This mimics the WWII propaganda films shown throughout Soviet Russia. Likewise, Emmanuel Goldstein is based on the exiled Soviet Bolshevik leader, Leon Trotsky. During the early years of the Soviet Union, Trotsky was a significant political figure. However, after a struggle for dominance with Stalin, Trotsky was …show more content…

Orwell’s writing of the telescreens, Big Brother, and Thought Police all reflect the notion that someone is always watching, which is majority of the time true within totalitarian countries. Winston’s story also illustrates the ultimate truth within totalitarian states, which is that there is no means of escape no matter how hard you try or how different you believe you are. Throughout the novel, Winston perceives himself as superior to The Party and Big Brother due to the fact that he can see through all of their lies. He truly believes that he is able to overcome them both, but is caught by the Thought Police and taken to the Ministry of Love, a place where (ironically) crimes are dealt with and people are tortured. Winston is then tortured and brainwashed through psychological drugs into loving Big Brother, defeating the whole purpose of Winston’s endeavors to overthrow The Party throughout the novel. Winston’s character is used to reflect the lives and consequences of rebellion for those living within totalitarian states, specifically Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany around/during

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After being tortured and facing his fear in Room 101, Winston was finally broken and now loves the party’s beliefs and Big Brother. Now we do not see the Winston who was against the party, we see him supporting the party because of manipulation through torture. A stylistic device that is used is pathos. Pathos is shown when Winston expresses his happiness that he was finally broken and free to love Big Brother but the reader feels sorry for Winston for getting extremely tortured and manipulated to support the oppressive party and dictator. This relates back to the thesis as George Orwell is predicting how people will get arrested and be manipulated and tortured to make society follow the government’s beliefs.

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