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Corruption In George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty Four

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In George Orwell’s classic novel, Nineteen Eighty Four, Orwell primarily explores the theme of corruption and totalitarianism. Orwell questions the nature of corruption with his novel’s totalitarian state–the Party. The Party controls nearly every aspect of the nation of Oceania, the press, communication, thought and behavior are all manipulated and controlled by the inner Party; the Party’s leaders. The Party abuses the power it has over Oceana by suppressing the citizens’ freedom and manipulating their thoughts through the corrupt use of advanced technology and their surveillance network. The main protagonist, Winston Smith, a middle-management employee in the Party’s Ministry of Truth; tasked with rewriting history and spreading propaganda. As an employee of the Ministry of …show more content…

Orwell includes this excerpt to underscore the Party’s violation of their citizen’s privacy for their unwavering loyalty. By suppressing rebellion and private dissonance, the Party is able to rule their citizens with an iron fist. The Party believed in using power to tear, “ human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing.” (Orwell 266) This further illustrates how the Party used any means necessary to suppress free thought and cling to power. The Party did not only have the power to simply rewrite history or manipulate news from the warfront, they had the power to, “t two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make that claim sooner or later: the logic of their position demanded it.” (Orwell 80) The Party effectively, defied logic with their propaganda, revisionist history, and the slogan: “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength.” (Orwell 4) This only helps to demonstrate that the Party brainwashed the citizens of Oceania that constant war was not only justified, but needed for

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