Examples Of Cruelty In 1984

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Cruelty in 1984 Throughout history, many governments have attempted to maintain complete power and control, most of which inevitably failed. George Orwell’s 1984 depicts a society that is completely controlled by the Party, otherwise known as INGSOC (English Socialism), which maintains power over the people through conformity and cruelty. Through this Orwell suggest that such extreme surveillance and cruelty enacted by totalitarian governments to maintain control strips its people of any identity or thought of their own. The surveillance the Party perpetrates on its citizens functions as a way to control the thoughts of people to maintain their control. For example, almost every area in Oceania, or Airstrip One, has a telescreen. These …show more content…

For example, the Party controls people’s relationships. People are not allowed to have sex with one another for pleasure but only for procreation. Furthermore, children are pitted against their parents and are used as another form of police to make sure that the parents are loyal to the Party. Oftentimes people speak against the Party in their sleep, which they cannot control. Yet, their children will hear it and report them to the Thought Police. People do not have any sense of relief in this society; they are constantly in fear of getting vaporized or sent to a labor camp even if it is something that they did not mean to say. The Party is eliminating any sense of human connection to ensure that people stay loyal to them, and therefore they maintain their power. The cruel act of taking humanity away from people who live in endless worry is how the Party is able to control its …show more content…

Winston, the character who the story is told through, is against the Party and actively disobeys its ideals. For example, he thinks about how horrible the Party is and wants to change it. He also has sex with Julia, who is also against the Party. The biggest crime that one could commit was that of thought. The act of thinking against the Party could be punishable by death or 25 years in a forced labor camp. Winston gets caught by the Thought Police and is taken to the Ministry of Love where he is tortured. O'Brien, the antagonist and a member of the Inner Party, completely ch anges Winston’s perception of reality. He tortures Winston with a device until Winston believes in the Party’s version of reality and does not merely agree with it to stop the pain. Winston is forced to relinquish his hatred of the Party, and in the end conforms to loving the Party and the leader, Big Brother. The Party needs to eradicate any thought that is against them to secure their power. They control people's thoughts and emotions so that the only positive emotion that they feel is towards Big