George Orwell Use Of Control In 1984

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Control is often used and taken as a way to obtain something else: money, love, or revenge. But what if control was taken for the sole purpose of power and without anything else to cloud the motive? In George Orwell's 1984, the party subjects its citizens to extreme physical, psychological, and sexual control, in order to alter and take advantage of human nature, ultimately revealing how this level of control affects humans. As Winson is introduced as the protagonist, Orwell uses imagery to display his environment, as well to show the effects of the physical control used against him. The world around Winston had “no color in anything” and “looked cold” (Orwell 2). Furthermore, Winston is described by Orwell as having a “smallish and frail figure” …show more content…

Orwell first mentions the rats as foreshadowing for Winston's ultimate fate in an earlier chapter. A small remark said during an intimate moment between Winston and Julia: “I don’t like rats, that’s all” (Orwell 144). For the reader, this was confirmation that the party had always been listening, and that even those small moments together were not private. For Winston, this final use of psychological torture would be the end of any rebellion in him. By the end of the book, Winston had betrayed everyone including himself, but there was one person he refused to betray: Julia. With that the party knew exactly what needed to be done. Finally, as Winston's greatest fear was used against him he betrayed the one person he loved. “Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me!” he said, and with that he fully submitted to the party (Orwell …show more content…

The party had been watching Winston for seven years including the span of his relationship. So when Winston and Julia consummated their love (something the party strongly opposes), why did they not step in to stop it? The party essentially built Winston up in order to have something to knock down. In our society, sex with the intent of pleasure connects humans on a level much deeper than marriage. With this in mind, the party used this aspect of human nature to their advantage. In the beginning of the book, while Winston was rebelling with thoughtcrime, he wished for more and Julia gave this to him. Winston described their intimacy as a “political act” against the party, because Julia gave Winston hope for a better future and more rebellion (Orwell 126). Without that, Winston had nothing and in return the party had nothing over Winston. In the end, his relationship with Julia is what kept him going. Winston described Julia as being “inside him” and part of “the texture of his skin” (Orwell 280). The thought of her was the last thing he held onto and that's exactly why the party allowed him to fall for her. In order to have something to break him