George Orwell's 1984: Novel Analysis

A motto is essentially all-powerful. It has the ability to gain or lose support, reflect a set of values, and portray the intentions of a group of people. Some mottos are more ominous than others, which is a common theme in dystopian novels. George Orwell’s 1984 depicts the dangers and consequences of a totalitarian government. The plot follows Winston Smith, a middle-aged commoner, who is residing in Oceania or present-day Great Britain. Constant war and destruction has left The Party to rule Oceania and its inhabitants. Smith lives in a society structured from social caste, physical and mental surveillance, and loyalty to the oppressive regime. His interactions with other insurgents result in an unlikely chance for love and rebellion. At

The three superpowers in this futuristic world are Oceania, Eastasia, and Eurasia, and wartime between them is constant. No territory is more powerful than another, so it is inevitable that no competitor will ever experience a total victory. Winston reads The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism by Emmanuel Goldstein, the Party’s sole scapegoat, which O’Brien gives to him. The text states: “It is a warfare of limited aims between combatants who are unable to destroy one another, have no material cause for fighting, and are not divided by any genuine ideological difference” (Orwell 186). Oceania is at war for no reason other than to unite its people with a common enemy. The society members are able to put their hate into another country, rather than their own government. People are trained to hate the war enemy with forced propaganda and thought speculation. If a member of society were not participating in the hatred, he would likely be accused of treason and would face evaporation. The government seems to emphasize emotional rather than intellectual thinking. An example of members’ lack of intellect occurs during the week of hatred against Eurasia, Oceania’s current battlefield rival. During a rally, an official simply mentions Eastasia as the enemy instead of Eurasia. Winston reflects: “The Hate continued exactly as before, except that the target had been changed” (Orwell 181). The

A majority of the Party’s success can be attributed to the brainwashing techniques that it uses. Like many other dystopian novels, the older generations are harder to convince than the youth being born into the Party’s ideals. A technique that Oceania’s government uses frequently involves using the past to display the beauty of the present. Winston reads a child’s history textbook and describes a passage about the previous government: “The capitalists owned everything in the world and everyone else was their slave” (Orwell 73). This history book depicts capitalists as selfish monsters that make life miserable. Generations that have lived during this particular era know that many liberties have been abandoned. The Party then correlates freedom with a selfish government and unhappiness. The more the Party frightens people of the past, the more grateful they are for the present. This is another tactic the Party uses to gain support from its members. While O’Brien interrogates Winston during his treatment at the Ministry of Love, Winston reflects on the lies the Party has fed to its citizens: “That the choice for mankind lay between freedom and happiness, and that, for the great bulk of mankind, happiness was better” (Orwell 262). The Party claims that the constant surveillance, oppression, and severity are to maintain the happiness of mankind. O’Brien admits to Winston