George Orwell's Allusions

Religious Allusions in George Orwell’s 1984

The society created by George Orwell in his novel 1984 is seemingly godless, void of all that is valued in conventional religion. In fact, religion is banned by the party and considered to be an act of misconduct as it promotes individuality, a crime known as ownlife. The citizens of Oceania are uniform in thought and belief, all conforming to the ideology of INGSOC (English socialism). Although Oceania is seemingly free from religion, one cannot ignore the religious symbols and metaphors employed by Orwell throughout the novel. Through his use of such literary devices, he draws parallels between the party, a government totalitarian in nature, and religion. It is clear that Orwell does not look favorably

When one looks at INGSOC as a secular religion, he/she is able to realize that Big Brother is more than just a party leader, but the God of this non-secular religion. Even though Big Brother began as a “mere mortal, [he] could imperceptibly arrogate himself the power of supernatural goodness, the power of the Sacred” (Hunt 156). Meaning that Big Brother was able to transcend the limits of an ordinary man and take on the powers of an immortal deity. In Genesis, the first chapter of the bible, God creates the entire world, from the animals of the wild to mankind. He created “man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them”(2). Big Brother plays the same role in the creation of Oceania as “every success, every achievement, every victory, every scientific discovery, all knowledge, all wisdom, all happiness, all virtue, are held to issue directly from his leadership and inspiration” (Orwell 216). The very existence of God, and by extension Big Brother, is not open for questioning. Big Brother need not be a man of flesh, nor even a spirit, he is merely “the guise in which the party chooses to exhibit itself to the world. ‘Nobody has ever seen Big Brother. He is a face on the hoardings, a voice on the telescreen. We may be reasonably sure that he will never die’ ” (Orwell 216). Similarly, the debate over the

Catholic churches employed a similar approach to the education of children and held youth groups where children were taught the scripture and had catholic values such as abstinence and love of God instilled in them. Orwell seemed to take inspiration from this, creating the Junior Anti-Sex League and Spies, both of which were programs designed to ensure loyalty to the party from a young age. These programs were intended to control natural instincts and morals from a young age, by doing so they essentially “make the laws of nature” (Orwell