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Oppression In 1984

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“Always the eyes watching you and the voice enveloping you. Asleep or awake, working or eating, indoors or out of doors, in the bath or in bed - no escape. Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimetres inside your skull” (Orwell, 25). This depiction of absolute oppression by George Orwell in his novel 1984 is his idea of the future in a totalitarian dystopian world where there is no freedom, fairness and everyone is completely brainwashed. Similarly, the government in Terry Gilliams movie Brazil control and monitor their citizens, oppressing them to the point they are afraid to have a disloyal thought about their government, reminiscent of thought crime. Though Orwell writes about a nightmarish and purely fascist government whose aim …show more content…

Governmental oppression continues to be represented through the texts 1984 and Brazil through the relationships of the characters. In 1984, for quite some time Winston Smith believed Julia was apart of the anti-sex party and that she was of the many brainwashed citizens. Winston’s first time seeing Julia out of the office he sees her wondering around in the proletarian area and he immediately believes she has followed him and she must be part of the thought police, he also considers bashing her head in with a brick but immediately dismisses this idea and rushes home; “He could keep on her track till they were in some quiet place, and then smash her skull in with a cobblestone” (Orwell, 84). This idea that Winston even thought to bash someones head in because he may be turned in to the police represents the oppression the law has on all its citizens. Once Julia has given Winston the note that says ‘I love you’ on it, they begin meeting each other in private, but Winston is not sexually attracted to Julia like she is to him; “Their embrace had been a battle, the climax a victory. It was a blow against the part. It was a political act” (Orwell, 104). In 1984 relationships are forbidden, unless to only reproduce children for the party, making Winston and Julia’s relationship extremely …show more content…

In 1984 and Brazil, both couples are captured by their ministries and taken away. In Brazil Julia is killed immediately after but Sam is tortured, similarly as Winston and Julia are tortured. Though throughout the entire time Sam is being tortured, he is not concerned for his own well being but for Jills asking if she is okay, at this point not knowing she has already been killed; “Where is she?” (Brazil), referring to Jill. Whereas Winston begs them to stop and to do it to anybody else, even Julia; “Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don 't care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Julia! Not me!”(Orwell, 230). Both of these male protagonists follow similar paths and end up at similar destinations, though respond very differently in the end. Sam is able to die with a clear conscience knowing he did all he could for Julia, but Winston dies with the guilt he’d rather this torture be done to his ‘true love’ than himself. This idea that the people in both of these relationships died due to the governments laws shows the oppression of their governments and their dictation

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In the novel 1984, outward conformity is crucial to the survival of the citizens of Oceania. One character in particular who practices this extremely well is the main character, Winston Smith. He not only conforms outwardly, but also questions his society inwardly, due to the overhanging fear that Miniluv will find and torture him. Winston constantly questions Big Brother and all of the laws that the citizens of Oceania are required to obey while also inwardly questioning his forbidden romance with Julia. Without this rising tension throughout the novel, 1984 would lose its suspenseful tone and would easily lose the focus of readers.

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In his influential novel, 1984, George Orwell uses a myriad of literary techniques, including themes, imagery, and motifs, to characterize life in post-revolution Oceania; he contrasts monotonous diction and curt sentence structure with vivid diction to emphasize the incompatibility of the bleak landscape of the city with the curious, emotional landscape of the human mind. During this passage (the first three paragraphs of page 126), Winston and Julia finally meet up in a secluded, forested area, where they talk and have sex. Directly after the two wake up from their nap, they part ways, Julia leaving first and Winston twenty minutes later, as not to get caught together. Orwell depicts a calm mood in this scene by using peaceful diction.

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To maintain their absolute control over the individual, the Party finds Julia’s breaking point by exploiting her nightmarish fears, and they completely strip Julia of every unique component. Julia is a rebellious soul in the Party’s oppressive society who imbues sex and passion as a way of internal rebellion. By pursuing sex as an individual interest, Julia wants to use her small freedoms to hurt the party as much as possible. After capturing Julia, O’Brien leads the torturous brainwashing, and after completely modifying Julia’s existence, he uses her as an example to break down Winston’s spirit. O’Brien reveals that he destroyed every “endearing” aspect of Julia’s personality.

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Rebellious Rage: Julia and Winston Rebel In the book, 1984 written by George Orwell, Winston and his one time lover, Julia, and partner as long with his ally, lead together into rebellion to take down Big Brother and the Party in a whole. In 1984, the government is strict and overbearing towards their citizens making them glance over their shoulders, scaring them to force them to obey. The overwhelming surveillance in 1984 leaves distrust between the supreme ruler of Oceania and their citizens. Another example of a corrupt government style leads to torture for no particular reasons, like getting information out, it’s just to change the victim's views.

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Winston fails to stay true to his belief of staying loyal to Julia going against how a hero is someone who is idealized for being moral. As part of the Party’s plan to reintegrate those who have rebelled against them, the final step is going to room 101 that holds “the worst thing in the world” (283). Winston and Julia have fail to betray each other throughout their obscure time in the Ministry of Love until one of Winston’s greatest fears, rats are literally brought to the table. Winston fears rats more than anything and he did not want to interact with them in any negative way causing him to yell out “'Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia!

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As Winston is thinking about the Party and the society he lives in, he announces his realization: “‘We are the dead,’ he said. ‘We are the dead,’ echoed Julia dutifully. ‘You are the dead,’ said an iron voice behind them” (242). The repetition of “are the dead” brings an emphasis that this is the moment Winston and Julia are going to die; they are finally seized by the Party. This initial point of repetition brings a sense of urgency and fear; it builds suspense of wanting to know what will happen to Winston and Julia now that they are caught by the Thought Police.

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After meeting her, Winston realizes that he rebels because it is the only way to gain freedom. “The sexual act, successfully preformed, was rebellion. Desire was a thought crime” (Orwell, 68). In a way, Julia gives him the strength he needs to continue to fight for freedom. “I have not betrayed Julia” (Orwell, 273.)

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This is just like Winston he put his heart into Julia and everything was going good but then Julia betrayed him and he had no one after that. Julia gave all the right sign at first for her for Winston then when they were together for a long period of time the real her came out. Winston loves her to death and he tells her the word that all girls want to hear when they are in a serious relationship.

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The heroic efforts by Winston and Julia were completely thwarted. Winston had finally shown signs that he could be a hero. But they were ruined by O’Brien. Julia and Winston are forced to separate and then they are both subject to torture. The downfall of Winston begins at this point, any heroic signs that had begun to sprout out of Winston were utterly destroyed.

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(Orwell 233). Then a little bit later Winston asked “Who denounced you?” then Parsons said “It was my little daughter” (Orwell 233). This shows how The Party is taking advantage over people so they can have power to do what they want. When Julia and Winston were captured by O’Brien,who was a spy for the Party, he put them in separate rooms, questioned and tortured Winston so he would give up Julia and confess.

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One of the themes of 1984 by George Orwell is how it represents living in a dictatorship. There are many troubles that come with living in a dictatorship. In the book, everyone is ruled by a dictator called Big Brother. No one knows if he is real or not, but he makes all of the rules. An example from the book about dictatorship is, “Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimeters inside your skull.

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Living through the first half of the twentieth century, George Orwell watched the rise of totalitarian regimes in Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Soviet Union. Fighting in Spain, he witnessed the brutalities of the fascists and Stalinists first hand. His experiences awakened him to the evils of a totalitarian government. In his novel 1984, Orwell paints a dark and pessimistic vision of the future where society is completely controlled by a totalitarian government. He uses symbolism and the character’s developments to show the nature of total power in a government and the extremes it will go through to retain that power by repressing individual freedom and the truth.

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Lastly, Julia lacks an innate fear of death, one that seems to dictate Winston’s actions. Her main goal is self-satisfaction and she has no fear of the Party holding her

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How Does 1984 Conform to, or Deviate From, the Conventions of Dystopia, and For What Purpose? 1984 was written by George Orwell in 1948 and it is a dystopian novel. The novel takes place in a futuristic time period in a section of the world called “Oceania”. Oceania is led by the Party, whose leader is Big Brother, and they control everything that happens in Oceania. The Party and Big Brother are constantly watching their citizens through telescreens, which are large screens that are placed throughout Oceania like modern day surveillance cameras.

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