ipl-logo

Symbolism In George Orwell's '1984'

774 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Research on George Orwell's 1984

Thesis: In George Orwell’s 1984, symbolism of Big Brother is used to illustrate the recurring motif of propaganda used to control reality through the rise of surveillance, ultimately instilling a sense of devotion through fear in the citizens of this totalitarian government. Throughout the novel, these effects result in complete government control, thus illustrating how surveillance ultimately leads to tyranny. Body Paragraph 1: Big Brother is the symbolic figurehead of Oceania, a totalitarian state wherein the Party has complete control over all citizens. The citizens are taught that Big Brother is the leader of the Party, and will administer the torture of anyone who rebels. Winston Smith, the main character of the novel, learns that Big Brother is not a real person, but an invention of the Party that functions as a focus for the citizen’s inherent feelings of fear and terror. Throughout the novel, the …show more content…

This is exhibited as the behaviors of all the citizens are monitored, and taken into account. If anyone acts in rebellion of the Party or Big Brother, they are taken into Room 101 (basement torture chamber in the Ministry of Love), where they are tortured until they submit to Big Brother and comply with the rules and regulations of the Party. The citizens are continuously reminded of the control over reality the Party has, primarily by the omnipresent signs reading “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU,” (3) implementing a sense of reverence and fear, shown through the very apparent government propaganda. Authorities are perpetually shown scrutinizing the civilians by watching their every move, demonstrated by the telescreens feeding constant

Show More
Related
498 Words | 2 Pages

In pages 166-167 in part 2, chapter 7 of George Orwell’s 1984, he uses diction and imagery in order to create an earnest tone to vividly illustrate Winston’s love for Julia. In this passage, Orwell creates an earnest tone by using diction in order to show Winston’s affection for Julia. In this section of the book, Winston and Julia are discussing what they would do if they were caught by the Thought Police. Winston says that they will try to break them and force a confession out of them, however, he says that the only thing that really matters is that they should not “betray one another” (Orwell 166).

Read More
616 Words | 3 Pages

Imagine living in a world that you are forced to believe in something that is illogical. Imagine being forced to accept two contradictory ideas at the same time. This is exactly how the people live under the Big Brother’s rule in this deeply depressing and dystopian novel, 1984, written by the renowned English author, George Orwell. One of the major themes throughout the whole book is the dangers brought about by totalitarianism, which serves as a warning to the whole mankind.

Read More
601 Words | 3 Pages

Society in Oceania is tightly controlled by the government, known as the Party. The followers of the Party look up to a figure known as Big Brother, who is “always watching” them. Winston and Julia, the main characters in George Orwell’s prodigious novel, 1984, collaborate to work against the Party, but each has different views toward Big Brother and their rebellion. Winston Smith is unique from the people of Oceania because of his desire to rebel against the Party. Winston goes beyond the potential consequences of his actions to fulfill his desires of obtaining freedoms.

Read More
1052 Words | 5 Pages

Imagine being followed everywhere by a government agent. They’re watching your every move, and they’ll report you if you even make a wrong facial movement. This is essentially the case in George Orwell’s novel, 1984. Run by an English socialist government called the Party, the people’s every move is watched through telescreens. Citizens are not individual, but rather an extension of the Party.

Read More
406 Words | 2 Pages

King Henry V makes all his men feel like they are equal, and like none of them are of any different class. How he was friends with thieves when he was younger it helped him understand the lower class people. If they had to steal to survive, or what their ideas of “fun” were completely different. He knows how they lived and what they went through he figured out how to talk to them to make them feel equal with the higher class people. When it says “If we are mark’d to die, we are enow to do our country loss; and if to live, the fewer men, the greater share of honour” .

Read More
1559 Words | 7 Pages

In the novel 1984, by George Orwell, he uses truth and reality as a theme throughout the novel to demonstrate the acts of betrayal and loyalty through the characters of Winston and Julia. Orwell expresses these themes through the Party, who controls and brainwashes the citizens of Oceania. The party is able to control its citizens through “Big Brother,” a fictional character who is the leader of Oceania. Big Brother is used to brainwash the citizens into whatever he says. Orwell uses truth and reality in this book to reflect on what has happened in the real world such as the Holocaust and slavery.

Read More
796 Words | 4 Pages

George Orwell’s 1984 is a precautionary tale of what happens when the government has too much control in our lives. The protagonist, Winston Smith, is at odds in a world in which he is not allowed to counter the government’s surveillance and control. Perhaps more striking is the noticeable relationship between the novel and modern society. In George Orwell’s novel 1984 the book predicts the surveillance of Big Brother in modern day societies.

Read More
1420 Words | 6 Pages

Do you ever feel like you're being watched by the government?The novel 1984 by George Orwell is about a man named Winston that lived and a Society where the government called big brother’s stride to regularly every aspect of public and private life. In this novel the author Orwell Portray the perfect totalitarian society. The party controls all information and history of the town. The party also manipulated the minds of the children and the town. Big brother’s role and Oceania were to control any and everyone and the town.

Read More
884 Words | 4 Pages

In 1984, George Orwell depicts a dystopian society pervaded by government control and the obsolescence of human emotion and society. Winston is forced to confront the reality of a totalitarian rule where the residents of Oceania are manipulated to ensure absolute government control and servitude of the people. The theme of totalitarianism and dystopia is employed in 1984 to grant absolute power to the government and ensure the deference of the people through the proliferation of propaganda, the repudiation of privacy and freedom, and the eradication of human thought and values. The repudiation of privacy and independent thought and the ubiquity of government surveillance is employed to secure absolute power to the government over the populace

Read More
1115 Words | 5 Pages

The book 1984 describes a totalitarian society where citizens are forced to renounce all liberties for the sake of social order. They are guided by the rule of a single figurehead called Big Brother, whom the they are manipulated to entrust their lives to. This figurehead exercises his powers of governing every aspect of the people 's lives by observing and manipulating the populace. Big Brother also divides his subjects into classes as a means to keep the populace oppressed. Throughout this literary narrative the main character, Winston Smith, struggles to survive in this society as he struggles to fit the conventional mold that is preached.

Read More
815 Words | 4 Pages

George Orwell’s 1984 has resonated with many who have experienced first-hand what life is like under a dictator. The novel describes how everything is controlled and monitored by the government and how even mere thoughts can be detected by ThoughtPolice. Readers get to experience Oceania’s system of ruling through the eyes of an Outer Party member, Winston Smith. At first, Winston is adamant to destroy The Party and its figurative leader Big Brother, but eventually is captured and converted into a lover of Oceania’s system of government. Children, although not playing a significant role in this book, are mentioned as devious little spies.

Read More
1500 Words | 6 Pages

In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, the main theme is of conformity to the wants of society and the government. Themes of dehumanization of our species, as well as the danger of a totalitaristic state are repeatedly expressed. Orwell demonstrates this theme by using setting and characters in the novel. The setting helps to convey the theme because of the world and kind of city that the main character lives in. Winston’s every move is watched and controlled by the governmental figurehead known as “big brother”.

Read More
869 Words | 4 Pages

Nineteen eighty-four is a highly constructed dramatic experience which effectively delineates totalitarianism and controlling governments within Oceania, revealed through its respectable language. The language used by Orwell critics how the dystopian land of Oceania was during the time of the cold war. Within the last paragraph of 1984, Orwell effectively depicts the dystopian world of Oceania and shows that through the extreme control of human nature by using INGSOC’s, the representation of big brother and the act of dehumanisation, portraying that the government is purely a one sided and controlling government. Through Orwell 's use of techniques, he prompts the reader to question the ideals totalitarianism and government control. Thus, the audience is informed that the totalitarian government has a vast amount of capabilities, that can be used ultimately to control the minds of individuals in 1984.

Read More
1684 Words | 7 Pages

In George Orwell’s novel 1984 Orwell gives the reader a preview of a negative utopia. Big Brother, being the Government of Oceania holds all the power. Orwell conveys Big Brother to the Governments today. Orwell also shows the reader to rethink how their government is being run and or if they 're having too much power. Orwell makes the reader realize that their government has power it should not be having.

Read More
878 Words | 4 Pages

In 1984, George Orwell writes about a dystopian society called Oceania with a totalitarian government. Winston, the main character, is an Outer Party member and works for the government who is under the rule of “Big Brother” and the Inner Party. The Party’s purpose is to rule Oceania with absolutism and have control over its citizens by using propaganda, censorship, and the brainwashing of children. Today, many modern-day countries use these techniques to maintain their power including: North Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Nazi Germany. First, North Korea and Oceania use propaganda to encourage patriotism to make themselves look better to citizens in order to keep a totalitarian rule.

Read More

More about Symbolism In George Orwell's '1984'

Related Topics

Open Document