Winston's Deception In 1984

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The world is full of truth and lies. Anything and everything can be invented, even the idea of love. In many novels, characters discover the importance of truth from the world around them. However, in 1984, George Orwell confronts this notion from a different perspective, showing that lies do exist in the world. Throughout the novel, Orwell stresses that the nature of love is easily manipulated, which is demonstrated by Winston’s lack of self love, Julia’s act of deception and the Party’s relationship with the citizens of Oceania. As a consequence of the society he lives in, Winston, who is the main character of 1984, does not get any opportunity to fully discover himself as a person. Everything that Winston knows about himself is a product …show more content…

Winston and Julia’s relationship began with physical attraction, and for Winston, slowly evolved into an emotional attachment. Winston was certain that he loved Julia more than anything in the world, and that he had finally found someone that he could be happy with. Unfortunately, the government eventually manipulates Winston’s love for Julia into a love for the Party and Big Brother. After a tremendous amount of relentless torment, the party eventually makes Winston say “‘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!’” (286). It is possible for the nature of love to be strong, but in Winston’s case, love is not strong enough when confronted with physical torment, manipulating the emotions from its joyous forms to poisonous, self-destructing ones. Not only was Winston’s love for Julia destroyed by the Party, Julia herself was a spy of the Party who had been secretly observing Winston. This act of deception is demonstrated by the many hints that Orwell left throughout the novel, such as Julia’s lack of interest in the history of the Party when Winston reads to her from Emmanuel Goldstein’s book. Julia emotionally manipulates Winston because she never truly loved him, and was only with him to expose Winston to the Party. Throughout the …show more content…

The Party controls its citizens with psychological pressures designed to overrun one's independent thought process. Every single person must love and conform to the Party and Big Brother, there are no exceptions. The love that the citizens have for Big Brother is produced out of their fear of the Party. Citizens must obey the Party and its demands because something as simple as having an opinion is frowned upon, which is clear when Orwell states that the “... smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself…” (62). The actions and behaviours of the citizens are monitored by telescreens implanted in the citizens’ homes at all times. All citizens are constantly reminded that “‘BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING [THEM]’” (2). Since one small mistake can lead to the vaporization of a person, citizens have no choice but to profess their love for Big Brother and the Party if they wish to live. Moreover, the citizens are also forbidden to love or care for anyone else other than Big Brother. The Party establishes that there will be “... no loyalty, except loyalty towards the Party. There will be no love, except the love of Big Brother” (267). All of the news, history, and information concerning the Party is modified and rewritten so that the citizens see and read what Big Brother