This made it impossible for people to rebel because rebellion cannot be carried out without ideas and the cooperation of many people.
The novel also focuses the reader to consider the power of their thoughts. In the book a government believed that though was so powerful that it created a system in which free though was discourages and even punishable unto death. Big Brother understands that thoughts lead to action and rebellious actions could threaten the authority of the government. In addition, punishing people for thinking the wrong way was designed to deter others from having thoughts that were not sanctioned by the government. This was a fear tactic used to maintain control.
Interestingly enough Orwell had great difficulty publishing many of his novels because of the thoughts that he expresses. In addition, even when his books were published they wear often met with a great deal of controversy. For instance. "Nineteen Eighty-Four got an icy reception in leftwing circles and was violently attacked in the communist press (Meyers, 1)." Indeed people were vehemently opposed to his work because of the social and political issues that they exposed.
Through this novel, Orwell establishes how total population control can occur and why it must be avoided. According to Atkins (1984) "In Orwellian terms, 1984 means menace; it stands for the triumph of Totalitarianism a useful word with which Orwell familiarized us…(34)" The characters demonstrate how deception and deceit can cause people to act in ways that are contrary to their character and even contrary to the nature of human-beings. With this understood social conditions should never be ignored and people should always have free will to choose. This does not mean that laws don't exist. Instead it simply means that the laws do not hinder the right to free expression or to think as one chooses.
In
This is particularly evident in the use of the words Big Brother. Today these words have become synonymous with government practices that are overbearing. In addition, there is a television show entitled Big Brother in which contestants are constantly monitored. In many ways that ideas presented in the book have become a subconscious part of society. In this way Orwell's influence in unique among writers because he established a certain shift in the paradigm concerning what constitutes good social and political structure and how in the absence of the correct structures a society can devolve into chaos. Many of Orwell's works take on this challenge and Nineteen Eighty-For is no exception.
Overall the book serves as a reminder that people in positions of power do not always have the best interest of the people they serve in mind. In some instances, their motives are selfish and their desires are to harm people. Orwell does an excellent job of warning people concerning the pitfalls of totalitarian rule. The novel will continue to provide important social commentary for years to come.
References
Atkins J. Orwell in 1984 College Literature, Vol. 11, No. 1 (1984), pp. 34-43
dystopia. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved March 26, 2010, from Dictionary.com website: http: / / dictionary. reference.com/browse/dystopia
Lyons J.O. And Orwell G. (1961) George Orwell's Opaque Glass in "1984" Wisconsin Studies in Contemporary Literature, 2 (3), pp. 39- 46
Meyers J. (1997) George Orwell. Routledge Resch R.P. (1997) Utopia, Dystopia, and the Middle Class in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. Boundary 2, Vol. 24 (1), pp. 137-176
Stansky P. (1982) Utopia and Anti-Utopia: William Morris and George Orwell. The Threepenny Review, 10, pp.…
George Orwell book Nineteen Eighty-Four by pointing out salient themes in the book and using updated political examples to show that Orwell was not necessarily writing science fiction but in fact he was commenting on contemporary times in his life. Orwell was reacting in part to the fascism / fanaticism of Nazi Germany, the repressive policies of the Soviet Union, and the loss of privacy and freedom due to
In 1984, this idea is demonstrated with Thought Police. It is certainly bad enough to never feel alone in one's own community but it even worse to never feel alone in one's own head. This idea is maddening, as Orwell illustrates through Winston. He says, "At home and in bed in the darkness you were safe from the telescreen so long as you kept silent" (96-7). Here we see
It is a work that seems to be eerily familiar to what is happening in many areas of society today, and that is one aspect of the novel that makes it exceedingly frightening to read. References Abdolian, Lisa Finnegan, and Harold Takooshian. "The U.S.A. PATRIOT Act: Civil Liberties, the Media, and Public Opinion." Fordham Urban Law Journal 30.4 (2003): 1429+. A secondary source that gives useful information on the U.S.A. Patriot Act.
George Orwell's 1984: The Danger That Abuse Of Power Poses To Individual Liberty There are several themes in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four that are still relevant in our world today, which is evident if a process of analysis is used to draw parallels between the book and current day issues. One such theme is the danger that the abuse of power poses to individual liberty. Indeed, the preceding statement is as
In other words, Orwell's fictional government wanted the citizens to know what the government felt would be good for them to know, not what people really truly needed to know (i.e., the truth). As to the Bush Administration's censoring science to spare the public from hearing the real facts, the Christian Science Monitor reported that the White House "has broadly attempted to control which climate scientists could speak with reporters,
Orwellian World The Accuracy of George Orwell's Predictions and What They Hold for Our Future When, in 1949, George Orwell published Nineteen Eighty-Four, the world had just witnessed one of the most trying and tumultuous periods in all of human history. In the space of only thirty-five years, there had been two world wars, a communist revolution, a host of fascist dictators, and a frenzy of slaughter such as had never
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now