Authored by George Orwell, “Nineteen Eighty Four” novel is considered one of his most significant literary works, translated into more than twenty languages. The novel serves as a warning against totalitarianism, depicts a terrifying picture of a totalitarian society.
By Shuhban Ali Siyal
Introduction
1984 is a dystopian novel that was written by George Orwell and published in 1949. It tells the story of Winston Smith, a citizen of the miserable society of Oceania, who is trying to rebel against the Party and its omnipresent symbol, Big Brother.
It is considered one of his most significant literary works, translated into more than twenty languages. The novel serves as a warning against totalitarianism, depicts a terrifying picture of a totalitarian society.
Plot summary
Winston Smith, the hero of the novel belong to Oceania society. The society of Oceania consists of three classes, first, the dominant called inner party. The second the closest watched agents of the power called outer party and the third is paroles or masses who have to kept under control by act of terror or by entertainment but who are otherwise consider unimportant. There are four ministries who holds and maintain the state by parties: The Ministry of Truth, which concerned itself with news, entertainment, education, and the fine arts. The Ministry of Peace, which concerned itself with war. The Ministry of Love, which maintained law and order. And the Ministry of Plenty, which was responsible for economic affairs.
Winston Smith, an Outer Party member, works at the Ministry of Truth, altering historical records to fit the Party’s narrative. He while sitting his apartment looking that city is filled all round with posters with the caption beneath it: Big brother is watching you. Winston for escaping Big Brother’s tyranny, at least inside his own mind, he begins to write a diary , though keeping diary consider as an act punishable by death. One day, while at the mandatory two Minutes Hate, he catches the attention of O’Brien, an Inner Party member whom he believes shares his dissenting views. Conversely, he views Julia, a dark-haired girl from the Fiction Department, as a potential enemy at first, latter on she express her feeling handing him a piece of paper.
The term Big Brother has come to signify government control of and intrusion into individual lives. There are many even democratic countries where people are controlled by tyranny.
In the quiet countryside, Winston and Julia find comfort in each other’s company, they united against the oppressive Party and its leader, Big Brother. They secure a secret hideaway above a shop where they can meet and express their love. While they know that they will someday be caught, they believe that the love and loyalty they feel for each other can never be taken from them, even under the worst circumstances. Eventually, Winston and Julia decide to defy the Party openly and seek out O’Brien, whom they hope is a member of the Brotherhood, an underground resistance group opposing Big Brother. They confide detest for the Party to O’Brien, who tests their commitment with probing questions. O’Brien then introduces them to the Brotherhood and provides Winston with a forbidden book written by their leader, Emmanuel Goldstein, once an ally of Big Brother who has now become his worst opponent.
Winston finds the book at a war rally and brings it to their secret room where he reads it while Julia sleeps nearby. Suddenly, they hear a noise from behind a painting and discover a hidden telescreen. They are caught, torn apart, and taken away. Winston ends up in a windowless cell in the Ministry of Love, where he sits alone for days. Then O’Brien arrives, initially seeming like a fellow prisoner, but Winston soon realizes he’s there to torture him. The Party knew all about Winston’s “crimes,” and O’Brien had been spying on him for years. Over the next few months, O’Brien tortures Winston to change his way of thinking to make him believe in doublethink, the ability to hold two conflicting ideas at once. Winston believes in freedom of thought, but O’Brien wants him to believe whatever the Party says, even if it’s absurd, like saying two plus two equals five. Winston resists, but the torture continues. After being taken to Room 101 by O’Brien, Winston faces his worst fear of rats and undergoes intense electrical shocks and other forms of torture along with countless others. He eventually breaks down and betrays his love, Julia, pleading for the torture to be done to her instead. This marks the loss of his last bit of humanity.
Winston passed through a lot torture that changed him a lot, he is released after couple of years. He now spends his time in a café called the Chestnut Tree Café, where he watches the news on the screens and thinks about the ongoing wars. When he sees Julia again, she looks different and seems as pretty as before. Both confess for betrayed each other. In the end, Winston accepts Big Brother completely and says he loves and supports him.
Analysis
The novel set in 1984 in a place called Oceania, which is one of three countries always at war (the others are Eurasia and East Asia). In Oceania, there’s a ruling Party led by Big Brother that controls everything. The Party makes people blindly obey its rules through brainwashing. They use a special language called Newspeak that stops people from thinking freely and makes them believe only what the Party says. This language even has a word for believing two contradictory things at once, called doublethink. The Party’s slogans like “War is peace,” “Freedom is slavery,” and “Ignorance is strength” show this. To keep control, the Party uses ministries, they actually works as: The Ministry of Peace concerns itself with war, the Ministry of Truth with lies, the Ministry of Love with torture and the Ministry of Plenty with starvation. They watches everyone all the time.
Orwell’s main worry in “1984” is about how much our freedom depends on telling the truth about history. He shows us a world where the government keeps its power by lying about what happened in the past. They make up stories and spread lies through the Ministry of Truth. This controls what people believe. To make it even harder for people to think differently, they invent a new language called Newspeak. This language is made to stop anyone from saying things that go against the government. Orwell wants us to see how dangerous it is when the government controls the language we use. The government’s new language, Newspeak, is supposed to control people’s thoughts. It’s funny because there’s no real “news” in it. This shows us how important it is to have a free press. Without it, we might not know the truth and could be controlled by lies.
Orwell’s main worry in “1984” is about how much our freedom depends on telling the truth about history. He shows us a world where the government keeps its power by lying about what happened in the past
The Parties do not just seek to control the flow of information to people or the language they use, but also to exert control from a physical perspective as well. In other words, mind control is not enough for complete submission to the will of the state. People can be punished for so much as an eye movement or twitch that someone in power interprets as disloyalty or rebellion. The people are kept in such a state of poverty, passed through different tortures and required to work to exhaustion to prevent them from being able to organize or resist. As a result of the Party’s physical control efforts, the people are too tired to fight back against the lies being fed to them or to try to improve their circumstances.
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Through the novel, Orwell wants to convey a picture of totalitarianism how public is socially, psychologically, physical controlled by state or government using all cards on their side. They set machinery that always monitors people, controlling what they see and hear, and changing history to match what they say. They use things like constant watching through screens to make everyone scared and nervous all the time having fixed strict rules and punishment for being opposite. This way, they can control what people think and do. And seed to slogan Big brother is watching you.
Orwell’s satiric portrait of Big Brother anticipated with alarming accuracy the characteristics of a number of real-life 21-century despots. The term Big Brother has come to signify government control of and intrusion into individual lives. There are many even democratic countries where people are controlled by tyranny.
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