1984
1984, by George Orwell, is a novel about a man named Winston Smith. Winston lives on Airstrip One in Oceania. Oceania is a country under the rule of the Party and a figure who is referred to as Big Brother. The citizens of Oceania are taught from birth to love Big Brother and not to posses any independent thought. In short, they are taught to be stupid. Anybody possessing independent thought is convicted of a thoughtcrime and the punishment is torture often followed by death. People are monitored day and night by telescreens and microphones so that any rebellion towards the party can be easily detected. Winston is one of the few citizens in Oceania that hates Big Brother and wishes to learn more about how life was before the Party came into Power. Winston worked for the Ministry of Truth where it was his duty to alter articles from magazines of the past. The Ministry of Truth destroyed all records from the past increasing the Party's control over the people of Oceania. Winston met Julia through working at the Ministry of Truth and they became lovers against the law of the Party. They met in secret where there were no microphones or telescreens to monitor their speech and actions. They rented a room they
A totalitarian government, like the one ruling Oceania, has the ability to gain total acceptance and power over all of the people under its control. Any person who does not accept the control is simply eliminated. George Orwell used Big Brother and the Party as an example of the effects a totalitarian government can have on its citizens. It has the power to control the lives of the people and gain submission through the control of thought and emotion and the encouragement of ignorance and fear. The theme of 1984, by George Orwell, is that through the use of fear, ignorance, and the control of human thought and emotion, a totalitarian government can gain absolute power and acceptance from its citizens. Orwell uses the Party and Big Brother as a symbol of a totalitarian government. Winston is an example of how even the most rebellious citizens can be forced into submission. "Every record had been destroyed or falsified, every book had been rewritten, every picture had been repainted, every statue and street and building had been renamed, every date had been altered." The Party had complete control of the past, present, and future. Everything the party claimed was true, was accepted by the people as true. The thought process of every citizen in Oceania was based on what the Party claimed to be true. The Party had such an extreme control of the people's thought that if the said 2+2=5, the people believed it, and the people believed the war they were fighting had always been against the same enemy, even if the enemy had changed two minutes ago. The ability of the party to control the people's thought was primarily because the people were extremely ignorant. Another slogan of the Party was "Ignorance is Strength." The stupider the citizens were, the stronger the Party was. The main way the Party kept the people ignorant was through the use of Newspeak. Newspeak was the official language of Oceania and its main goal was to limit the range of individual thought. Newspeak got rid of any words that encouraged political opposition and any form of independent thought. Syme, the editor of teh latest Newspeak dictionary, said, "'Newspeak will make thoughtcrime literally impossible because there will be no words in which to express it."' When the Party abolishes thoughtcrime, they abolish any opposition to their power and gain absolute control. Since Newspeak decreases the range of thought, it also decreases the people's knowledge and therefore makes them more ignorant. The more ignorant they are, the easier it is for the Party to manipulate them. The thought of the people of Oceania was controlled by the Party through the use of microphones, telescreens, and the destruction of the past and memories. There were telescreens everywhere one went. They monitore
Some common words found in the essay are:
Peace Oceania, Party Party, Ministry Truth, Police Party, Newspeak Newspeak, Minute Hate, Ministry Love, Oceania Oceania, Orwell Party, O'Brien Party, people oceania, ministry truth, absolute power, totalitarian government, party control, ministry love, control emotion, feel love, citizens oceania, george orwell, person feel love, past ministry truth, towards enemy party, winston reading book, julia winston reading,
Approximate Word count = 1882
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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