1984 Orwell
George Orwell's book 1984 has 4 warnings that he states throughout the book. Orwell is afraid of a government getting too powerful and he expresses this fear through Winston. One major warning sign that is prevalent throughout the book is the totalitarian government. A group that runs the government called the Party. This group is all powerful because it is run by a group whose major purpose is to gain and keep power. The Party's methods are efficient and very harsh. They inflict harsh punishment on anyone who commits an independent act, such as having an affair, and thinking against the normal ways. This government is so powerful that it not only controls the present and everything people do, but they also control the past. Anything that does not comply with what the government wants they just erase from the past. The Party keeps watch over everyone. Each house has at least one telescreen mounted on the wall so the government can keep watch over everyone's actions. They do this to keep individuals in line. The Party members are not allowed to love or keep a family. The proles, because they are considered to be inferior and stupid, so it is ok for them to think and love and have a family. But they still do not have
People still die however, and all records of them ever existing are destroyed, in other words vaporized. This leads to another sign Orwell warns his readers about, and that is controlling the past. Consequently this is Winston's job. The Ministry of Truth has complete control of the past. They erase any record of history that would be dangerous toward their complete control over the people. Revisionism is another term used meaning changing of the past. Winston after having a dream tries to remember his childhood. As he remembers, no one had heard of big brother before the 1960s. But his job is to change history, and new history has been dated back to the 1930s with stories of Big Brother. Orwell again uses Winston to warn the reader not to let a government get too powerful and control the past. To save himself from bearing more beatings, Winston confesses to crimes he never committed. O'Brian continues to torture Winston until he admits that two and two make five. Finally after all the beatings are finished, Winston looks at himself in the mirror and sees a bag of bones covered by gray skin and teeth falling out. This description is the climax of despair, and he blames O'Brian for this terrible state. When Winston confesses to O'Brian that he hates Big Brother, he is taken back to room 101 to get his face eaten out by rats. But since Winston hates rats more than anything, he betrays Julia and is now released. This betrayal was what O'Brian was looking for as a desperate cry of help from Winston. Winston had finally given in and said he loved big brother and decided to conform to what the Party wanted. This is a depressing result, instead of dying for what he believed in; he gave into society to save his life. 1984 is described as a "negative utopia". Throughout the book Orwell creates and sustains a mood of despair. Beginning with the first page describing Winston's apartment sets the gloomy mood of the story. The mood continues as Winston describes his job, and his lifestyle. The employees are forced to watch a telescreen everyday to watch the "Two Minutes of Hate". Another depressing factor is that people can not love, and sex is not to be used for pleasure. Throughout the book, Orwell explains that there is not much food, and when there is, it is usually disgusting. In the same cafeteria scene, Winston's n
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Approximate Word count = 1587
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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