1984 Literary Critisism

George Orwell creates a society in his novel 1984 in which decency, individuality, and consciousness have all been abolished to obtain a utopia. Utopia in this sense means “an imaginary political and social system in which relationships between individuals and the state are perfectly adjusted.” Orwell believed that in order to achieve this perfect society, the state must use a “completely unlimited use of torture and brainwashing.” (Fromm, 261) However, Orwell’s intention of writing the novel was not to show the reader what the society of his time might become, but rather to give a warning that humans should resist and become conscious of the totalitarian states that governed his world. George Orwell’s aim was to provide society with an answer to the question as stated by Erich Fromm, “Can human nature be changed in such a way that man will forget his longing for freedom, for dignity, for integrity, for love--that is to say, can man forget he is human?” (260) The world of 1984 can be compared to a world run by machines. Orwell purveys to the reader that through oppression, cruelty and torture, brainwashing, and elimination of man’s inmost desires man can be made “unhuman.”

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The child is given a uniform, which eliminates contrast and creates unity.

Another technique the Party uses to make a person “unhuman” is through propaganda and brainwashing.

Along with brainwashing comes the Party’s last technique of obliterating the human mind with cruelty and torture. Through oppression, society has lost all individuality and integrity. Society is kept at having things only to a minimum so as to create equality while not raising the standard of living. In this way, humans were made to be robots because the Party could “program” truth and reality into humans’ minds and make them believe whatever they wanted them to. The tormentor, O’Brien, inflicted so much bodily pain unto Winston that he was willing to accept anything to stop it. In this way, George Orwell proves that men can be made to forget that they are human and that with it, they become more and more like machines. People, like robots, are born to serve their masters, the Party. Poverty is not the result of war, but rather the intention of war. In order to achieve an old Buddhist virtue, “nothing in excess,” the Party is at a constant war. The Party obliterated consciousness by providing humans with an imposed reality. The Party’s attempt to oppress its people is the attempt to control the society and prevent them from rebellion or rise in power. The Party believed that it could control the mind, which it practically could, and since reality exists inside the human skull, the Party can, therefore, control reality.

Approximate Word count = 992
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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