1984
             Contemporary Literary Criticism
            
             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."
             In the first chapter of 1984 the reader is open to two of Orwell's themes, poverty and politics. Together, the two lead to oppression. As soon as a child is born, the Party begins its first attempt to control society. The child is given a uniform, which eliminates contrast and creates unity. People, like robots, are born to serve their masters, the Party. Signs of Big Brother, which say, "BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU," constantly haunt the main character, Winston. Thought and actions found as threats by the Party are taken care of by such devices as the telescreen and people such as the Thought Police. Winston lives in a society shadowing the ...