Thematic Essay 1984 by George Orwell
             Psychological relativism is a term that has been applied to the novel 1984. This concept is defined as "the assumption that there is no such thing as human nature; that there is no such thing as qualities essential to man; that man is born as nothing but a blank sheet of paper on which any given society writes its text." Winston Smith, a character in George Orwell's, 1984, is an example of psychological relativism. Winston, a disbeliever in the Party, a totalitarian type of government, is an example of how one's mind can be controlled by psychological and physical manipulation. The Party uses Winston and the citizens of Oceania as blank sheets of paper to be molded into their subjects. For example, they would use telescreens to fill their minds to propaganda that support the views of a controlled society. The citizens are also stripped of all emotions and ideas by use of Two Minute Hates, Double Speak, and Newspeak. Psychological and physical control of its citizens prove that man is born as nothing but a blank sheet of paper to be filled with the ideas created by the new society that strips man of any sense of being an individual.
             Winston Smith works for the Party in the Ministry of Truth where his job is to alter the past. He is in danger because he has memories of the past. This goes against their laws by committing Thoughtcrimes. Winston was a child when the Party took over and has small glimpses of his life before the Party. He realizes that the Party is controlling the citizens by lying, altering the past and taking away their ability to love. Winston knows that his memories and thoughts will bring him down. He knows no matter what that in the end, "The thought police would get him just the same... even if he had never set pen to paper - the essential crime that contained all others itself. Thoughtcrime, they called it."(pg. 19) Winston's m...