A Dystopian Society In George Orwell's 1984 Essay Example
The dystopian “1984” by George Orwell portrays the frightening foreshadowing image of society, which enhances through the extensive use of government control. The book focuses on underlining hatred towards identity or individualism. Through the use of the main characters such as Winston and Julia, the reader gains an understanding of the oppression of thought in the form of O’Brien and a dictatorship. George Orwell emphasizes the Newspeak, unification, and reconstruction of the mind, through various literary devices and imagery, to portray government control on society.
Through several oxymora, the Book “1984” demonstrates government control as a form of a limiting language, Newspeak, which aims to diminish identity. These literary devices deepen Newspeak and further are observed inside characters such as Syme who states “beautiful thing, the destruction.” Beauty and destruction are two contradicting ideas, which Orwell uses to portray doublethink through their contradiction. The government uses the glorification or “beauty” of violence to normalize it within society, as it results in further devotion to Big Brother. The vague image of violence within 1984, emphasizes the extremes/pressure that the public undertook and had gotten used to. “The Destruction” of words within Newspeak lead to a lack of consideration and point of view, which also benefits the Party. The use of an oxymoron reinforces government control by visualizing beauty in the destruction of language and thought. Additionally, the secrecy within these terms indirectly hints that it is more the Party that favors destruction rather than the characters, this is done through unusual placement of a comma. Furthermore, Syme describes language as “useless shades of meaning” this oxymoron aids the reader in grasping the lack of identity within a devoted member of society. Through the connection of words “useless” and “meaning” the author initiates that society and Newspeak identify “meaning” as “useless”, this is a result of the lack of individuality. The Party focuses on the unification of its nation, therefore sees any difference, “meaning” as threats that need elimination. George Orwell further highlights the threat of individuality through an allusion that refers to the word meaning to purpose or identity. To limit the number of threats the government turned to the new form of language called Newspeak, as a result, characters such as Syme portray an ignorant/secretive view towards the developed perhaps meaningful English language, which Winston repeatedly defies throughout the novel. Through the use of oxymora, the author portrays how Newspeak and destruction of thought-form government control, aiming to eliminate any of Big Brother’s potential threats.
The government limits its citizens through their consolidation, which eradicates Freedom and is delivered by George Orwell through imagery and diction. The ongoing bombarding of Oceania supports one of the core principles of the Party which is “war is peace”, which merges people through an ongoing war threat, as a result, funerals appear as “an indignation meeting.” The diction in the word “indignation” depicts a sort of unwanted compliance to the terrorizing norms of society. Any form of rebellion would result in one’s extermination, therefore by continuously living under the threat of death, citizens are involuntarily unified and powered by hatred towards bombs. Furthermore, the government’s belittling the understanding/freedom of the public by forcing them to believe the bombings are from external countries. The unpleasant tone created by Orwell forces visual imagery of gloominess, disgust as the crowds of Oceania pay tribute to the death of innocent people. This deeply emotionally links the reader to the public, through the experience of loss and misjudgment. As a result, when forming a “meeting” people of Oceania bash its hatred on outside communities and not Big Brother. This portrays how the lack of freedom, due to the lack of knowledge, leads to the integration of society towards a common made-up threat. This adds a sort of irony to the novel, as the only threat within the novel is the public itself, this is emphasized by the slogans such as “war is peace.” The unification is also portrayed through “periodical frenzies of patriotism” which the author characterizes to underline the devotion of the public to the dictatorship. The usage of the word “periodical” signals the frequency of adoration as a result of propaganda, which is why the author uses imagery to describe these gatherings as “frenzies”. This exhibits how control through hatred engraves a sense of wilderness and aggressively into one’s mind. As a result, the reader themselves are presented with a chaotic image of the Oceania citizens, this is also supported by George Orwell’s continuous diction and symbolism. The diction of the word “frenzies” links the consolidated state to a crew of mindless creatures, which is the case, as the public is being stripped of their identity, mind, and consciousness through the hostile propaganda. This is also supported by the word “patriotism” which again connects the authority to Big Brother. “Patriotism” further connects to the diction of “frenzies”. Together they portray the same relationship such as love and hate. This also represents how Orwell reaches towards oxymora to solidify the idea of doublethink within the reader. Moreover, these extremes demonstrate the extent advance crowds are willing to reach to demonstrate their “patriotism” or “frenzies”. To conclude the Party excessively uses fusion to remain in control of Oceania and acquire sole power, George Orwell accentuates this through the ongoing use of imagery and diction.
Lastly, a form of control is the reconstruction of the mind which is represented through deep trauma and phobia, George Orwell portrays this through symbolism and repetition. The book 1984 focuses on the eradication of goodwill or sense, which is demonstrated through the character of O’Brien and his devotion to the collective, the Party. The repetition of “The object” is used to establish a clear statement of selfishness within every individual, as each objective is directly addressed as either “power”, “persecution” or “torture”. Here George Orwell exhibits a sort of realism as he directly links 1984 to possible core ideas within today’s society, such as dictatorship, selfishness, totalitarianism. As O’Brien uncovers the concealed objectives of the society, the reader is forced to reconsider their actions within real life. The ongoing search for sole power portrayed within this repetition validates the deep trauma of Winston, who is observed as egotistical within the book countless times. Furthermore, the author uses the basic phobia of death to bring Winston back into the collective of the Party, this is a result of O’Brien’s dominance over the main character through his realistic dictator view. In addition, the use of three consecutive negative ideas increases the adversity of mood within the story and further builds up suspense as Winston is sucked into the depths of power which force the reconstruction of his mind. Separate use of repetition and symbolism is George Orwell’s depiction of Winston’s complete mind reconstruction. This is apparent as the character is seen falling “through” multiple of various surfaces. George Orwell symbolizes the sense of falling to an idea of loss of self-identity connecting to Winston’s reconstruction. Likewise, the author uses “through” to set a crashing effect on both the main character and the reader as both are seen escaping intolerable terror or reality. The depiction of vigorous surfaces such as “earth”, “outer space” and “atmosphere” further support the depth of loss of self-identity and control that is being implemented by O’Brien. The sturdiness of the surfaces symbolizes the depth and the intensity that Winston is going through, this leads the reader to a deeply empathetic state with the main character. Furthermore, the author depicts the intensity of loss to demonstrate the modernization of Winston’s mind and foreshadows the large impact it will have on his identity, this further develops the reader’s image of the Party’s power and suppression. The reconstruction of the mind is a core form of control continuously underlined within 1984 through repetition and symbolism, which aid the reader in understanding their society.
In summary, the use of symbolism, repetition, and other literary devices within 1984 demonstrates the Party’s control over society which depicts Newspeak, unification, and modernization. George Orwell connects the reader to the main characters through a direct link between Oceania and society 2021, he does this by pointing out propaganda, unity, and thought renovation. The ongoing use of realistic symbolism and imagery significantly expresses the dystopian society and its characters of 1984, which is vital for the understanding of the core message Orwell is trying to convey. George Orwell addresses the anticipated future of our society, through his dystopian novel 1984, he does this through intense literary devices, which question the reader’s reality.
