Power And Control In 1984 George Orwell

Indeed, this is often how people conceive of power, a state of control. However, when one begins to examine the inner workings of

Do people really follow the beliefs of a government or are they forced to follow the beliefs? How could this shape the way a government is run? Some may argue that governments always do what is best for the people. Although this may sound like the right thing to do governments do not always follow that way. In the novel 1984, by George Orwell, an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic, the psychological state of manipulation and fear are explored.

The words of the Party’s doctrine cause a more painful effect than physical control because it has lasting outcome that destroys the citizens psychologically. By the Party falsifying history and making contradictions to reality, it makes its citizens suffer using mind control. In George Orwell’s 1984, the government uses both psychological manipulation and physical control to control its citizens, although psychological manipulation is more effective and can be a result of physical control. Psychological manipulation is “a type of social influence that aims to change the behavior or perception of others through abusive, deceptive, or underhanded tactics”(Lieurance 2). Slogans, mind control, propaganda, and psychological pain that stems from physical torture are all examples of psychological manipulation in 1984.

George Orwell’s 1984 is a precautionary tale of what happens when the government has too much control in our lives. The protagonist, Winston Smith, is at odds in a world in which he is not allowed to counter the government’s surveillance and control. Perhaps more striking is the noticeable relationship between the novel and modern society. In George Orwell’s novel 1984 the book predicts the surveillance of Big Brother in modern day societies.

But the word power is apt to lead number of misunderstandings---misunderstandings with respect to its nature, its form and its unity. In this chapter the researcher will try to discuss the nature and definition of power, its form, and its concrete illustration: the ‘Panopticon’, and on the last part of this chapter the researcher will give a synthesis of the things that he will discuss. I. Power Defined When one speaks of power people immediately think of a political structure

Eric Wills Themes Easily, the largest theme that comes through in 1984 from start to finish is psychological control is the way to a totalitarian government. By controlling the minds of the people who are in their country, they can keep everyone in check with no chance of revolution. The Party, or the main government has a motto. It goes, “Those who control the past, control the future: who controls the present controls the past.” (32).

Powerful Governments A government is to be in charge of the economic affairs, policy, and actions of a country. There are various types of governments, with laws and restrictions that citizens are to follow. These laws and restrictions can easily be taken to extremes as portrayed in George Orwell’s 1984.

The party has done and will continue to do anything in their power to rule their people with absolutism. The party can take away the human right of privacy by installing telescreens on every wall. They have the power to demoralize all human instincts and individuality through oppressive conformity. The party has armed itself with the ability to disarm anyone who dares oppose the party in even the slightest way including tactics of brainwashing, fear, power, and a sense of patronization.

One of the themes of 1984 by George Orwell is how it represents living in a dictatorship. There are many troubles that come with living in a dictatorship. In the book, everyone is ruled by a dictator called Big Brother. No one knows if he is real or not, but he makes all of the rules. An example from the book about dictatorship is, “Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimeters inside your skull.

Throughout the novel, the entirety of Oceania’s population lives under an umbrella built by the Party to shield its citizens from knowledge harmful to their reign. By removing unwanted information and placing the desired beliefs in front of their citizens, the Party correctly creates a delusion. In order to limit their creativity and freedom of thought, the Party continuously repeats the monotonous mantra, “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength” (Orwell 4).

Studying Michel Foucault’s analysis of power relations one can notice that the French philosopher argues about a shift in the way power functions. Power is not visible anymore, since we have no kings or princes to behead. This makes power even more dangerous than it was before, as you cannot actually see it and consequently you believe that there is nothing to resist to. Foucault introduces the notion of panopticism, a theory that speaks about the unseen eye of power that regulates our behaviour. This means that we end up doing, thinking and behaving in a certain way because we believe someone is watching us.

The book "1984" by George Orwell depicts Great Britain in the year 1984 where Great Britain is now renamed Airstrip One. In Airstrip One a high entity known as Big Brother along with a group called The Party control the citizens of Airstrip one. Big Brother and The Party are the government of Airstrip One and they control the citizens of Airstrip One by controlling two things, the media what gets said written and broadcasted on any source of media and they control the people 's perception of reality. " 1984" tells us that Big Brother and The Party are able to control what the people perceive as real by controlling the minds of the people as said by a character in "1984", the character says "we control matter because we control the mind"(O 'brien page 264).

The two control methods are related as they contribute to one purpose the totalitarian control over the people of Oceania. The people are physiologically manipulated as discussed by the mental control measures, and physically forced into loving Big Brother. This is one of the methods the government uses to control people’s minds, by placing fear into them. The fear in 1984 limits the people into even thinking of challenging the government.

Power, craved by most, looked down upon by others. Although it is taken advantage of, ‘absolute power corrupts absolutely’ quoted William Shakespeare. As abuse of power comes into play, injustice through fear and violence results; leading to a lack of freedom and control of individuality. Through a totalitarian governments abuse of power, fear is forced among society and manipulates any mass into obeying to their rules.

Totalitarianism in 1984 and the Real World The concept of a totalitarian society is a major theme throughout the novel 1984. This theme of totalitarianism can also be applied to the world today. The definition of totalitarianism, a concept used by some political scientists, is a state which holds total authority over the society and seeks to control all aspects of public and private life wherever possible. Totalitarianism can be related between the novel 1984 and current events in the real world. George Orwell incorporated the theme of totalitarianism into his novel 1984 to display the ever changing world around him during the time it was written.