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Carolina Salguero
Professor Vana Derohanessian
English 114B
7 May 2014
Big Brother
In the novel 1984 Eric Arthur, better known as George Orwell created a dystopian society
where the citizens of his fictional novel Oceania, were stripped of their humanity. Orwell was a
journalist and critic during World War II who learned information on other countries societies
that encountered totalitarianism, he learned the way of totalitarian government. In Oceania the
overall government desired power at all cost. They used things such as physical and mental
torture and propaganda. They went as far as creating a separate language for the people of
Oceania. Oceanias party commanded its citizens to obey the government, or face the wrath of
Big Brother. Society is negatively impacted by the Party and their totalitarian government, using
Big Brother as a way to create fear. Sexual desire/craving was not allowed in Oceania, something
as simple as sexual craving was controlled. The citizens only directed sexual intercourse to
reproduce. There was no sexual freedom allowed, the desire for it did not exist and was illegal to
participate in. Every citizen of Oceania recognizes the type of government they are in and admit
defeat to the Party. They simply obey to make sure they remain safe during the horrid time of
totalitarianism. The people of Oceania decided to choose protection over privacy for their lives,
granting the government permission to live that way.
The people of Oceania are controlled by The Partys totalitarian government due to fear.
We have to remember that during this time George Orwell was living during one of the harshest
times in The United States, he replicates this idea in the novel. The reason the people of Oceania
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accept living in such harsh conditions is because of the war. They accept it, thinking that the war
is to blame for their lack of food supply and tight government. Creating a new language for the
people of 1984 gives us an understanding of the tight communism problem that they were under.
He goes to great lengths to show the terrifying degree of control and power a totalitarian regimen
can acquire and maintain. The reason for the creation of the new language is to limit the number
of English words. Certain words that involve rebellion, escape, or that showed any time of
government removal was vanished. This mechanism of mind control is used to keep the people
from thinking anti-party. People dont quite question why Oceania claims a rival as an alliance in
the war even though they know they are not. The less people know, the less they are going to
argue and rely on the party for their information.
Oceania is not a place with top technology, if they did then the people would realize the
type of government the party was and probably try to remove them. The right to technology was
what they gave up for their so called protection. One way the party used technology to their
advantage was to brainwash what was broadcasted. They made sure no advertisement or show
revealed any type of independence. Instead they broadcasted the news to prove to the people that
the government is there to protect them, as long as the people listen to the governments rules
without questionings them. The television, better known as the Telescreen was a successful
way the Thought police managed to do their part. The telescreen not only brainwashed people,
but it also observed them. The thought police observed the citizens of Oceania every day.
Technology worked along the lines with propaganda. This was a two for two method for the
party. Aside from this, everything else was pretty basic in Oceania, in an instance Orwell
mentions the type of basic printing machine in the Ministry of Truth. In Oceania there is no hope
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for progress in the future, they vanish any hope. All the Party wants is power, not the rise for
evolving as a country.
Lust, love, and friendship were prohibited in 1984 because it made the people and the
society more humanly, which contradicted the totalitarian government the party tried to maintain.
Marriages with great deal of love were separated to make sure they were loyal to the government
and not their lover. The government Orwell presents Winston as a person who fantasizes about
Julia, a woman he falls in love with in the novel. He begins to fantasize on raping her due to her
revealing clothing. Orwell presents Julia as a woman who works fast. She managed to sleep with
Winston almost immediately after being alone together. Winston falls in love with her bravery to
go against the party. She did anything she wanted simply for pleasure.
Panopticism is the idea of a new political anatomy who seeks for nothing less than
absolute power. The idea was brought upon by Michael Focault. The widespread of panopticism
makes a society run in fear of Big Brother like in 1984. The theme of panopticism is that
someone can see you without you knowing it. In Michael Focaults discipline and punishment
(1975) he mentions a prison building designed by English philosopher Jeremy Bentham. The
design of the prison building is created to display the idea of panopticism. It allows an observer
to observe every prisoner without the prisoner knowing they are being watched all the time,
creating an invisible fear where Big Brother comes into play in 1984.
While much of the world is erupting into protests, riots, and revolutions during WWII,
Oceania was being maintained and controlled in a well brainwashing manner. The way the Party
persevered their power was through propaganda. Propaganda was real popular during the 20
th

century and in the novel 1984. This was a main tool for the government and the party to aim for
a specific influence upon people. There are many types of ways to broadcast propaganda (i.e)
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television, radio, or newspaper. Online I found a type of propaganda that the U.S used in order to
convince people that they are free. The propaganda said You write what youre toldThanks
corporate news We couldnt control the people without you with what people seem to believe
a U.S citizen should look. Light skin, colored eyes, happy, and proud. This propaganda actually
reveals the truth and definition of actual propaganda from the government. It blames corporate
news for controlling people. If the people in Oceania saw this they would remain with the same
attitude towards the government to maintain their familys safety.
The citizens of Oceania were forced into the totalitarian government without a choice.
They gave away their right to privacy along with protection. An example of this is the Thought
police whose goal is to prevent people from maintaining any type of privacy. In the book Orwell
mentions three different places, Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia. While reading the book it
became clear that all three states were the same. They had the same ideology, control, and social
system. They made sure everyone was aware of the consequences of trying to keep secrets from
the government. The government made the citizens believe they were in war against each other
and the following day they all became alliances. It is clear that the governments goal is not to
protect the citizens but to use them to their advantage.
Orwell was very educated with what was occurring in the outside world because of his
position as a journalist. He wrote the fiction novel as an idea on how totalitarian governments
maintained control. He created power for the party through things such as the Though Police,
and Big Brother. The Party created an idea of an ongoing war in where they blame it for their
living conditions through the novel . They also blame the war for their harsh punishments to try
and maintain the people intact. Their lack of technology keeps the citizens constraint with what
they know from the government.
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Work Cited
Lange, Bernd-Peter. George Orwell, "1984" nchen W. ink, . Print
Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. New York: Vintage,
1995 Print
Micah Ian Wright. Susan Ohians Cartoon Collection. Publish 2007.