Sunday, March 25, 2012

How does George Orwell convey the horrors of living in a totalitarian society in 1984?Any suggestions?

1984 is a big set up.  Orwell writes
a comedy in the bleakest terms.  Comedy, as you know, focuses mainly on the flaws of the
society; a tragedy focuses on the individual.   Orwell wants to dispel any Romantic or
tragic notions that the individual has any chance of freedom or rebellion against the
modern totalitarian state.  In the end, the state will crush the individual through the
following:


torture: pain is
the last thing and individual will feel if it tries to rebel.  Pure, physical,
unadulterated pain.


police-state
surveillance:
an individual's freedom is limited through profiling and
surveillance (both technological and
human)


propaganda: an
individual cannot rebel if an individual is uninformed, disorganized, and uneducated.
 The Ministry of Truth blurs the lines between truth and untruth, between persons and
unpersons, and between the past, present, and
future.


war: individual
rebellion is squashed because of state-wide war.  Nationalism is at its peak, and war
keeps the masses focused on the war effort instead of their own suffering and
poverty.


no core: individual
rebellion is hopeless when an individual has not core meaning in his life: family,
religion, or friendships.  The state keeps everyone alienated: physically, spiritually,
and emotionally.  There is no rebellion if there is no trust.

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