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1984 is an iconic piece of English literature written by one of England's most notable writers & social critics, the great George Orwell. Born Eric Arthur Blair in Motihari in the Indian state of Bihar, he wrote under the pen name George Orwell. He was a prolific essayist, novelist, and critic of contemporary societal and administrative practices.
His novel 1984 came out in 1948/49 and is an incredibly nuanced, deeply introspective, & farsighted look at a totalitarian future. 1984 presents us with a dystopian setting where totalitarian regimes led by a cult of personality exert absolute control over every aspect of the socioeconomic fabric of human civilization and any element of opposition is prosecuted with prejudice.
An in-depth analysis or a critical commentary on 1984 is no simple feat. Critical commentaries are never complete without casting an inquisitive glance at the person behind the book and reflecting on contemporary times.
George Orwell's upbringing profoundly impacted his views and ideas on social stratification & how the powers that be perceived & addressed such stratification. George Orwell was the son of an English civil servant in Bihar, and according to him, a member of the lower-middle-class of the then-Indian society. Biographers and critics consider Orwell’s upbringing to be flavored by impoverished snobbery, with the young Orwell standing out from his contemporaries by his poverty-stricken conditions as well as his intellectualism, eccentricity, and morose nature.
Blair/Orwell’s poverty-stricken childhood and upbringing colored his outlook & perceptions of the world and its mechanisms. At the same time, his brilliant intellect enabled him to pierce the veil and understand deeper meanings & hidden portents in the events shaping the world.
The recently concluded Second World War changed the course of human history and wrought immense death & devastation. The war was a fight against tyranny and totalitarianism; however, the powers that won were no fewer subverters of fundamental liberties. Orwell studied & brooded upon the ideas & empowering concepts of both Nazism and Stalinism for years, & 1984 was the culmination of the writer's year of rumination & his exceptional visualization of what an oppressive autocracy would look like
1984 was no less than enlightenment for the people of the 40s. It remains so and will continue to act as a warning for the common folk. Its theme of absolute power and corruption is timeless, its vocabulary has become common language (Big Brother, Thought Police, Doublethink, Memory Hole, thoughtcrime, Room 101), and its ideas & narrative have and will continue to inspire thousands of writers.
Orwell's staunch support for democratic socialism stemmed from his meager upbringing in the lower middle class of the late 19th and early 20th century and his active involvement in fights & protests against totalitarianism. Blair's childhood and adolescence were key factors that affected his views of the world and society.
As we dwell into the plot of 1984, we will find how the fears and suspicions of a staunch socialist, a man who experienced the hardships of the lower classes first-hand, fought for a rational & free society in the Spanish Civil War. A bitter fight against tuberculosis led to the birth of a timeless classic.
1984 was George Orwell’s last novel before his untimely death in 1950 due to tuberculosis.
1984 is a political commentary and a dystopian social science fiction. George Orwell's final book, before he died in 1950, tells the story of Winston Smith, an educated commoner living in the totalitarian superstate of Oceania. The world of 1984 is in a state of perpetual war among three superstates, and this war has become a primary excuse for imposing absolute & total control over the masses.
The Ingsoc (a parody of English socialism) party administers absolute control. Big Brother, an ever-present, all-seeing, and all-knowing entity, is the purported authoritative figure who rules over one and all. Like any entity addicted to absolute power, Big Brother employs numerous human and non-human agents and mechanisms to control the masses. This control is all about suppressing rights & liberties, going so far as to curb and manipulate thoughts, emotions, and their expressions. Love, sex, and intimacy have been desensitized and are under strict control. Thought police, two-way telescreens, memory holes, etc., whip and brainwash humanity into something mechanical and utterly despicable.
Winston peddles a revolutionary stance in his mind. Intellectual and intelligent, he maintains a diary of his seditionary thoughts and expressions and the knowledge that is modified & lost forever. Winston befriends his superior, O ‘Brien, who also harbors a revolutionary stance and falls in love with another worker for the party, Julia, in straight defiance of established norms.
Winston and Julia are eventually caught by the party, thanks to the many spies that the party has all over. O’Brien himself turns out to be a Thought Police agent and an interrogator. Winston and Julia’s hatred for the regime and love for each other are both major follies, and they are taken to the Ministry of Love to be taught the true meaning of love. Winston and Julia are brainwashed and re-educated, brought in line with the party ideologies. Winston Smith resists & engages in a battle of wit & intellect with O'Brien but is eventually brought to heel when he learns about Julia’s betrayal. His conversion is complete when he is brought face to face with his worst fears in a room aptly labeled 101.
Winston Smith is cured of his disease and released back into the world. He meets Julia again one day, but neither care for the other anymore. They have found something better to fall in love with – Big Brother!
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The Primary Themes & Context
Love and Liberty vs. Survival à The protagonist Winston Smith's final acceptance of State ideologies in the face of extensive torture and eventual renouncement of his rebellious stance signifies the futility of human nature in front of absolute, oppressive power. At the same time, the depersonalization of love is an effective way by which the super state of Oceania keeps the masses in check, as it is love for fellow human beings that can lead to one & all seeking happiness and thereby question authority & seek liberty from the oppressive times.
Such concerns become moot when your survival is at stake. The powers that be, thus, enact laws that threaten one's survival anytime the yearning for love and liberty threatens the survival of the powers.
Propaganda Machines à Very few things can exert control over the chaotic nature of the human mind as fear and oppression. When the powers that be use their power to instill fear, subvert thoughts, control actions, and put one’s survival at risk, lines are drawn.
The super state of Oceania uses similar oppression tactics to sway the masses and propaganda machine to bring thoughts in line. Regular dissemination of party propaganda such as “War is Peace", "Freedom is Slavery," and "Ignorance is Strength" keep the masses brainwashed, hammering their idea and thought processes until they break & then molding them in shapes of their choosing.
Liberty & censorship à Liberty is an illusion in the world of 1984. This illusion is well maintained by careful censorship and twisting of the meaning of true liberty. The Ministry of Truth distorts the truth and the true meaning of liberty through the erasure & modification of information and history.
As the novel puts it, the past was erased, the process of erasure was forgotten, and the lies became the truth.
Technology As Powerful Tools of Control à Technology is one of the most powerful weapons in the hands of any authoritative regime. As the novel shows, technology enables the state to be all-pervasive and ever-present. It allows the state’s Thought Police to exert ruthless control over each and every aspect of the public.
The All-Seeing Eye of Sauron in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and the concept of Big Brother in George Orwell’s 1984 are uncannily similar. Both are allusions to a higher authority that watches your every move and will pounce upon you if you are not in line.
The Perversion of English Socialism à Ingsoc is the Newspeak term for the all-powerful party ruling Oceania. It is a modified acronym for English Socialism and symbolizes Orwell's perception of British Imperialism. Orwell himself was a staunch advocate of
Unending War & Perpetual Control à The world of 1984 is in a constant war, making it relatively easy for authorities to suppress rights & liberties. A society plunged neck-deep in war is bound to face substantial economic troubles, and its inhabitants live under a constant pall of anxiety & terror.
Just a few years before the novel's conception, the world was gripped by the terror of a totalitarian regime with exceptional military might. It took almost the entire world to come together to defeat the might of Nazi Germany. The United Kingdom, France, Poland, and several other European countries bore the brunt of Nazi Germany’s onslaught.
World War 2 brought about a drastic change in the world order. The all-powerful British Empire lost its colonies & the USA and the USSR became the most dominant powers. The world came under the grip of another impending war, and with the rise of technology, the concept of perpetual control & state-controlled privacy.
Language and Expression à The freedom to express is a fundamental human right and, quite naturally, heavily audited in totalitarian regimes. Big Brother and his cohorts in the Ingsoc suffer from an abject fear of this fundamental right, which, according to them, is ripe for misuse by seditionists. They have gone so far as to develop a new vocabulary, Newspeak, to curb the expression of thought and even, the formulation of thought at the most basic level.
Eradication of words and what they represent, intruding & suppressing thoughts and feelings, and imposing control over fundamental rights à represent an attempt to destroy independent thought and even exert absolute control over the development of thoughts, feelings, ideas, & emotions. Along with desensitization of love and relationships, Big Brother & the Ingsoc Party use Newspeak, the Thought Police, Memory Holes, and other tools of control & subservience to keep the commoner under a tight leash.
Newspeak and Doublethink are mechanisms for twisting and transforming human thoughts & expressions. Newspeak enforces an audited vocabulary that cripples normal humane verbal expression, while Doublethink is an attempt to curb the development and proliferation of thoughts & impulses.
Elements of Control, Oppression, & Tyranny in 1984 à George Orwell introduced new terms to denote the tools, techniques, and concepts used to impose a totalitarian society. Alongside the novel, these words have become hugely popular and gone mainstream.
If there's no way to communicate or express your feelings, then that very thing becomes non-existent. In 1984, the words represented ideas, concepts, and feelings that may lead to problematic circumstances.
Doublethink: Alongside fear and restrictions, the controlling party deludes a normal human way of thinking, twisting our perceptions, understanding, analysis, and perspectives. 2+2=5, War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Knowledge –the totalitarian ideology in 1984 blatantly asks commoners to DOUBLETHINK their thoughts and ensure they conform to the party's views and ideas.
The Timeless Ideology of Hate and greed For Power à Big Brother's/Ingsoc's greed for power is explicitly evident in the novel. However, underlying such greed is an inherent hatred for everyone and everything that would impede that greed. And, they instill this hatred into all their subjects through various control methods.
Love and sex, the two anathemas to hatred, have come under strict control. It has been replaced craftily by hatred for anyone who dabbles in love and sex wantonly. The Ingsoc Party’s destruction of familial bonds and intimacy has twisted the associations of love and hate.
Society Inversed a The world of 1984 will seem perfect and idealistic to people like O’Brien. Yet, it is the opposite of what it means to live in a free society. Contradictions and perversions abound & love, language, rights, and freedom are the casualty. The world has turned upside down as the very institutions of civil society are degraded and twisted to serve the powers that be. In 1984, the Ministry of Love will manipulate one's understanding of love & shape it as per party ideals, and the Ministry of Truth distorts the actual truth.
Can you imagine a society where even certain thoughts and expressions are criminalized, and your actions & speeches are constantly monitored? Regressive societies like Oceania are the inverse of a rational world where free thinking, fundamental liberties, and progression are natural. And, while many may argue for the necessity of a controlling and monitoring mechanism, and quite rightfully so, the super state of Oceania in 1984 exerts total repressive control. Orwell witnessed the representatives of socialism betray their ideologies for absolute power & control in Russia & China, and they did so in the name of liberty and prosperity.
Love & Liberty vs Survival à When your life is at stake, will you have the will & conviction to fight for your love, what you believe in, your freedom, and ideologies? What does it take for a human being to love somebody or something more than their own life?
It is at the battle of love vs. survival that both Winston & Julia lose. But Orwell leaves us thinking here, too. Winston gives up when he learns that Julia betrayed him at the party, as told by O'Brien. Was Julia told the same thing?
And then there’s Room 101, where dissidents come across their worst fears, and Winston finally relinquishes his rebellious stance once & for all. Torture and brainwashing are still heavily used by even the world's largest democracies today.
DOUBLETHINK & Rewiring The Brain à With love, intimacy, familial bonds, freedom, and fundamental human rights heavily restricted & criminalized, Ingsoc has successfully rewired the thought processes and mental associations of the human mind.
The idea of true liberty has been twisted, and blind conformity is now the right way. The praxis of human emotions and logic has been made to transform drastically. As one can no longer perceive hope & positivity from the institutions of love, family, education, or even freedom, the party and the State remain the only beacons of hope and positiveness.
Through strict policing, erasure of history, and rampant modification of nearly all aspects of a civilized society, Ingsoc and Big Brother changed the definition of civility and humanity in 1984.
Education as a tool of Oppression à Education frees the mind, but only when we are educated in the right manner. At the same time, education can be an effective tool to re-orient & rewire the mind and used to put forth an illusion of freedom.
The ruling party in 1984 knew how education could serve their needs. Seditionists are re-educated as per party propaganda and are made to realize the folly of their ways. 1984 is a novel of contradictions, and here again, a tool to free oneself from the shackles of ignorance has been twisted into something else entirely.
The Setting
1984 was written in the aftermath of the Second World War. The threat of political oppression and totalitarianism were frighteningly relevant during those times. A perpetual war among super states has stagnated development and prosperity, & has become an opportunity for the administrators to shape society to their advantage.
The Narrative
Orwell wrote 1984 in the third person limited format. Readers look at the world from the point of view of protagonist Winston Smith, and just like him, they do not know everything about it. And, as is expected, we, readers, are subject to his biases, misconceptions, and prejudices.
The Language
Language played a central role in 1984. George Orwell showcased the amazing relationship between language, thoughts, and expressions. The concept of Newspeak is exceptionally brilliant and used to portray how manipulation of vocabulary and wrong education can become effective tools for brainwashing and rewiring the masses.
Let us now try to understand the central characters of 1984.
Big Brother
Big Brother, the nom de plume of the dictator/power that exerts absolute control over Oceania. Powered by technology and supported by demented fanatics & loyal subjects, Big Brother and his party keep the masses in line. Big Brother wages a perpetual war against all the other super states. This never-ending war catalyzed the rise of a dictatorial superstate, instilling fear and uncertainty to misguide and oppress the masses.
1984 uses the concept of Big Brother to depict an all-seeing and ever-present higher power. It knows all about you, watches your every move, and is ready to pounce upon you at the slightest behest. The concept reflects the intention of every autocratic and tyrannic power to keep the public on a tight leash, and such intentions stem from a deeply seated fear & insecurity of losing its power & position.
Totalitarian regimes such as the ones represented by Big Brother (and similar to erstwhile Nazi Germany & Stalinist Russia) consider fundamental liberties, education, and socialist free states to be the ultimate danger to their power. They consider fear, ignorance, and constant surveillance effective tools for controlling an inherently chaotic & non-conforming species.
The idea of an all-pervasive, all-knowing, and infallible cult of personality like Big Brother is used to create an atmosphere of paranoia and oppression. George Orwell's inspiration was the dictators and one-person political parties of the 20th Century, which wrought havoc through devastating wars, prosecuting & executing opposition, terrorizing the masses, and committing numerous other atrocities. Orwell was undoubtedly influenced by Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Francesco Franco, and Mao Tse-Tung, who blindly followed millions and forced millions to follow them without question.
Several critics also suggest that Orwell’s idea of Big Brother stemmed from the atrocities of the erstwhile British Empire across its colonies in Asia and Africa. And the political party's name, Ingsoc, an acronym for English socialism, is undoubtedly a parody of English Imperialism. The protagonist, Winston Smith, too, is inspired by Winston Churchill, the prime minister of the United Kingdom during World War Two. Like the British Empire that committed numerous atrocities to keep its colonies in line, Big Brother & the Ingsoc party have created a state of fear & oppression across the state and in people's minds.
The concepts of thought policing, constant surveillance, destruction of information, manipulation of the past, and oppression of knowledge & freedom in all its forms are not alien to any reader of 1984. An ever-present and all-seeing Big Brother may even be more credible now, thanks to the rise of electronic technologies, social media, and the purported confluence of political powers & the rich elite.
Winston Smith
The protagonist of 1984 is Winston Smith. The name is undoubtedly borrowed from the name of the then-British prime minister, while the surname Smith is exceedingly common.
John Hurt as Winston Smith
He works for the state, manipulating and modifying history to align it with the Ingsoc party's requirements and vision. Though he likes his job, Winston Smith harbors a deep resentment for the state party. All the information he redacts and changes increases his knowledge about the past and his hatred for what the present has become.
Winston Smith has fire in his heart and harbors simmering thoughts of rebellion. His rebellious feelings and ideas are heartfelt, not because of any misplaced sense of heroism or the yearning for power and glory. Winston's actions are visceral, impulsive, and rash, hinting not just at his defiant nature but also immaturity, wanton disregard for personal safety, and a sense of futility in the face of overwhelming odds. He does not care if Big Brother and his cohorts catch him; he will protest against injustice by challenging the oppressive law in open defiance.
At the same time, Winston Smith is also intelligent and intellectual, a man of vision, wisdom, knowledge, and nonconformity. He is among the few aware of the atrocities all around and defies all fear & reservations to follow his heart & the path to righteousness. He thinks & questions, loves, and does not follow blindly – all these things make him extremely dangerous to the regime. The narrative uses Winston Smith as the conduit of human sympathy, an example of what it means to be human in an inhuman world.
Winston's open defiance is evident from his diary of all his experiences & his analysis of everything. The first words in Winston's diary are quite alarming, "DOWN WITH BG BROTHER". Winston knows his fate is sealed if the Thought police find his diary and investigate his actions.
Winston’s frequent visits to the proletariat neighborhoods, renting a small room above a junk shop there, his discussions & romantic relationship with Julia, and his interest in the ideals & actions of the enemy of the state, Emmanuel Goldstein --- all such actions are the consequences of a man who knows he can never follow or adhere to everything that’s going around him. Winston Smith is just George Orwell in the world of 1984.
Winston is himself a paradox; at once, a resilient bright flame against the all-encompassing darkness and a common person who harbors certain doubts about how effective his efforts can be against the encroaching darkness. Ye, he endears on; erasing and manipulating history in fear of the powers that be and then restoring & recording everything personally in defiance of all the fear & oppression.
Winston's misplaced trust in O'Brien, a person about whom he does not know anything, signifies Winston's naivety and simplicity, which is in stark contrast to the cunning machinations and tradecraft of Ingsoc & Big Brother and to his intellectualism and intelligence as well. However, it can be attributed to the frustrated psyche of a man who longs for someone who understands him and the world around him.
It is this naivety and frustration that proves to be his undoing. O'Brien, who turns out to be a sleeper agent of Ingsoc, betrays Winston, who is tortured, brainwashed, and eventually converted into a loyal subject of the state. After a prolonged battle of wits, intellect, and mental endurance against O'Brien, Winston chooses survival over liberty & love. Yet, O’Brien remains an entity of enduring enigma to Winston.
Orwell’s use of the third person limited narrative focal point makes viewers perceive the world, events, and characters of 1984 through the eyes of Winston Smith. And, just like him, the reader lacks ideas about why the world is like it is and what goes on behind the scenes. Numerous analyses and criticisms of ideology thus consider Winston's viewpoints biased and his mental states colored by certain qualities of perception.
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O’Brien
O'Brien is a member of Ingsoc's Inner Party. Winston's senior, O'Brien, also serves as an undercover agent of the party, who poses a rebellious stance and uses it as a façade to lure in potential dissenters. O'Brien is an enigma to Winston until the end, primarily because of the similarity in their intellect & intelligence. Winston Smith is even more dumbfounded when O’Brien is revealed to be an ardent BUT NOT BLIND follower of Ingsoc ideals.
O'Brien is a perplexing character. He is exceptionally intellectual and crafty, evident from his well-developed perspectives on socialism, democracy, free speech, freedom of expression, and the need for an imminent revolution. Yet, his true ideologies differ, and his loyalty lies with the totalitarian regime of Oceania.
Just like the world of 1984 is a contradiction and perversion of an ideal society, so is O'Brien, a perversion of the perfect human being. With all the power and technology in its hands, Oceania had so much potential to become a Garden of Eden on Earth but became a totalitarian regime. And, quite uncannily, O'Brien, with so much wit & intelligence, could have been a beacon of hope for the masses but turns out to be an ambitionless & hopeless individual who is just another brick in the wall.
O’Brien is intelligent, educated, and sophisticated. O’Brien & Winston have mutual admiration and respect for Winston due to the similarity in their way of thinking & the wealth of knowledge they both possess – the only difference is that, unlike Winston Smith, O'Brien is a spineless man who became subservient to oppression and total control.
However, there may be a chance that O'Brien willfully ignored his rebellious impulses due to their futility in the face of an overwhelming, unbeatable force.
Julia is the potential love interest of our protagonist. He does not, however, take an instant liking and suspects her to be a spy due to her zealousness towards her work for Ingsoc and her being a member of the Anti-Sex League. Eventually, Winston discovers her to be witty and funny as they begin to spend time together. She is happy-go-lucky and does what she feels happy about without worrying about consequences and repercussions.
It was never known whether it was a ploy to get Winston to confess and whether Julia was told the same thing about Winston!
The Proles, the lowest class of people in Oceania, the ever-ignored but ever-essential component of the society--- the Proletariats played a significant role in 1984. They are not considered to be of any potential threat, live on the fringes of society, and are never under intense surveillance. The state has determined that the proles do not have the will or the unity to rise against or exhibit any rebellious behavior.
But, if the world of 1984 would have ever faced any gigantic upheaval, then its origins would be from the proletariats. They are the labor class, the foundation of the socioeconomic machine. The powers that be do not have the proles under constant surveillance, and they likely won’t be ready when a Proletarian revolution upends the existing order.
If George Orwell had written a sequel to 1984, would it have involved a Prole revolution? What role would the educated and intellectuals play under such circumstances?
1984 is a timeless classic and a warning from one of the greatest thinkers of the bygone years. It is a warning to humanity about the events and circumstances that may bring about its downfall.
Hope this article was an engaging read and helped everyone understand the last masterpiece of George Orwell better. Read more and take care!
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