The party used many methods to make people obey them. A form of propaganda that the party used was "Newspeak," a shortened version of English which was used in hope to limit anyone's ability to think or talk in a way that opposes Big Brother. Perhaps the most often-discussed component to Big Brother's control was the use of the telescreens, television-like gadgets installed in every home that acted as surveillance devices and kept track of who was obeying and who was not. Winston’s actions were monitored twenty-four hours a day for signs of disloyalty or emotion, by these telescreens and merciless spies (including children and friends brainwashed by the party's doctrines). In this world no one, NO ONE, could be trusted, not even your own children. The thought of this was disgusting but people were so blindly brainwashed by this totalitarian society that anyone would do anything for Big Brother and its party. Love had been abolished, along with free thought, and sex was indulged in only to produce more hard-working citizens to serve the cause. Life had no value in Oceania, it was merely a cause of serving and worshipping Big brother and its party. Fear was filled in a person to such an extent that no one had the capability to do or let alone think against the party. “Your worst enemy, he reflected, was your own nervous system.” A person could not even trust themselves, this is therefore a satire. From the Ministry also came three slogans where Orwell brilliantly captured the "doublethink" of totalitarian mind-control: "War is Peace", "Freedom is Slavery", and "Ignorance is Strength." The reader was forced to think about these three slogans in depth. They all appear to be oxymoron’s, but make some sense once the reader has progressed through the book. Another form of propaganda was “Hate Week”.
The main element of 1984 was Room 101. "where there is no darkness" which are bright underground rooms where criminals are taken to be interrogated. Winston is tortured, and mentally murdered here, so badly that by the end of the book he loves Big Brother, and cannot think a single thought without the permission of the party. Winston is completely mentally dead. He cannot think or act for himself, and he is merely a toy of the party. He is useless to anyone (including the party), and may as well be put to death, but is kept alive, probably as a trophy to Big Brother. How Room 101 is portrayed is pure magic it has such a great impact on the reader; the thought of facing your deepest, most darkest and worst fear while being forced to love something that you once hated.
The book published in 1948 and set thirty-six years in the future, 1984 was George Orwell’s dark vision of the future.
It shows with grim conviction how Winston Smith’s individual personality is wiped out and how he is recreated in the Party’s image until he does not just obey but loves Big Brother. Some critics have related Winston Smith’s sufferings to those George Orwell had to face in life. Orwell maintained that the book was written with the explicit intention "to alter other people’s idea of the kind of society they should strive after." He saw hope for the working class – proles (‘proletariat’) despite the defeat of the novels hero. Both Winston and some reader’s seeked hope only in the "proles," the working class. Throughout the novel he believed "if there is a hope it lies in the proles". It was said anything he had done after Hitler and the Spanish Civil War had passed was against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism. He had also written Animal Farm with this idea kept in mind. This piece of his writing reflects many things from Stalin’s regime and from the Marxist views. However what makes 1984 stand out is how Orwell has created a whole new world which is so exaggerated that it seems nothing like the real world. Though, this is not true as this dystopian world of Oceania held many parallels to the real world.
In my opinion Orwell tried to emphasise how much power politics has over our lives and how important it is. He shows that we still have hope, life is not as bad as it could be therefore try to keep it this way. He makes the reader appreciate the society we are living in but also points out the flaws in it. He merely states “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four” which makes us think we should appreciate the freedom and liberty we are given as people. That the people in this non-fiction novel were treated to such an extent that they could not show any type of emotion or have basic human needs. "If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face forever." I believe Orwell's hope in writing the book was to warn people of political warning signs he saw.
The novel included many stimulating themes of dehumanization, isolation, repression, loneliness, social class disparity, and abuse of power. The year - and even the century - may have come and gone, but 1984 is about so much more than just a date. It's about who we are, who we might be and who we definitely should not be. It is a world-famous satire on totalitarianism and a critique of both the left and right, George Orwell's relentlessly depressing and yet awe-inspiring piece has certainly earned its place in the history books after fifty years in print.
