Which social groups are marginalized, excluded, or silenced within the text of 1984?

In the novel, the outer party are being silenced by the twenty four hour surveillance that the inner party supplies them with.  “It was one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption beneath it ran.” One of the main pieces of imagery throughout 1984 is the posters of big brother hanging on every wall the citizens of Oceania come across. Everywhere you go, the figure you fear most is watching you, not just on the posters, but also through the Telescreens that are set up throughout the housing complexes of the outer Party members. In the world of 1984, it seems to be impossible for an Outer Party member to take a single breath without potentially being watched and scrutinized. “There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. How often or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork.” Another frightening part in the life of an outer party member was the idea of never knowing whether Big Brother is really watching you or not. There is always a chance you could do whatever you want and the thought police would not be watching, but for most members including Winston Smith, the idea of always being watched was imprinted onto their heads.

In the novel, the outer party is not allowed to hold positions of power, and all the jobs available are jobs controlled by the inner party members. When Winston is describing O’Brian he mentions that O’Brian is “a member of the inner party and a holder of some post so important and remote that Winston had only a dim idea of its nature”. The reality that a regular outer party member not only cannot recognize different positions of power, but does not actually know how the whole political power chart is set up proves that the outer party is also being completely marginalized from political authority. Winston only had a dim idea of what O’Brian does, and this shows that even if outer party members would want to try and climb the power ladder, they would not even know where to begin, because the entire system is kept hidden from them. “The party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others.” What this quote illustrates is that the inner party seeks power for its own sake, and there for seek power not to help or improve the lifestyles of the outer party members. And if this power is only obtained to benefit the inner party, why would they allow the outer party to have a chance in gaining power, when that could lead to a power struggle between the two parties. Without even a slight hope of achieving power for an outer party member, and a complete social system where outer party members are not allowed to be interested in power, it is so obvious that the inner party is marginalizing them.

        Throughout the storyline of 1984 there are three main social groups in society, the outer party, the inner party and the Proles. Even though the Proles are seen by the entire society as the lower class, their lifestyle is not being restricted and they have freedom to a greater extent. The outer party is the social group of the community that is being undermined and excluded. Even if an outer party member would want to change the way things are run, they would not be able to due to the predetermined rules of society.