1984

Major Themes in the Novel

TOTALITARIANISM:

Orwell thought it was important to warn everybody of the serious danger totalitarianism gives to society. He goes into a lot of detail to demonstrate the terrifying state of power and control a totalitarian regime can get to. In such regimes, notions of personal rights and freedoms and individual thought are diminished under the government. I did a little bit of reasearch and figured out that Orwell was a Socialist and believed in the rebellions to advance society, but he witnessed these same rebellions go wrong and develop into totalitarian rule. Specifically, Orwell saw such developments during his time in Spain and in Russia, where he saw the rise of communism. In 1984, the author presents to us a dystopia, or in other words, the perfect totalitarian state. The Party is flawless in its control over society. Winston, the main character has mastered every aspect of psychological control, using technological developments (allowing for inventions such as the telescreen) to their advantage.

IDENTITY / INDIVIDUALISM:

Using psychological manipulation, the Party destroys all identity and individualism. Everyone wears the same clothes, eats the same food, and lives in the same disgusting apartments. Life is uniform and the same for everybody. No one can stand out, and no one can be unique. To have an independent thought would be a major crime. For this same reason, writing, which Winston does in his diary has been prohibitted. People are only permitted to think what the Party tells them to think.

TECHNOLOGY:

As I said before, technology is an extremely important tool that the Party uses to maintain control over its citizens. Without telescreens, the Thought Police would not be nearly as effective, and propaganda would not be so widespread. The constant supervision of the telescreen effectively imprisons citizens in their daily lives: they are always under observation.Ironically, other areas of technological development are very static and no innovation is ocurring. In the world of Oceania there is no such as thing as progress, there is only power. When technological developments serve this power, they are encouraged. When they do not, they are stopped.