Set during the totalitarian regime during the early 20th century, 1984 is a picture of a dystopia where the government takes absolute control over the society with each person subject to surveillance. In this case, the story revolves around the person of Winston Smith. Although he tries to oppose the oligarchic system with the help of his girlfriend Julia, he is watched at every turn and is inevitably forced to submit to the Party in almost every aspect of his existence with Big Brother as the symbol for the Party’s dominance.
Winston Smith, a middle-aged man, becomes throttled by the party’s questionable principles. Apparently, the Party’s primary goal is to eliminate any possible slanderous or revolutionary thought and ideas from the public. Thus, they control the citizens and maintain their power through psychological manipulation – through a language named “newspeak”, Two Minutes Hate and by instilling the fear of the Thought Police and thought crime in all. In fact, based on the appendix of the book, newspeak does not include the word “freedom”. An idealist, Winston believes that there must be a hope for a better future where personal freedom can be attained by every individual. He rebels against the authorities by writing down his ideas of freedom in his diary. He starts with the line “April 4th 1984” which I believe is very significant. The line provides a dramatic mood and a symbol that in 1984, people do not keep personal documentation; people aren’t free to express their opinions because such behavior is dangerous as it promotes independence and individual thought. Although Winston knows he will eventually be arrested, he continued to cunningly fight against the Party. In fact, he wrote “down with Big Brother” over and over in his journal.
Later in the novel, he meets Julia and engages in an intimate relationship with her which is apparently an act of rebellion since pleasure isn’t permitted in the society called Oceania. In my opinion, I think the Party suppresses all sexual acts to shift all their energy into meeting the Party’s own goals and needs. Moreover, sexual pleasure is also an individual act, promoting independence which the Party strongly bans. O’Brien even said in the latter part of the story when he was torturing Winston, “never again will you be capable of love, or friendship, or joy of living.”
In general, the plot was organized into three movements which helped the events and the intensity progress. Part One paints the world of 1984, a totalitarian world where the Party tries to manipulate everything even thoughts and emotions. It is in this part where the protagonist develops his rebellious notions. Part Two talks about Winston’s progressing relationship with Julia as they both share their deep reservations about the Party. Through O’Brien, they become involved in the Brotherhood, an organization that opposes the principles of Big Brother and the Party. However, it turns out that O’Brien was not a rebel after all; instead, he is a member of the Inner Party and heads the interrogation and torture of the criminals. Part Three describes how Winston was punished as he faced O’Brien. Eventually, he comes to love Big Brother.
In general, the plot was built around Winston’s mind and life which can be noticed on how the author manages to write in a narrative manner. Even if the novel was written in the third person, the point of view is evidently Winston Smith’s. After reading the book, it felt like I have been reading through Winston’s mind and seeing things the way he sees them. Through his eyes, I was able to see how the totalitarian society functions and how a person deals with having rebellious thoughts. In other words, the novel is more or less written in such a way that it is engaging, allowing the reader to think and feel as if he is suffering with the protagonist.
Moreover, there are striking parallelisms that grabbed my attention. For instance, it is similar to that of the short story discussed earlier namely “Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman,” a literary work dealing with the problems of the society. Harlequin, much like Winston Smith, tried to rebel against the social system by not following the strict observance of time. Winston, however, tries to resist the Party by expressing his thoughts through his journal and engaging in “sex crime,” countering the principles of the dominant oligarchy. Another similarity is that both protagonists are being watched closely. Harlequin is monitored by the Ticktockman who actively watches every person. In comparison, Winston is being watched by the Thought Police through telescreens, seeing those whose thoughts that imply disloyalty to the Party and its principles.
Another parallelism I noticed is that it concerned with the states that took place in real life. The Oceanian government fictionalized by Orwell is quite similar to that of Hitler’s Nazi Germany and Stalin’s Soviet Union. Both regimes worshipped their respective leaders as “messiahs”, required the destruction of all individuality in order to promote the Party’s ambition over the individuals’, demanded absolute loyalty from their citizens and resulted to violence whenever disloyalty was seen. The Thought Police, in fact, is also similar to that of the Gestapo which led large scale purges and terror. The Spies and the Youth League, on the other hand, is parallel to that of the Hitler Youth and Little Octoberists which indoctrinated young people to the Party and encouraged them to report disloyalty observed in their elders, even among family members.
It is important to point out that there are several symbols found in the novel. The paperweight represents Winston’s own fragile reality and a connection to the past in which he could have been free. Winston tells Julia, “It’s a little chunk of history that they’ve forgotten to alter. It’s a message from a hundred years ago, if one knew how to read it.” The paperweight was like the world Winston and Julia wanted – where freedom and independence is possible. As the author puts it, “it was as though the surface of the glass had been the arch of the sky, enclosing a tiny world with its atmosphere complete. He had the feeling that he could get inside it and that in fact he was inside it… the paperweight was the room he was in and the coral was Julia’s life and his own, fixed in sort of eternity at the heart of the crystal.” However, when the Thought Police finally arrested Winston and Julia, one of the members smashed it into pieces in the same way as shattering their hopes and the world they have created. The old picture of St. Clement’s Church is another symbol of the lost past, which Winston tries to revive at least for the time being. Moreover, I noticed that the rats are also symbols of depravity. Winston and Julia represent rats trapped inside Big Brother’s cage. Despite of their fight against oppression, they can never outdo Big Brother. If people allow such rulers to perpetuate in power, then they will become no better than mindless, multiplying rats.
Apart from these symbols, I also like how the author foreshadowed the fate of the protagonist. For instance, when Winston sees the picture of St. Clement’s Dane and its accompanying rhyme in Mr. Charrington’s shop, he believes that it speaks of his ideal of truth and rebellion against the Party because it is part of the past. However, it also foreshadows his downfall. The rhyme starts with, “oranges and lemons say the bells of St. Clement’s” and ends with “here comes a candle to light you to bed, here comes a chopper to chop off your head.” Mr. Charrington’s shop became Winston and Julia’s hiding place but much later, I learn that a telescreen is hidden behind the picture and Mr. Charrington turns out to be a Thought Police. The rats, I assume, are also an object of foreshadowing their fate. In a scene when Julia and Winston were inside Mr. Charrington’s junkshop, rats suddenly appear. Winston murmurs, “Rats! In this room!” then Julia replies, “They’re all over the place.” Thus, I think the rats metaphorically refer to the Thought Police who have been watching them all along. Another foreshadowing can be seen when Winston and Julia repeatedly tell each other, “we are the dead.” I think it actually means that they know they will eventually be arrested and it’s only just a matter of time. In the end, their hopes will be destroyed and they will come to love Big Brother. Another significant event is when Winston met up with O’Brien, thinking he’s part of the Brotherhood, I think O’Brien actually gave a clue when he said, “you understand that you will be fighting in the dark. You will always be in the dark.” Winston probably thinks being in darkness means being unseen, paying the cost of being part of the Brotherhood. However, I think it was O’Brien’s way of saying Winston cannot achieve the freedom he is hoping for. Hence, he can never see the light and he will always be in the dark. Moreover, when O’Brien had spoken to Winston in a dream saying, “we shall meet in the place where there is no darkness,” it actually predicts with total accuracy Winston’s eventual torture.
Evidently, the author used irony to create a more interesting mood. For instance, when Winston hears O’Brien’s voice in a dream, telling him that they will “meet in the place where there is no darkness,” it has nothing to do with the freedom Winston was hoping for. Instead, it is in the Ministry of Love where thought criminals were tortured and where the lights are literally always on. Moreover, the irony in the names of the ministries is also an obvious contradictory nature of the Party. Criminals are tortured in the Ministry of Love. War is waged from the Ministry of Peace. Lies are communicated by the Ministry of Truth and the Ministry of Plenty oversees and manages the weak economy of Oceania where most citizens live in poverty. Similarly, the Party slogans are contradictory too – “war is peace,” “freedom is slavery” and “ignorance is strength.” Forcing acceptance of such lies removes the individual’s ability to think independently.
In my opinion, the underlying theme of the novel is the downfall of totalitarianism or authoritarianism in general. It’s somewhat a warning to the readers of the dangers of such government. This can be seen on how the author portrays a state in which authorities manipulate every aspect of life even to the point of controlling their thoughts and emotions just to perpetuate themselves in power. In other words, the novel provides a powerful and pessimistic view on the ability of power to corrupt everything good and noble about the human condition. I remember a historian named Lord Acton who said, “Power corrupts but absolute power corrupts absolutely.” In reality, several governments have maximized their powers to dominate their society and push towards backwardness.
The world in 1984 is not as fictitious as we think it is. The world has seen and experienced the horrors of Stalin, Hitler and even our own Marcos. Many journalists were muffled, political opponents were executed, and even common citizens who just wanted the freedom to express themselves were tortured. The novel convinces the reader that such a society existed and could exist again if people forget the lessons taught by history, or fail to guard against tyranny, totalitarianism and oligarchy. An educated society, capable to understand history, should never allow the existence of a society that has no freedom, independence and free will.
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