I finished the essay on the individual! So anyone looking for ways in which the state controls the individual within Orwell's totalitarian '1984', you're in luck, because here it is in all its glory! Enjoy it and I REALLY hope you like it (writing essays during summer holidays it totally not cool.)
“In what ways does the state control the individuals
in 1984 and what effects does these have on them?”
Orwell’s celebrated ‘1984’ explores an unnerving
dystopian future in which the utopian ideal of communism is imposed upon every
individual to run the state. The control of the individual is one of the themes
explored in detail within the novel, and Orwell’s extended use of symbolism
through certain objects and concepts lead one to understand to what extent the
state controls the individual under the regime of Big Brother.
Possibly
the most striking object described in the first chapter are the telescreens; an
‘oblong metal plaque like a dulled mirror which formed part of the surface of
the right-hand wall’. The detailed description of the object lead one to
understand its importance, yet the third-person narration conveys a sense of
familiarity, as Winston is not omnipresent in the narration of the description.
The fact that Winston is indifferent to the presence of the telescreens create
an unnerving sense of foreboding, as one is gradually lead to imagine a world
in which one’s movements are all recorded by the telescreens: “…[the
telescreen] could be dimmed but there was no way of shutting it off
completely.” Oceanians are constantly being monitored, and together with the
telescreens, the imposing police patrol survey the city in their helicopters,
“like bluebottle[s] […] [darting]
away again with a curving flight.” Again, Winston’s indifference is apparent
within the text, altered only at the mention of the Thought Police, which seems
like an opinion uttered by Winston himself in spite of the third-person
narration: “The patrols did not matter, however. Only the Thought Police
mattered.” The narration subtly shifts from a relation of facts to an opinion,
in which Winston evidently plays a part. The presence of the patrols as well as
the telescreens seem like concepts which are familiar to Winston, and therefore
to the rest of the Oceanians, as one is merely being introduced to a new
dystopian universe where the narrated facts are the only source of information.
At the mention of the Thought Police, however, one comes to understand the
deep-rooted fear this has on the Oceanians, as not only are their movements and
expressions being monitored, but also their most intimate thoughts, which can
be heavily sanctioned, as is suggested in the first chapter: “Only the Thought
Police mattered.”
The
concept of the Thought Police itself explicitly demonstrates to what extent the
state controls the individual, yet all that it implies reaches a deeper point
which shows that the individual is controlled to an unimaginable extent: the
members of the Thought Police are anonymous, and their utter dedication and
passion towards the party is apparent through their ruthless ability to deceive
and betray. Such is the case of Mr. Charrington, the owner of the antique shop
where Winston ironically purchased the journal he began to materialize his hate
for the state in: “It occurred to Winston that for the first time in his life
he was looking, with knowledge, at a member of the Thought Police.” Before
meeting Julia, Winston even believed that ‘the dark-haired girl’ was a member
of the Thought-Police herself, and he as an individual is set upon the need to
use violence to wipe her out: “He could keep on her track till they were in
some quiet place, and then smash her skull in with a cobblestone.” In this way,
Winston himself is consumed with paranoia, and therefore controlled by the
state.
The built-in mechanism of betrayal amongst
individuals is fruit of the education the state gives the younger generations,
as is revealed through Winston’s neighbors’ children: “ ‘You’re a traitor!’
yelled the boy. ‘You’re a thought-criminal! You’re a Eurasian spy! I’ll shoot
you, I’ll vaporize you, I’ll send you to the salt mines!’”. The striking way in
which the public automatically accepts the fact that chocolate rations had been
raised instead of lowered may also be considered as an end result of what is
the state’s uncanny ability to brainwash the absolute majority of individuals
from a younger and therefore more vulnerable age.
The state’s education on the new
generations begin with the simple art of propaganda, where London is covered
with posters of Big Brother-a mysterious character who takes up the role of a
god within the state. Individuals are convinced through posters, events such as
‘Hate Week’ and daily routines involving the ‘Two Minutes Hate’ that Big
Brother is a source of guaranteed protection and as long as He looks upon them
from the posters and telescreens, no harm can be done to them. Furthermore,
Winston’s job, which involves tampering with old articles and first hand
sources in order to rewrite history leads the entire population to doubt their
very thoughts, as hard evidence slowly ceases to exist.
The
state’s reasons for brainwashing the population is revealed to its full extent
prior to Winston’s arrest, where he is taken, ironically, to the Ministry of
Love. Here, he learns from the mouth of O’brien, one who was considered an ally
to his morals, of the way in which the state is run, imposed upon everyone, and
therefore one encounters a logical explanation for the existence of the Thought
Police: “ ‘…why do you imagine that we bring people to this place? […] Not
merely to extract your confession nor to punish you. […] To cure you! To make
you sane! […] We do not merely destroy our enemies, we change them.’” Orwell’s
totalitarian view of the future within the novel is one where not only is Big
Brother’s political system is imposed upon every individual, but he who shows
any symptom of disagreeing with it, even subconsciously, as is the case of
Parsons, is to be tortured and reeducated till he believes that his past self
was mentally deranged and that the state has cured him of some disease. The
latter also carries some explanation to the fact that people praise Big Brother
for their ‘chocolate rations being raised’, when Winston is certain that they
had been lowered earlier within the novel, and is lead to doubt his sanity as
he looks at those surrounding him who are happily accepting the erroneous
information.
It
remains that the totalitarian state within Orwell’s ‘1984’ goes through drastic
measures to control every single individual through the means of brainwashing
to the extent where even the reader doubts the very source of their own
thoughts. Although the measures taken up by the state vary in gravity, they are
all present with a common aim: to abolish the idea of freedom of thought
without it being apparent to any individual, and thus to eliminate the actual
concept of an ‘individual’. In this way, the individual is affected in a
similar manner with every manner taken; slowly, the individual comes to
understand how wrong he is as a person, and that his mental state is being
soothed by the state to make it right.
