Control Is Power in 1984

Control is Power

Did you know that one person's dystopia can be someone else's utopia? George Orwell's 1984 is a dystopian book that shows the dangers of having a totalitarian government. Other major themes in the book are rebellion, society and control. The concept of individual freedom no longer exists. Being controlled by their society can drive an individual against their own government. The author shows that the state of Oceania uses different ways to control every aspect of human life by using psychological and physical control, and control of the media, language and technology.

The party uses mostly psychological and physical control to rule and maintain power over the Outer Party and the proles. The giant telescreens in every citizen's rooms blasts anything that the Party wants. They blast all sorts of propagandas designed to make the failures of the party to look like triumphant successes. The telescreens see and hear everyone by monitoring everyone's behavior and move. Everywhere someone goes, they are constantly reminded that "Big Brother is watching" (4). The Party wants citizens to be frustrated during the Two Minute Hate and for that purpose they have created political enemies such as Goldstein. Another example of control is that the Party brainwashes kids by teaching them to be spies. The Party has so much control on children that they force kids to turn in their own parents to the Thought Police. The Party also took out pleasure from sex and this is only done for reproduction purposes or, as mentioned in the book, a "Duty to the Party" (). They also force individuals to suppress their sexual desires, treating sex as only a procreative duty and eventually leading to the creation of new Party members. In the society, marriage is not based on love; it is done as an obligation. The Party sees feelings, such as friendship and love, are non-existent because they cause feelings of rebellion, as shown with Winston and Julia. The Party also watches for any sign of disloyalty, to the point that, even a small twitch can be seen as disloyal. Anyone who does manage to disobey the Party is punished and "reeducated" through brutal torture. Everyone is sent to Room 101 which contains, as O'Brien explains to Winston, "the worst thing in the world," a horror which "varies from individual to individual" (296). By exposing Winston to that which he fears the most in the world, he becomes vulnerable to the Party and they can get everything they want from Winston which is to break the bond between Winston and Julia. After being tortured by rats, Winston says: "Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don't care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Julia! Not me" (300). Winston gives away the one thing he cares most to save him from torture. If anyone is stripped from everything, expose those to inhuman circumstances and expose them to what they hate the most in the world. Emotions such as love and friendship differentiate humans from robots. The Party was able to control that making all citizens slaves to them.

While maintaining