Have you ever thought about what life would be like if Hitler had won WWII? Just think about not being able to choose the job of your choice or not being able to express your feelings about the government.
Those are just two of the many freedoms that would have been lost if the U.S. would have lost the war. The book 1984 gives a view of what life would be like if we lived under a totalitarianism government.The story 1984 is about Winston Smith an average person who lives on airstrip one in Oceania, which used to be London, England. The ruling government of Oceania is IN SOC, which is a totalitarianism government.
The author George Orwell wrote this book to warn people about the negative effects of a totalitarianism government.In the first section of the book, it tells about Winston's job changing the past and present news for the government. Winston belongs to the outer-party and is suppose to love Big Brother who is the ruler of Oceania. The official language developed by the government, which is spoke in Oceania is Newspeak.
Oceania is constantly at war with the brotherhood, which allows Big Brother to stay in power. Winston's rebellion against Big Brother starts in section one with him writing in a diary, which is not allowed in Oceania. Later in section one he has sex with Julia who is also an outer-party member and having sex is also illegal in Oceania.In the second section of the book Winston has a love affair with Julia.
The two of them continue to break the laws of Big Brother and the thought police, which is the police core of Oceania, begin to catch on to Winston and Julia. Winston also meets O'Brien who works for Big Brother and is spying on Winston and Julia.
In the third section of the book is when the climax of the book takes place. Winston and Julia were caught by the Thought Police because of their acts against Big Brother. O'Brien then takes Winston to room 101, which contains in it a person's worst fears. For Winston his worse fear is rats because when he was a kid he saw his mom lying dead in a field with rats all over her.
In room 101 is where the climax of the book takes place when Winston yells out, "do it to Julia."
One conflict that takes place in this book is Winston against the government. Winston believes that the totalitarianism style of government is not fair for the people under its rule. Winston shows his dislike for the government by disobeying many of the laws of the government. Two ways that he does this is by writing a diary expressing his feelings and by also having sex with Julia.
The second conflict in this book was Winston verses the rats. When Winston was a child the government killed his mom and dragged her into a field to dispose of her. Winston later found her body lying dead in a field, with rats covering her. Rats then became Winston's worst fear, which is shown when he is taken to room 101 where he is to be tortured.
As a third conflict I chose Winston verses O'Brien.
Winston did not know whether or not if he could trust O'Brien. O'Brien acted as if he was a friend to Winston but in the end he ended up working for the government and turning Winston and Julia in for not obeying the laws of the government.
In this book there is an overall feeling of depression. The churches are old, junky and all bombed out. The churches in general give a dark and gloomy feeling just by the looks and the descriptive words the author chose to write.
The authors' overall attitude toward totalitarianism is that it is a very bad form of government and does not give people fair freedoms and rights that we are accustom to. Another example of his dislike for totalitarianism is that he wrote the book Animal Farm.
Winston Smith name stands for an ordinary man, freedom, and for democracy. So there is some definite symbolism in this story, even for something as simple as Winston's name. His first name (Winston) stands for Winston Churchill who was the minister of England and wanted freedom during World War II. His last name (Smith) is an extremely common name that shows that he was an ordinary person.
In this story Winston breaks laws with no regret. He wants to put an end to Big Brother so all people can be free. Freedom is very important to Winston and throughout the book he shows that he dislikes the government by rebelling in different ways.
The author in many ways is just like Winston.
They both want to rid the world of
Totalitarianism. Orwell believes people should have more freedom and privacy from the government just like Winston in the book 1984. Maybe in the long run Winston is just a mere reflection of Orwell, as being just an ordinary man that wants to make a difference and wants everyone to be free from the government.
This book shows that no one is safe is from totalitarianism and it is a warning to people about the negative affect of this form of government. One example is Winston changing the past when he worked for the government so that the government will be able to continue to function so that the people will think that everything is going alright within the country.
Another example is that Big Brother is always at war, which allows the government to stay in power.
When they were at war the people were only worried about how to survive day-to-day rather than thinking about how much better it would be if totalitarianism government wasn't in control.These warnings concern our society in many ways. One way is because of us losing more and more privacy and freedom due to the government taking it from us. Some are witness to the Police abusing the power that the government has granted them. Some people claim that Police feel as if the laws just don't apply to them.Under totalitarianism life would not be as we know it today.
Many of our freedoms and rights would no longer exist and the government would be a great factor in your everyday life in many ways including choosing your job. So every little thing that the government feels they need control of, could just one day end your freedom. That is why Orwell is warning us of the negative effects of totalitarianism.
