How Power Is Excercised In George Orwelll's 1984

Long Essay

George Orwell was the pseudonym for Eric Arthur Blair, and he was famous for his personnel vendetta against totalitarian regimes and in particular the Stalinist brand of communism. In his novel, 1984, Orwell has produced a brilliant social critique on totalitarianism and a future dystopia, that has made the world pause and think about our past, present and future, as the situation of 1984 always remains menacingly possible. The story is set in a futuristic 1984 London, where a common man Winston Smith has turned against the totalitarian government. Orwell has portrayed the concepts of power, marginalization, and resistance through physical, psychological, sexual and political control. The way that Winston Smith, the central character, has been created is purely to delve particular emotions from the reader, as he struggles against the totalitarian rule of Ingsoc. The reader is encouraged through Winston to adopt negative thoughts on communist rule and the themes of the dangers of totalitarianism, psychological manipulation and physical control are explored through Winston's journey. Through Winston's resistance and ultimate downfall, the reader is able to fully appreciate O'Briens reasoning, "Power is not a means, it is an end."

The psychological control continually exercised by Ingsoc is essential so that the minority oligarchy can retain power. Orwell demonstrates the importance of surveillance to achieve this goal. The main tool of this is the telescreen, a screen in every room that while constantly displaying party propaganda, it can at any time, transmit the view and sounds of that particular room. This kind of surveillance keeps members in constant fear as they can always be monitored at any time. The telescreen combined with the thought police is the ultimate tool for destroying individual thought, as anything as small as a twitch in the face can give one away:

"The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself-anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide."

In fact, it is so powerful, that an individual's own nervous system becomes his or her enemy. Orwell also uses the Freudian functions of Repression and sublimation in Ingsoc's mental control over party members. The Two-Minutes hate has been created by the party to encourage members to channel feelings and urges against a common enemy, thus creating a suitable outlet for any unconventional thoughts or desires. Also, Winston, as he becomes more against the party starts to remember things of his childhood his mind no longer represses, as he refuses to accept the party's meaning.

The control of the outer party is essential for the Inner party to retain power, and the systematic thought conditioning that occurs from birth is the key to this. From a very young age, the children become the model citizens of Oceania, with the support of the anti-sex league, the youth league and the spies. This infrastructure encourages the child to seek out enemies of Big brother whilst cementing their position in society, often whilst betraying their own blood; "It was almost normal for people over thirty to be frightened of their own children." The Parson's children, who live next door to Winston constantly accuse him of being a thought-criminal and a traitor, and they are absolutely right. The party has created a form of surveillance that was broken the strong bonds of the family unit and it is true that the there is "no loyalty, except the loyalty of big brother, and no love, except the love for big brother." The systematic control of thought by the party ensures the new generation is completely loyal.

The menacing surveillance that inhabitants of Oceania live under is an allusion to the panopticon idea of Michel Foucault. The panopticon was a prison device which provided the constant daze of one guard over the entire prison. The prisoners did not know when they were being watched so eventually they are individually exercising this surveillance over, and against themselves. This rested on the idea that the power to dominate came with differential knowledge. The thought police in Oceania have a similar system with

The telescreen, as people do not know when they are being watched, so as a result they continually police themselves. This gives the thought police and the party the power to dominate, as they can see without being seen.

Somewhat less prominent but perhaps more devastating is the physical control that goes unquestioned in this society. The torture or Ð''reeducation' of people destroys the ability of individual resistance at the individual level. As O'Brien says,

"How does one man assert his power over anotherÐ'...by making him suffer. Obedience is not enough. Unless he is suffering, how can you be sure that he is obeying your will and not his own? Power is inflicting pain and humiliation."

Winston is tortured over a long period of time and it proves successful as he whole- heartedly accepts the party and Big Brother. This physical control produces marginalization as it removes the ability of individuals to exercise their own ideas or draw their own conclusions. It does this through the constant influx of knowledge that Winston must accept or face extreme physical pain. The physical pain removes the existence of an external reality, as eventually he loses the ability to think as an individual. They are left with the somewhat contradictory answers of the party, like war is peace, freedom is slavery and ignorance is strength, and if they are not faithful believers, they can always be coerced into becoming such.

An important aspect of the party's oppression is the sexual repression of its subjects. The sexual instinct is a powerfully emotional desire that must be suppressed to ensure complete loyalty to the party. Personal emotions are often irrational and strong in nature, and if allowed the freedom to develop, loyalty to the party would become secondary to ones' sexual partner or relative. In fact, it is one of the ultimate goals of the party to "destroy the orgasm in its entirety." Winston's suffering from a varicose veins in his ankle could be seen as an allusion to Oedipus Rex and is symbolizing an unhealthy repression of the sex drive. When he and Julia have sex, they are showing a form of resistance against the party which marginalizes the act through its anti sex league.

In 1984 there are many allusions to history and symbolisms that Orwell has used to demonstrate the amount of power the ruling oligarchy of Oceania actually have in context to the time. The first of these