Orwell's Warning: 1984 George Orwell

Orwell's Warning: 1984 George Orwell wrote 1984 to serve as a warning for mankind. He was concerned about a government so large that it strips the people of any individuality and he used extremes to express his concern. The notion of Thought Police and facecrimes are just a couple of examples of how the Party controls the people. Winston finds it difficult to find time to think about what is happening and this demonstrates how the government gets away with what it does.

By removing any instances where people are ever alone, the Party garners much control and with Thought Police, it clinches control because there is literally no way around the Party. They stomp out individuality, which leads to drones. The absurdity of 1984 is the fact that with each decade, it comes closer and closer to becoming a reality is some form or another. The warning urges mankind to cling to individuality and freedom with passion. Individuality is the first thing the people lose in 1984.

When people lose their sense of self, they are easier to control. All forms of government and business know this. Branding is a big business because people love to connect with something. People are loyal to Apple computers, Ford vehicles, and Starbucks coffee. Individuality is repressed in Orwell's society and we see this with Winston. He begins to realize he has a free will and a personality independent from the Party.

He listens to that inner voice and asks questions about what is happening to the people on a grand scale. This is no easy task because Big Brother has worked tirelessly to erase any inklings of individuality. One way they do this is to eliminate any time people have alone. People behave differently when they know they are being watched and the Party uses this to keep people locked within conformity. People know are "being watched at any given moment.

It was conceivable that they watched everybody all the time" (Orwell 2). The party removes the people's sense of identity by keeping them reminded that they are never alone. This is a subtle sense of control because the government does not actually have to tell the people not to do anything because the people know they are being watched so they will stay on their best behavior anyway. There are no soldiers marching in the streets watching the people; there are no dark looming shadows pressing people to obey the government.

This power is expressed through Big Brother and there is no need to send soldiers into the streets. It strips power. Winston says, "Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimetres inside your skull" (24). This passage illustrates the oppressive nature of the party just with the presence of cameras. Orwell had a keen insight into what the future might hold, especially when we live in a day and age where people takes pictures of everything and post them to the web.

Generations are growing up comfortable with cameras in their faces and Google maps tracking movement via satellite. The most intriguing aspect of this notion is how our society is relaxed with being watched. It would not come as a surprise if we suddenly found out that the government was watching us from cameras planted on every lightpole on every street corner. Convincing the people that they are never alone regardless of where they are is the first step to removing any sense individuality.

People are less prone to behave like themselves because someone is watching. They next logical step is for the Party to get into the peoples' head as well. In 1984, this idea is demonstrated with Thought Police. It is certainly bad enough to never feel alone in one's own community but it even worse to never feel alone in one's own head. This idea is maddening, as Orwell illustrates through Winston.

He says, "At home and in bed in the darkness you were safe from the telescreen so long as you kept silent" (96-7). Here we see that Winston can only find time to think his own thoughts when the Party believes he is asleep. There is nothing more controlling than making people think they have no time to themselves and anything they think outside the permission of the Party is evil and wrong. This keeps people obeying the law because it is safe and comfortable there.

If people do not make any trouble, they will not get any trouble. Malcolm Pittock agrees adding the Party does not want anyone to be more than average. He writes: Any would-be rebel is disabled from the start. Formed by an inhuman society, he will already be infected by it because he is serving its purposes. Winston grasps the significance of the systematic falsification of the past by the regime, but he is not only actively engaged in it but actually enjoys it.

(Pittock) Pittock identifies how the Party controls the people through a system of modification. It takes serious thought for Winston to realize something is amiss. His ability to begin to think on his own the effort it takes for him to reach that point is what Orwell wants us to remember. Thinking is difficult and most people would rather not think about things that are difficult or troubling.

This is how people can be taken over: make them just comfortable enough to keep them marginally happy and they will not speak out because things are tolerable. Orwell warms of technology, plain and simple. This drives all action in 1984. Technology is a wonderful thing as we sit around with our wireless connections, working on our laptops in the park on a sunny spring day.