In 1984. Orwell makes first-class usage of symbolism to farther heighten the novel’s subjects. Orwell wrote 1984 as a political message to warn future coevalss about the dangers of totalitarian societies. He desperately relays this message through assorted subjects. and in bend utilizes powerful symbols to give these subjects farther significance. Psychological and physical control is a subject that Orwell sacredly includes throughout the novel. Symbols such as doublethink and the telescreens provide a direct connexion to this subject. Another subject apparent in 1984 is that of rational rebellion and the desire to diverge against a higher authorization. Orwell. through Winston’s diary and glass paperweight. manages to utilize these symbols to help in the portraiture this subject.
One of the party’s chief ends is to command its people’s ideas. By intentionally weakening one’s remembrance of the past and deluging their heads with propaganda. the Party is able to replace individuals’ memories with its ain version of the truth. Winston. nevertheless. battles to seek and retrieve his history. He is relentless in seeking to do sense of what has happened to the universe. In bend. he buys a glass paperweight in an old-timer shop. which symbolizes his effort to link with the yesteryear. “And when memory failed and written records were falsified? when that happened. the claim of the Party to hold improved the conditions of human life had got to be accepted. because there did non be. and ne’er once more could be. any criterion against which it could be tested. ” This is when Winston. after discoursing with an old adult male. realizes that the Party has intentionally set out to weaken people’s memories in order to command their fabricated version of the present.
When The Thought Police arrests Winston for his efforts to remember the yesteryear. the glass paperweight shatters. It is as if all his political orientations and hopes to do sense of the universe have excessively shattered. Since the party maintains such control over its citizens. an single caught believing against what the party deems as acceptable. can be arrested and punished. Similar to the paperweight. the dust besides represents Winston’s effort to link with the past and intellectually arise against Big Brother. Winston and Julia met in a dust-covered room in the Prole territory of Oceania. The Proles stand for what life was like before the revolution. and before The Party came into power because they live uncontrolled lives. Yet. they excessively symbolize hope. Winston hopes that the Proles will one twenty-four hours lift up against Big Brother and restore freedom to all citizens. The paperweight. the dust and the Proles each represent Winston’s cognition that there exists a higher significance other than Large Brother. Consequently. throughout the novel he reveals this to readers. An illustration of this is when he subconsciously writes “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” five times in his diary.
Furthermore. the diary in which Winston dutifully writes his innermost feelings in. represents the forbidden but besides ties into the subject of control. Big Brother has such restrain over his citizens. that a mere look of free idea. or efforts to remember past events. are considered to be serious thought offenses. In composing in his diary. Winston basically Rebels against Big Brother. He knows that it is a terrible offense in The Party’s eyes. but does so anyway. In his diary. Winston writes things that allow readers to believe that he recognizes the dangers of the society he lives in. The party’s ends of complete psychological and physical control over people are excessively much for Winston to manage hence he expresses these beliefs on paper.
He writes. “Freedom is the freedom to state that two plus two make four. ” Because doublethink has been introduced by Big Brother to basically brainwash the populace. the above statement is non considered true. The Party. through doublethink. attempts to do citizens believe that two plus two peers five. which is clearly false. For this ground. Winston’s journal provides him with a impermanent out. an flight from his corrupted universe.
In 1984. Orwell includes ministries that are responsible for assorted things. Their names nevertheless. contradict their maps. The Ministry of Peace encourages war. the Ministry of Truth produces propaganda. and the Ministry of Love operates based on Acts of the Apostless of anguish and penalty. This construct. known as doublethink is The Party’s method of absolute control. Orwell uses doublethink to portray the brainwashing techniques totalitarian authoritiess exercising. Doublethink has lead citizens to believe that two plus two peers five. As the Party’s psychological control techniques break down an individual’s ability to believe freely. it becomes possible for that person to believe anything they are told. and this is the ultimate signifier of psychological control.
Merely as doublethink symbolizes psychological control in 1984. the telescreens represent the facet of physical control The Party has over its citizens. The telescreens provide a faceless surveillance window into each person’s life. These devices are wholly perfected in that they can observe about anything. even the whipping of one’s bosom. “You could non command the external respiration of your bosom. and the telescreens was rather delicate plenty to pick it up” Because the telescreens can ne’er be turned off. occupants of Oceania are invariably monitored. They symbolize the bodily power the party has over its people. Their ubiquity gives persons no freedom whatsoever and Orwell uses them to warn his readers about the lengths a oppressive authorities will travel to. to derive entire physical control over its people.
Through the usage of symbolism. Orwell assists in relaying his political message to readers. The Party inundations occupants of Oceania with psychological motive designed to overpower the mind’s capacity for independent idea. It besides uses advanced methods of engineering to command one’s every move. Yet Winston. who although is more or less controlled by Big Brother. manages to somewhat diverge. Furthermore. Orwell portrays the subjects of rational rebellion and ultimate control through the usage of many alone symbols. The paperweight. the Proles and the dust all show Winston’s desire to link with the yesteryear. something wholly forbidden by The Party.
Along the same lines. Winston’s diary besides acts as a symbol to exemplify his desire to arise. Whereas doublethink symbolizes the psychological control Big Brother had on his people. the telescreens symbolize the physical control he had over his topics. Orwell’s chief end in composing 1984 was to warn future coevalss about the dangers of totalitarian authoritiess. He efficaciously does so by integrating subjects. which correspondingly embrace symbolism. All of these symbols give 1984’s subjects strength and deeper penetration into the novel.
