The novel, 1984 is about a place in the future
called, Oceania. This place is run by, “The Party.” The Party and all of Oceania is
ruled by Big Brother. The Party as well as the Thought Police keep the nation
under surveillance at all times. The government is able to pick up any sound
and watch the citizens by using a device called the telescreen. The protagonist
of the story is a 39-year old man named Winston. In mid-novel, Winston falls in
love with a dark-haired girl named Julia. They feel that their love is stronger
than The Party and nothing could stop them from loving each other. At the end
of the novel, their love is tested and unfortunately, The Party tortures them
so much that they betray each other and no longer share the feeling of love.
Winston has not only changed in appearance, but mentally he is different; So much,
that his overall perspective of The Party has changed, all due to Big Brother.
In chapter six of
part three, Winston has been released form the Ministry of Love. He half-way
enjoys a drink at the chestnut café. He ends up bumping into Julia at the park.
She seems disgusted with his presence and doesn’t really want to speak to him
any longer. She ends up talking to him and tells him that she has betrayed
Winston and how The Party drove her to really mean it. The Party drove her to
actually want her life more than the love they once had. Winston also tells her
that he has done the same act. There is an awkward silence and Julia makes an
excuse to leave. As Winston followed her, he lost sight of her and tried to
reconnect half-hearted. He then gives up and they never speak again. This is how
mental and physical torture can lead to the lost of love.
Love, in the
context meaning that we use today, was not the same love that is in Oceania.
The only type of “love” that existed in the world Orwell illustrated was the acceptance
of Big Brother. Big Brother and the Party have created a world where there are
no sentimental emotions. Oceania was founded and built on hatred. A love like
the one Julia and Winston once shared, cannot exist in a world that is full of
hatred and hurt-filled feelings. The Party knew that Winston and Julia shared a
love that was not allowed. The Party tortured out all of Winston’s feelings
toward Julia, leaving him emotionless. Because he was emotionless, he began to understand
the methods of Big Brother. Because he was emotionless, he was full of Big
Brother. Because he was emotionless, he accepted him. He loved Big Brother.
As I reflect on
this novel, I can connect it to George Orwell’s other literary work, Animal Farm. George Orwell uses both of
these novels to demonstrate how a dictatorship can lead to dreadful circumstances.
Also, he shows how some humans can react under bizarre leaderships. In the
book, Animal Farm, there was a farm
that was run by animals and there were two boar leaders, Snowball and Napoleon.
Napoleon ran Snowball off the farm and took charge. He made the animals work
very hard and gave them little to no food. He swore to them that life then was
much better than the time when the humans were in charge and the animals
ignorantly believed him. Through this, Orwell showed how ignorant citizens can
be when under a corrupt government. It connected to 1984 because The Party and Big Brother changed the past making the
citizens believe that they are in better shape than how they were before the
revolution. But, in this case, Winston and Julia aren’t so ignorant to this;
they know what is going on and now feels a spirit of rebellion against the
leaders, unlike the animals in Animal Farm.
Through these two novels, we can see that George Orwell is fascinated by different
forms of government. He clearly shows how, having one person in charge of
everything, is not very good. He demonstrates how one corrupt dictator can
completely ruin the nation as a whole. This is what I have gathered from the
ending of the novel, 1984.