Methods of playing with power in 1984:
Control of the media, information, language, history, arts, fiction, memory, thoughts and feelings. Truth is an important tool in the hands of the party. The ministry of truth is the centre for controlling people and enforcing its desirers for absolute power on the people of Oceania.
Construction of systems of surveillance, rewards and punishments.
Censorship of eroticism and love relationships through the manipulation of an individuals thoughts and feelings.
This is used to eliminate any feelings of loyalty for another that may conflict with the loyalty to the Party/Big Brother
The perversity of power:
This is the dominant theme in 1984. Power has an omni presence which corrupts all things associated with it. Ingsoc aims to maintain absolute power by depleting all individuals of power. The main elements used to deplete the proles of power are war, poverty and the nature of their class whereas Outer party members are controlled more by personal restrictions such as language, thought, sexuality and relationships.
Their concern is with pure, continuous power at all costs eliminating the possibility of a shift in power.
Structure:
The strength of 1984 lies not in its plot or its characters but in its ability to overwhelm with description. It is set in London in the year 1984. We learn in the first few pages that the environment surrounding the main character, Winston Smith is unfriendly and depressing; The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats. At one end of it a coloured poster, too large for indoor display had been tacked to the wall. It depicted simply an enormous face, more than a metre wide: the face of a man of about forty-five, with a heavily black moustache and ruggedly handsome features One each landing opposite the life shaft, he poster with the enormous face gazed from the wall. It was one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHNG YOU, the caption beneath it ran.
There are several chapters in the novel which do not in any respect advance the plot. They serve the singular purpose of embellishing the gloominess of the environment. In this way the structure of the novel parallels with the notion of the individual (Winston) shrinking under the weight of authority (powerplay).
The partys ideology concerning power:
Instead of power as a means to an end, the Part has eliminated the end to ensure the perpetual maintenance of power. Their concern is with pure, continuous power at all cost eliminating the possibility of a shift in power.
Another distortion of power is revealed by OBrien. He believes that power is collective, that individuals can have no power as individuals due to the inevitability of death. It is only when the individual is enmeshed in a new body such as the Party, which in itself has the power of eternal life, that the individual can be free from mortality and thus powerful. Power is not maintained for the vision of life, it is maintained for its own end.
Power through war:
War in 1984 has become a useful tool in the control of citizens rather than a means of expanding power. It is a focus for all the negativity the Party nurtures in its citizens. In the case of the Proles, this negativity is due to poverty and status; and in the case of the Party members, suppressed personal freedom. the war serves as the perfect scapegoat channelling peoples dissatisfaction away from the Party and Big Brother
The power of propaganda:
The perpetual war is an agreement between the Super-States enabling them to control their own people. Winstons challenge to OBrien on this issue reveals his naivety and represents the ignorance of his peers with respect to the war. What about Eurasia and Eastasia? You have not conquered them yet. OBriens reply is dismissive. Unimportant. We shall conquer them when it suits us. And if we did not, what difference would it make? This passage illuminates Winstons frailty and vulnerability and makes us realise the impossibility of his plight because of the gulf of power that separates the individual from the Party.
The power of hysteria:
The war is one of the chief methods used in the control of the Proles. The firing of rocket bombs into prole villages on a regular basis jolts their usual state of apathy to maintain some form of quilibrium. The proles, normally apathetic about the war, were being lashed into one of their periodical frenzies of patriotism. In addition, it lowers their expectations of life because their lives are always at risk through war. Their primary concern is survival, which subsequently narrows their focus to such an extent that they are powerless to think beyond this issue.
The power of rationing:
Poverty enables the Party to reduce the proles to such a base level that they are incapable of thinking beyond their own survival. This is enhanced further by war. Rationing of basic essentials such as food poses a constant threat to survival. Here in London, the great mass of people never had enough to eat from birth to death. The proles are only just able to make ends meet and the constant stress this places on them saps them of any energy to rise up against their situation. They are so physically and mentally worn down by their unsatisfactory lives that they are in no position to contemplate further sacrifice through rebellion.
The structure of power through class:
The structure of the state determines the methods of power used to keep all groups in society under complete control. Oceania is an oligarchical society with elements of capitalism. There exists a lower, middle and upper class with a head of state known as Big Brother. The proles, an abbreviation for proletarians meaning less privileged social class, are the lowest class, and are permitted personal freedoms such as sex and are not constantly monitored by telescreens. They are controlled by the party through war, poverty and the stigma of their class. The proles are forced to remain within the realms of their class and since they are denied the resources necessary to develop themselves intellectually, they remain powerless.
Outer party members are oppressed on a more personal level. Their relative intelligence to the proles is recognised and therefore they are constantly monitored by telescreens, Thought Police and Spies. In addition, language, independent thought, sexuality and relationships are restricted to such an extent that Outer Party members in most cases have become completely docile members of society ever-willing to serve the Party.
The oppression of language:
The process of undermining the power of language is called Newspeak. The aim of the Party where language is concerned is to eventually convert the entire population to newspeak by 2050. Were destroying words scores of them, hundreds of them, everyday. Were cutting the language down to the bone.
Throughout the novel, Orwell illustrates how language empowers through the character of Winston. 1984 begins with Winston beginning to write in a diary. The progress of Winstons expression can be monitored throughout the next few chapters and linked to his progress of thought were ultimately this leads him to recovering his humaness. Language empowers Winston to proceed in his rebellion and search for meaning.
The oppression of thought:
Language is intricately related to thought. It is a major threat to Ingsoc because it purveys meaning and stimulates thought. Theis empowers the individual and is a potential threat to the focus of the Party. The choice of words and meaning that language offers, enables individuals to use language to reflect their individuality. This undermines the Partys ultimate goal to reduce individuals to sameness. The use of the English language poses a constant threat to the incidence of thoughtcrime.
Another major adulteration of thought is doublethink, a process whereby individuals are expected to tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it become necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is needed. This process gives the Party power over reality, for reality is what the Party chooses it to be. Independent thought is reliant on the presence of reality. When this reality is altered in any way, confusion replaces creativity.
The oppression of sexuality:
The Party alters the power derived from sexuality, perverting it to serve its own purposes. This is removed by removing all pleasure from the sexual act. All positive feelings associated with sex are removed and replaced with negative ones which are then channelled through Party activities such as the Two Minutes Hate. This process occurs through the indoctrination of youth by the Junior Anti Sex League. In adults, sexuality is suppressed by disallowing marriages were couples are attracted to each other and making sex a crime, (sexcrime).
Winston and Julias first sexual experience together runs a similar course to that of Winstons diary. Their love making is awkward, ridged and lacking any sensuality. However, of most importance is that the power derived from their experience is not lost. Their embrace had been a battle, their climax a victory. It was a blow struck against the Party. It was a political act. Later sexual experiences between Winston and Julia involve them more completely. Their minds as well as their bodies are feeding off the power of their sexuality.
Julia is interested in rebelling for the purpose of her own pleasure and happiness within the current societal structure, whereas Winston requires validation from others and can not find complete satisfaction on an individual level. Unlike Winston, she had grasped the inner meaning of the Partys sexual Puritanism. It was not merely that the sex instinct created a world of its own which was outside the Partys control, when you make love youre using up energy; and afterwards you feel happy and dont give a damn for anything. They cant bear you to feel like that. They want you to be bursting with energy all the time. All this marching up and down and cheering and waving flags is simply sex gone sour.
Julias pursuit of her individuality through sex may be seen as less noble than Winstons taking on the responsibility of the injustices imposed on humanity. However, perhaps Julias pursuit is really the wisest as it poses less risk and undermines the Partys doctrine in a more insidious way.
The oppression of relationships:
In 1984 the issue of power in relationships is an important one. Although the most obvious focus of power and relationships is the Partys goal to extinguish the bond between human beings, securing their focus on Party activities, Orwell provides an interesting twist in the relationship between Winston and Julia.
There is extreme irony in Winstons and Julias relationship. Julias expression of her sexuality with others before meeting Winston, enabling her to maintain a strong sense of herself. However, the gulf that exists between them is an undermining factor. This gulf is acknowledged by Winston Youre only a rebel from the waist down but not fully understood. The irony is that Julia sacrifices the power of her individuality to Winston by giving herself to him unconditionally, eventually allowing him to take complete control.
There is irony in that the bond of relationships represents a threat to the party because they enable people to gain strength through unity. However, due to the unequal distribution of power in Julias and Winstons relationship, their unity is destructive to themselves rather than the Party.
The world of 1984:
The strangeness of the world created by Orwell is apparent from the first sentence in the text with its reference to clocks striking thirteen. The author is determined to stress the ugliness of the natural and artificial surroundings. The wind is vile, the hallway smells of boiled cabbage and old rag mats, and the protagonist has a varicose ulcer above his right ankle.
Along with the twenty-four hour clock, Orwell gradually provides other aspects of a society that has become more homogenous.
Very early on we are given descriptions of the four ministries established by the Party, which is never given a name but the term Ingsoc suggests English socialism:
o The Ministry of Peace (Minipax), directs welfare
o The Ministry of Truth (Minitrue), rewrites history
o The Ministry of Plenty (Miniplenty), controls economic matters, especially rationing
o The Ministry of Love (Miniluv), is responsible for maintaining law and order.
In a piece of typically black comedy, Orwell refers to the Ministry of Love as the really frightening one for it is here that rebellious citizens are tortured until they conform to Party ideals.
Peoples energies and frustrations are able to be channelled against Goldstein in the Two Minutes Hate Sessions. Attending one of these, Winston finds it impossible not to join in the uncontrollable exclamations of rage and that a hideous ecstasy of fear and vindictiveness, a desire to kill, to torture, turned one even against ones will into a grimacing, screaming lunatic.
Sex is considered a form of irrationality and chastity is seen as the highest ordeal.
The party interferes and alters what we would regard as normal human relationships, taking away individual freedoms. Privacy is restricted due to cameras in rooms, microphones hidden in the countryside and the psychological impact of the enormous photographs of Big Brother.
Those who do not adhere to the Partys version of truth are vaporised, but for the majority of Outer Party members and proles, this is an unlikely occurrence.
Language:
Orwell uses a number of stylistic techniques to emphasise the way that the manipulation of language is used as a tool of power by the Party.
Usually a third person, omniscient narrative style is employed in the text, but there are other methods of writing used.
Passages such the description of workers parading through the streets voicing their gratitude to Big Brother for the happy new life which his wise leadership had bestowed deliberately adopt the tone of propaganda are found at various places in the text.
The most lengthy example of propaganda used in the novel is Goldsteins The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism where a distinctive tone is used by Orwell. The sentences are balanced and the pretence is that we are reading a work of historical and political analysis. The book has a great impact on Winston, an impact that is later affected by the revelation that OBrien was largely responsible for the text.
HOPE THIS HELPS IN ANY WAY?? LEESH X X X
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