How does Orwell describe and analyze the future in the novel 1984?
Orwell paints a very bleak vision of the future. It is a future where a once powerful nation is constantly in a state of war. Oceania's citizenry have been stripped of all civil rights and must show complete loyalty to 'Big Brother'. It is a society where truth can only be found through the dogma of the governing party. Indeed, the very language of the society (Newspeak) is moulded to create a citizenry which can be constantly manipulated. Compassion, creativity, privacy and individuality are all completely absent in the society of the future which Orwell created.
"It was a good hanging," said Syme reminiscently. "I think it spoils it when they tie their feet together. I like to see them kicking. And above all, at the end, the tongue sticking right out, and blue - a quite bright blue. That's the detail that appeals to me." (p. 52).
Characterization and setting are used very effectively by Orwell to ceate his vision of a...
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dystopian society. The misery and monotony of theprotagonistWinston's life is described in vivid detail, while the irony of a society which contains Thoughtpolice, a Ministry of Love and a Ministry of Truth is quite chilling.
Orwell's vision of the future is basically a satirical take on the erosion of civil rights and dangers of overt nationalism and cult followings.
What future visions are portrayed in Orwell's 1984?
The proposed future that George Orwell offers in 1984is one in which everything, from the atmospheric backdrop, to the thought processes, language, and human relations of each individual are manipulated and controlled by a ruling political party.
Orwell shows a future, dystopian society which is easily dominated, indoctrinated, and manipulated. The motivation behind the social submission of each individual lies in the spread of a false sentiment of patriotism from a party that promises to take care of its own. Most of the strength of the party comes, ironically, from children. This is because children are indoctrinated from a very young age to comply with the ethos of the Oceania party, which is:
"WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH."
Hence, the way in which the government of Big Brother puts these axioms into practice is through the control of the very basic actions that people conduct in human life.
The party creates rules that make people liable for conducting typical behaviors. This is how the crimes of "facecrime" and "thoughtcrime" come into play. With "facecrime", you are guilty if found making any facial expression that is deemed to go against anything that the party believes in. Similarly, "thoughtcrime" is the commission crime from thinking or creating opinions regarding the party. Along with the control of thought and expression, comes the control of language.
The creation of specific vocabulary eliminates the possibility of people creating meaning for words and, instead, they would simply follow along with the mandates of the party. In Syme's own words, by controlling the common language, the party aims to
narrow[ing] the range of thought
Even procreation is an act of political interest. Sexual instinct is to be reprimanded and mating is merely for the purpose of procreation. This eliminates the possibility for human bonding which could (in the party's opinion) propitiate a revolt caused by bands of people who are emotionally connected. Children are so well-manipulated into the government's ways that they are in control of the households, basically, by threatening their parents to accuse them of insubordination should they express or say anything against the party.
In all, Orwell models Big Brother and the Oceania Party after the likes of Mao Tse-tung, Hitler, and other communist models of government that base their power on a "divide and conquer" strategy. He sees the future world as one which could easily be led to become controlled in its entirety, since each individual would lack common sense, philosophical and emotional exposure and essential knowledge. The lack of these elements render people dangerously prone to domination. Orwell uses the dystopia in 1984 to mirror how his "future" is not too distant from our past. This is is why we must acknowledge it, so that we shall never repeat it.
This is a difficult question to answer because of all the many bad points we can extract from Orwell's1984.If we were to list good points about the future from this story's perspective we might mention the two-way televisions in the walls of apartments. That is pretty amazing that Orwell thought of that clear back in the mid-twentieth century; and, here we have many things like that today! Orwell seemed almost prophetic with the two-way televisions. Another good point about the future would be that even though it gets crushed, love still rises from the depths of people's souls, individual doubts and inquiry still rise from people's brains, and seeking personal freedom will always exist. Sadly, the book is more of a warning that we will lose those good, individual qualities and freedoms if we don't fight for them before they take complete control of society.