Utopia: an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect. In the novel, 1984, written by George Orwell, Orwell warns the people of what can become of their society if there is no action taken against the government. The novel takes place in Oceania, where Winston Smith, a 39-year-old man lives his life in a negative utopia where you can’t even show emotions. With the perspective of third-person limited omniscient, you read the novel as if you are in it. The Party uses manipulation to gain more power over the citizens of Oceania by spying and using fear to diminish the people of their freedom.
The Party spies on their people in order to keep full control over everyone. Winston has lived in Oceania for 39 years and he began being spied on from a young age. He, as well as others, felt that “[keeping] your face expressionless was not difficult… but … tele-screen was quite delicate enough to pick [up your heartbeat] (79).” The people of Oceania have unconsciously taught themselves how to stay emotionless with their facial expressions but their bodies react naturally and it causes the fear of the government. Not only did the Party use technology to spy on their citizens but they also used the children of their Party members, “The children… were turned against their parents and taught to spy on them and report their deviations (133).” When the children spy on their parents and report back to the Party they think that they are helping their parents and they receive prizes and praise for turning people in. The children aren’t questioned causing them to have unintentional power over any adult and causing the Party to have even more eye/ears everywhere.
The Party uses the people’s paranoia against its citizens for more control over everyone. When the people of Oceania look around there is always a poster saying, “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU … (2).” The photo in itself shows that the people have no problem with the fact someone is always watching them and they are mindlessly loyal to the Party. Another point worth noting is that even if someone disagrees or dislikes the Party, “Any kind of organized revolt against the Party…[was] stupid (131).” Although not everyone may like the Party the people know not to rebel because it would only result in your disappearance or death, the people would rather have to follow the order of the Party than to think about going against them.
The Party creates fear in the people by telling them that spying and believing everything they’re told, without question, will create security in their lives. Everyone knows that “every sound you [make] was overheard, and, except [for] in darkness, every movement [was] scrutinized (3).” The people knew that they were watched and that they could be accused of betraying the Party with a simple twitch of the mouth or eye roll. The citizens of Oceania did not question anything the Party told them so Winston knew, “In the end, the Party would announce that two and two made five, and [everyone] would…believe it (80).” There is no proof that what the Party is saying is false so everyone always believes and follows the Party without any thought of them being wrong.
The freedom of the people in Oceania was reduced by the Party’s laws and actions. Winston stated, “Everything faded into mist. The past was erased, the era- sure was forgotten, the lie became truth (75).” The statement that the lies became truths shows that the Party has rewritten history and the only way to know if something is actually true is to see it yourself and have evidence that it was once there. The Party has the Ministry of Truth, where Winston works, and it is the place where all documents are changed to make the Party always correct. Not only does the Party control documents of actions but they controlled the documents of who exists and who doesn’t, “More commonly, people who had [shown their dislike] of the Party simply disappeared and were never heard of again (44).” The Party can make someone vanish into thin air and no one blinks an eye, they forget and they don’t question it.
The Party weakens the minds of their citizens by controlling what they see, hear, and say. The people follow and believe whatever the Party tells them. The slogans of the Party are “WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH (4).” The slogans teach the citizens that having rights of their own is wrong. That having no control over their own lives is what’s best for them, it causes the people do not have their own thoughts and opinions about their lives. Not only are the citizens controlled in their beliefs but they are also controlled in what they are allowed to speak. The people’s vocabulary is also controlled by the Party, “the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? …there will be no words in which to express [a thoughtcrime] (52).” This shows how Newspeak contributes to the way people are controlled to speak. Fewer words. Less thinking. Less betrayal.
The Party alters the minds of people in order to control them entirely. An example of how there are people that mindlessly trust the Party is, “Parsons [a] fellow-employee [of Winston’s] was a fattish but active man of paralysing stupidity… one of those completely unquestioning, devoted drudges on whom…the stability of the Party depended (22).” Without people like Parsons, the Party would lose a great portion of their followers. Having no questions about how things are run and just following orders no matter what they are is what an ideal citizen is like to the Party.
The novel, 1984, shows how the Party can spy on their citizens and utilize their paranoia in order to reduce their freedom to increase the Party’s control. No one likes to be manipulated, no one likes to be watched. In today’s society no matter where you go you can be followed and you can be watched. There are cameras everywhere you go. Question is will the government allow us to have our own opinions and freedom forever? Or will Orwell’s warning in the form of 1984 become true in our own society? Has it already?