1984 is an anti-utopia by George Orwell, which aims at portraying a totalitarian regime where people live in constant fear and oppression of the political elite. The novel explores the theme of individuality oppression by presenting a society, where people’s conscience and beliefs are corrupted, having a sense of individuality is unneeded, wishing for freedom of speech and thought is illegal while opposing the party and disobeying its rules means risking one’s life. Winston, however, is one of the few, if not the only, people who understand the need for individualism. Winston attempts to rebel and change the system, but in the end, he fails and gives in to the terror and becomes a part of the collective identity, The Party.
The anti-utopia, or the dystopia, concentrates on criticizing a political regime that corrupts one’s conscience, rejects the very idea of having a sense of individuality, and aims at eliminating everything that makes people unique. The novel 1984 relates a story about 39-year-old Winston Smith who lives in Oceania, a state where everything is under government control – history, family, sex, social life, thoughts, and feelings. In this world, people cannot express their individuality, whether in a written or oral form. But being a thinking individual Winston needs to share his ideas. So, he reveals his thoughts cautiously, for example, by writing them into a diary. This was one of his acts of rebellion: “he was about to do to open a diary…it would be punished by death” (Orwell 6). The novel represents a world where having a sense of identity is no longer needed and is even considered to be a crime.
Individuality is also oppressed by the goal of annihilating anything that makes people unique: “Orthodoxy means not thinking-not needing to think” (Orwell 59). Therefore, the novel 1984 demonstrates individuality oppression by challenging general concepts of conscience, making individuality expression illegal and portraying a society where a sense of individuality is rendered somewhat redundant. Thoughts are dangerous, to The Party, because by thinking and analyzing the reality, people may realize what the true intentions of the Party are and then rebel against the injustice. Thus, The Party seeks to stay in power is by denying human beings their individuality, eradicating independent thought through the use of propaganda and terror.
1984 shows how a political party makes individuality and uniqueness illegal by prohibiting the freedom of thought and speech as well as depriving people of the most basic liberties of life. For example, 1984 shows the danger of wishing to the freedom of thought when living in an oppressive environment: “And what was terrifying was not that they would kill you for thinking otherwise, but that they might be right” (Orwell 90). Orwell’s novel is a proof of the fact that political power can take away the most fundamental liberties of life, such as freedom of individual thought and expression, while at the same time instilling deep fear inside the minds of people.
At work one day, Winston comes across O’Brien, a member of the Inner Party, who Winston believes is also a rebel, and practices thought crime. His beliefs seems to be correct when O’Brien later meets him again, and gives him a book written by Goldstein, principal enemy of the state according to The Party. He says to himself that “the best books, he perceived are those that tell you what you know already” (Orwell, 208). He reads this book non-stop, and even tries to get Julia, his lover, involved, but she unlike him is not interested in over throwing The Party. Winston connately reads this book and commits thought crime.
Later, it turns out that O’Brien is not a thought criminal or a rebel, but he works for the Ministry of Love, where people are tortured. Winston is shook, but he doesn’t betray his lover, Julia, just like he promised. As the years go by, Winston and O’Brien talk and Winston tell him about the things the party does, about history, and why it is important that no person is an individual. O’Brien talks about his work, and it seems he actually believes that torture is a tool for good. He talk about how the party only wants power for power, and nothing else. He says: “
The party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power.” (Orwell, )
The most powerful tool of control is, of course, fear. Under the threat of being put into prison or vaporized, people start fearing their thoughts and emotions. This how Winston ends up giving into the collective identity. He is terrified of the rats getting closer to his face, and of the torture, which is why he betrays Julia: “Do it to Julia! Not to me! I don’t care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me!” (Orwell, ). At this point, Winston has lost all hope for change and bringing The Party down. All Winston wants, now, is for the torture to end; He truly wants Julia to take his place. It is the last piece in making Winston a true believer of The Party. O'Brien tortures Winston for seven years, during which Winston is stripped of his individuality, making him a blind follower, with no allegiance expect towards The Party.
At the end, Winston becomes the thing he hated the most, a mindless follower of The Party. He says to himself: “..the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.”(Orwell, ). O’Brien had told him, it was not enough to fear The Party, he had to love Big Brother, and in the end he does. By teaching him to dismiss any thoughts and emotions against The Party.
To conclude, Orwell’s novel presents a society where a totalitarian regime tries annihilating the very notion of individuality and the impact it makes on social life. At the end, Winston falls victim to the individuality oppression, and becomes a part of The Inner Party, the collective identity. Winton, just like others in 1984, no longer has any original thoughts, personal preferences, and his own view of the world.