Faced with the rise of Nazism and Stalinism, George Orwell warns that humanity, once lost to these autocracies, can never be reclaimed. Orwell’s 1984 stands as a timeless warning to all humanity of the evil of totalitarian government as he particularly focuses on the intricate aspects of a corrupt political system seen through his perspective and therefore through his context making a statement through his authentic characters and personas. Orwell’s preoccupation with social conditions and social structure of the condition he was writing may be biased, however the characters Winston, Julia and Big Brother communicate the different voices as a part of the English Socialist Party of Oceania, Ingsoc. The individual experiences symbolise the various attitudes towards influences made by the centralised system of the government of England during the period when emerging towards the rule of Soviet Russia.
Winston is Orwell’s protagonist and the central eyes to see the human experiences in a dystopian world. As Winston is firm on his hatred towards the party, he follows all hope to the point of betrayal. Winston confesses, “If the Party could thrust its hand into the past and say of this or that event, it never happened – that, surely, was more terrifying than mere torture and death?” Structured as a stream of consciousness the commas, rhetorical question, the audience are able to portray this. The characters critical tone further conveys the over normality of Winston’s persona who can think for himself and have personal morals and principals. Creating sympathy towards the character, Winston also allows the readers to have thoughts to relate to and have a perception. Dealing with his rebellious, actions and thoughtcrime, Winston portrays the human nature to want to live, "Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don't care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Julia! Not me!" The imperative voice, constant exclamation marks and repetition portray Winston aiming to reassure himself that this action is right, to not think about the consequences. The form of betrayal represents how torture, and constant defeat of an individual can arise for own to do anything for their own life. The experiences Winston goes through represents the extent one can go before their defeat of conformity.
Exaggerating the trends of the contemporary trends of Nazism and Stalinism, Orwell’s bleak perspective is evident in his cynicism and the creation of Big Brother which greatly represents the absolute power achieved by restricting all human experiences. The slogans chosen by the party, upon which the theory of government rests, are typical of the falsity and hypocrisy of their reign of terror: “WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY AND IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.” The mantra invokes the use of paradox. Completely against the morals of the modern society, the incomprehensible slogans followed by the people symbolise Orwell’s attitude towards the Nazi Germany and the Soviet Russia’s domination of Eastern Europe whilst warning the readers of the destruction communism can bring. Obrien states during Winston’s torture, “The party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others: we are interested solely in power…only power, pure power.” The transition of the narrative voice approaches the reader in a more intimidating manner when going from the third to first as Obrien’s sentences become more truncated. The overpowering tone constantly reinforces the mood of stark monotony as the word “power” is almost said as if recited as the voice of big brother. As the political paradigm of “pure power” becomes more personal, the dehumanisation of the characters become more discern. As Winston questions the vulnerability of society, he reasons how, “Parsons swallowed it easily, with the stupidity of an animal.” Big Brothers already infected indoctrination of humanity and humanities helplessness is explicit through zoomorphism. Orwell’s depreciating diction “swallowed it easily” further depicts these outcomes to be the result of passivity, reminiscent of Britain’s earlier policy of appeasement towards Hitler. Big Brothers absolute power for power shows the sacrifices of human experiences. Winston is demanded, “Never again will you be capable of ordinary human feeling. Everything will be dead inside you. Never again will you be capable of love… or courage, or integrity.” Grafting high modality onto polysyndeton, the imperitive voice and authoritative diction, conveys the Big Brother’s determination to destroy all things in the path to absolute power. Orwell asserts dehumanisation as an extrapolation of totalitarianism.
Julia is symbolic of the reflection of conformity through the defiance to the Party’s rules and the restoration of human values and individuality. Julia treats her rebellious acts as being better than the party as she emphasises her “impurity” as something to be proud of and a big part of her authenticity. Stating, “You thought I was a good party member. Pure in word and deed”, “Girls are always supposed to be so pure. Here’s one who isn’t, anyway.” Julia’s sarcastic tone conveys her slightly irritated and offended attitude towards Winston who assumed the stereotypes of a “good party member” also applied to her. Julia therefore asserts her rebellion towards the party by fulfilling her sexual desires, emphasising herself to be different to others through her statement, “Here’s one who isn’t.” Julia’s desire to have a sense of identity is further conveyed through the confident tone in the line, “I’m going to be a woman, not a party comrade.” However, the future tense implies that her passion of individualism is still not completely stable due to the inevitable oppression of the Party’s laws and Big Brother’s surveillance. The firm determination to rebel against the party is represented through her desires to be herself,” with silk stockings and high-heeled shoes.” The visual imagery highlights her desires for self-esteem and independence which reflects the shift of woman’s role from domestic tasks to a range of occupations post WW2 in Europe. Julia and her rebellious attitude, dissent towards the party and desire for independence provides glimpses of hope throughout the novel which represents women raising their voices during and after WW2 which caused the second wave of women rights in 1960.
Orwell’s vision of a nightmare of a dictatorial future are heavily influenced on post war England. His voice on this period is made through his characters and their experiences in the perfect dystopia he has created and a totalitarian government which no individual can meet the standards. Winston an individual who expresses his hatred towards the party before defeat is the protagonist. Julia a party member who values individualism and represents the women in post-world war who also becomes silenced. Big Brother the ruler of society, destroys all individualism which represents the daunting future of Europe once conforming to the Russian Soviet Union. Through the characters of 1984 and their experiences, Orwell addresses his last warning to humanity to not conform to communism.