"BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU..." (3)
Nineteen Eighty-four by George Orwell follows the life of a middle-aged man named Winston Smith who lives under the eye of Big Brother - the head of the Party and governmental force of Oceania. Winston, like all other members of Oceania, is followed everywhere he goes by way of two-way telescreens and concealed microphones to ensure no thoughtcrime is being committed, as it is a crime punished by torture or death. Despite the everyday threats he faces, Winston decides to write his thoughts against the Party inside a diary. Over time Winston meets Julia and they engage in a rebellion by performing multiple accounts of extramarital intercourse. They continue this rebellion in a room Winston rented away from the watchful eye of Big Brother... or so they thought. Winston and Julia are captured for their deceitful acts then sent to the Ministry of Love where they are tortured and brainwashed into loving Big Brother.
In the novel Nineteen Eighty-four, the people of Oceania are given two choices: be tortured and brainwashed, or be brainwashed. This tells me that the government holds such a strong power over its citizens that the decision as to whether or not a person wants to conform is unheard of. This inability to choose and his realization of how the government really works in Oceania causes Winston the need to rebel in some way. As all history of rebels in Oceania tells, Winston got caught for his thoughtcrime and extramarital relations. In order to conform in Winston's case he had to suffer by way of starvation, lost teeth, and a lost love. There were plenty of citizens in Oceania who did not feel the need to rebel however, such as Tom Parsons. Tom Parsons had conformed so much so that he was proud of his snitching daughter that caused Parsons own imprisonment. In this society, suppressed feelings of rebellion can be heard should a person talk in their sleep (like Parsons who said, "Down with Big Brother" during his night's rest), resulting in constant fear of ones' life. If the citizens of Oceania know what the suppressed feelings could cause they would hope to be utterly brainwashed, therefore wanting to conform.
In the novel Nineteen Eighty-four, the people of Oceania are given two choices: be tortured and brainwashed, or be brainwashed. This tells me that the government holds such a strong power over its citizens that the decision as to whether or not a person wants to conform is unheard of. This inability to choose and his realization of how the government really works in Oceania causes Winston the need to rebel in some way. As all history of rebels in Oceania tells, Winston got caught for his thoughtcrime and extramarital relations. In order to conform in Winston's case he had to suffer by way of starvation, lost teeth, and a lost love. There were plenty of citizens in Oceania who did not feel the need to rebel however, such as Tom Parsons. Tom Parsons had conformed so much so that he was proud of his snitching daughter that caused Parsons own imprisonment. In this society, suppressed feelings of rebellion can be heard should a person talk in their sleep (like Parsons who said, "Down with Big Brother" during his night's rest), resulting in constant fear of ones' life. If the citizens of Oceania know what the suppressed feelings could cause they would hope to be utterly brainwashed, therefore wanting to conform.