An individual will live without worry until they are confronted by the possible future and so, the most meaningful texts are not those that affirm our beliefs, but confront them. George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four [1984] (1949) has enduring value with its warnings of surveillance, propaganda and abuse of language from authoritarian governments to control the masses, and their effects on society. Ultimately, his harrowing exploration of freedom in a dystopian world confronts the individual with the effects of allowing authoritarian governments to promote political awareness in the modern day.

Surveillance of an individual under a totalitarian regime results in the inability of the individual to rebel. During World War II, in Jewish ghettos, the Judenrat, a Jewish agency acted as an intermediary between the Nazi’s and the Jews and were responsible for deportation of other Jews. They were also tasked with quelling rebellion and reporting rebellious speech from other Jews to Nazi forces, effectively acting as a surveillance force for Nazi Germany and restricting speech from their fellow Jews. This idea of being watched at all times is present throughout the whole of 1984 through the omniscient telescreens, a symbol of the pervasion of surveillance within society, “with it’s never sleeping ear.” The anthropomorphism of the telescreen never sleeping, and having an ear serves to enforce the idea that not only an individual’s movement, but speech, and hence, thought is always being scrutinised. This idea that thought is being monitored is also present throughout the entirety of the text through the anonymous, “Thought Police,” a task force responsible for the apprehension of individuals with rebellious thoughts, acting as a symbol for the removal of free thought within individuals. To catch free-thinking and rebellious individuals such as Winston and Julia, The thought police engage in false-flag operations like The Brotherhood, a symbol for freedom and rebellion, and yet, ironically, O’Brien, whilst indoctrinating Julia and Winston foreshadows the fact that The Brotherhood is, “not an organisation in the ordinary sense,” but rather a surveillance tool to find free thinkers. During the latter half of 1984 Winston and Julia are caught by the Thought Police in the room rented above Mr Charrington’s store, revealing that Mr Charrington was a member of the Thought Police. Mr Charrington and his store are symbols of deception, and the nature of surveillance being found in unexpected locations. Through this, it is evident that Orwell is encouraging the reader to remain vigilant against surveillance, and warn of the dangers of surveillance on freedom.

Propaganda, manipulation of language and fear of the unknown serves as a way for those in positions of power to control thought and expression of ideas. Orwell had published his essay, “Politics and the English Language,” in 1946, prior to the writing of 1984, wherein he discusses the debasement of the English language by politicians to serve their own purposes. Further, Orwell had also been apart of the BBC between 1941 and 1943, writing propaganda to control the Indian population. This experience with propaganda is present within 1984 through The Two Minutes Hate, a daily ritual whereby a propaganda video against Emmanuel Goldstein, the leader of the rebels is played to encourage support of the Big Brother. The Two Minutes Hate induces ,“undirected emotion which could be switched from one object to another like the flame of a blowlamp,” the simile between the blowtorch and emotion accentuating the explosive and powerful nature of the emotion created by the propaganda, representing the way in which the thoughts and feelings of individuals can be manipulated by authoritarian governments. Propaganda is also seen within the posters of Big Brother with the slogan, “Big Brother is watching you,” to enforce the idea of surveillance, and position The Party as both omniscient and omnipotent. Big Brother is a representation of The Party, acting as a symbol for the vague actions of authoritarian regimes. This idea of the unknown is present throughout the entirety of the play, especially from the ironically named Ministry of Truth, whereby historical records, and even people are rewritten/removed to suit the ends of The Party, and Winston acknowledges, “Who controls the past, controls the future: who controls the present controls the past,” enforcing the idea that once an authoritarian government gains power, removing that power is virtually impossible. The ironically named Ministry of Love is another symbol of the unknown, and more precisely, the danger of the unknown, as, “One does not know what goes on in the Ministry of Love, but it was possible to guess: tortures, drugs…” confronts the individual with the idea that the unknown is dangerous, especially when dealing with those in positions in power, as Winston experienced with his mistaken expectation of meeting O’Brien in, “the place where there is no darkness,” a symbol of freedom from The Party, and instead meeting him in the artificially lit Ministry of Love where he would be tortured. The language of 1984 has been reduced from English, to Newspeak, a symbol of the degradation of the English language from authorities to prevent free thought and expression. This subversion of language whereby, “the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought,” confronts the individual with the way in which words are manipulated by those in a position of power to restrict thought and expression. Through the propaganda of Big Brother, Newspeak and the ironically named Ministries of Truth and Love, Orwell effectively demonstrates the dangers of propaganda, the unknown, and language from authoritarian governments, encouraging the responder to consider the way in which their thoughts are being manipulated by those in power.

The result of an authoritarian government, and loss of individual freedom is a brutalised society, devoid of empathy and compassion. The effect of the loss of freedom on the human psyche is seen within 1984 through Winston’s diary, a symbol of freedom of thought and expression, providing an insight into the minds of those in an oppressed society, an “Audience much amused by shots of a great huge fat man trying to swim away… then he was full of holes and the sea around him turned pink,” demonstrating the lack of empathy that the people living under The Party have. This lack of empathy is seen not only in adults, but also within the Parsons children who have complete power over their parents, and the other adults. This subversion of family roles, evidenced by the, “Look of fear,” on Mrs Parson’s face serves to represent the power an authoritarian government has to control the individual and indoctrinate the youth. Indoctrination of the youth was seen in Nazi Germany within Hitler’s Youth, a way to ensure that Nazi ideology was passed on and continued into the future, with a great emphasis on sacrifice for the cause. The Parson’s children are reminiscent of Hitler’s Youth, whereby they lack empathy and compassion, for anybody, enjoying seeing public hangings, and reminding Winston of, “tiger cubs which will soon grow up into man-eaters,” the simile between the children and tigers showing their violent tendencies as a result of their indoctrination into The Party’s regime. Whilst remembering his Mother and sister, Winston dwells upon them though the, “large eyes of his mother and his sister, looking up at him through the green water, hundreds of fathoms down and still sinking,” with his family being symbolic of love, empathy, loyalty and compassion being drowned and removed by the green water, a symbol of The Party and it’s regime being accepted by Winston. Despite Winston and Julia’s vow to never separate, their eventual breakdown once they are exposed to, “Something you can’t stand up to,” leads to the revelation that under a brutalised society, “All you care about is yourself,” to further demonstrate that under an authoritarian regime, there is an inevitable breakdown of compassion, empathy and relationships. Hence, it is evident that Orwell is confronting the individual with the breakdown of interpersonal relationships and the subversion of morals within an oppressed society.

Ultimately, Orwell’s 1984 confronts the responder with warnings of how propaganda, surveillance and the degradation of language leads to loss of freedom, and the way in which this loss of freedom leads to a brutalised society, devoid of empathy and compassion, encouraging political awareness.