The novel 1984, written by George Orwell, is a fascinating political story about a totalitarian government. The main character, Winston Smith, is a man who is against the Party and tries to rebel in many different ways. One way he does so is by socializing with another woman named Julia. He gets himself caught with Julia by a telescreen and eventually they both are taken to the Ministry of Love, getting tortured on the way there. Although this book has a mind-grasping plot to follow, it also holds a much deeper meaning in its context. Every single book had some sort of a motive behind it being written. Likewise, George Orwell had a reason behind writing 1984, and that was to warn people about what the world could potentially be turning in to. In addition, it also shows what would happen in the real world if something similar were to occur. In the book, O'Brien once says, "Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past" (248). He means to say how the history and the future go hand-in-hand sometimes because by learning about their past, people are careful not to repeat the same mistakes in the future. Also, he shows how in the present moment, certain people have the power to change the past, whether it be with words, actions, or sayings. This gives us an example of how a totalitarian government can easily be controlled by people who have the power and knowledge to do so. To reiterate, George Orwell had a powerful thought,
Page 2 which lead to the creation of this book, and in addition, leads into the theme of the novel as well. Orwell's main idea of this book is about mind control, brainwashing, and how people would go through a great extent to get what they want. The book uses the idea of Newspeak and doublethink to get this point across. As O'Brien states on Newspeak, "In the end, the whole notion of goodness and badness will be covered by only six words—in reality, only one word" (51). Just by using a new and a less wordy language, the party is already trying to limit the number of things a person can say and eventually think. The thinking aspect goes along with doublethink and how, "...already he would have forgotten his denial of remembering it, and forgotten the act of forgetting" (247). By making people contradict their own thoughts, and by limiting ideas and language, the Party is already on its way of controlling every mind out there. Winston slowly starts to fall into this mess near the end when O'Brien captures him in the Ministry of Love. The theme of brainwashing for control advances throughout the plot in different ways. One major difference was how in the