Individualism In 1984

George Orwell’s novel, 1984, is set in an alternate Dystopian future of the world that sees the entirety of the planet dominated by three global powers, Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia. The governments of these Superpowers control the lives of the common citizen through ideologies such as Ingsoc, Neo-Bolshevism, and Death-worship. In the Real World, some critics of government have used the term Orwellian to describe any government that seeks to limit freedoms or control its population; however, This level of control over the population has never before been seen in any government, and using Orwellian to describe a modern government is far more harsh and extreme then is needed. A closer examination of the novel and Oceania's government show how …show more content…
The government of Oceania has developed a society that revolves almost entirely around Big Brother. Big Brother is hailed as the God of their society, they worship him, rely on him for strength, he represents goodness, and stands against the evil of the world. The concerns of the individual do not matter, so long as the idea of Big Brother, and consequently, the Party, are upheld. While Winston is being tortured in the Ministry of Truth, O’Brien explains to Winston how his individualism has detached him from the Party and made him insane “But I tell you, Winston, that reality is not external. Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Not in the individual mind, which can make mistakes, and in any case soon perishes: only in the mind of the Party, which is collective and immortal. Whatever the Party holds to be the truth, is truth. It is impossible to see reality except by looking through the eyes of the Party. That is the fact that you have got to relearn, Winston” (Orwell 312). O’Brien believes that true sanity lies in the collective and immortal mind of the Party. This idea shatters human individualism, and the belief that a human can hold their own opinions and thoughts. In Oceania, the only real thought is whatever the collective mind of the Party deems to be real. In his essay on individualism in 1984, Drew Mclaughlin explains how individuality …show more content…
In the novel, Winston describes Doublethink as “To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them” (Orwell 43). Doublethink essentially allows for the absolute control over a person’s mind. The Party is able to present the people with any lie, and through Doublethink, the people will completely trust in it, even if they know it to be a lie. This provides another level of control, as it makes the population far more susceptible to propaganda and it also allows the Party to control and manipulate the past. In his essay, Quinn Edwards analyzes Doublethink in 1984 stating that “These two educational steps are essential to the process known as doublethink, crucially related to the party's sense of the past. For the party, the past is not fixed and permanent; its reality is evident only in records. Thus the past is always being recreated to serve the interests of the party. As for people's memories, one can learn to "control reality," that is, to hold two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously and accepting both, "which is the basic definition of doublethink." Doublethink is the foundation on which the party's power rests” (Edward). The Party can use Doublethink to manipulate the past, and by controlling the past the Party is able to