Hana Mostafa Omran

Ola Gabr
17 November 2022

The struggle against injustice

George Orwell on injustice

Winston struggles throughout 1984 against the unjust world and society he dates.
George Orwell was inspired by his life experiences (struggles against injustice) which helped
him perfect the art of presenting an unjust society in 1984 with his depictions of propaganda,
collective identity, torture, and class decision.

George Orwell (Eric Blair) created 1984, published in 1949 as a warning against
totalitarianism while serving as the literary editor and a columnist for the weekly Tribune.
The Tribune was perfect for him because it gave him the freedom to behave as he liked,
provided some political agreement, and provided a backdrop against which his daring and
peculiarity shone out sharply. Orwell supported socialist democracy. He liked independence
since it allowed him to criticize any party. His enemies were privilege, oppression, racism,
and tyranny. He wanted the idea of capitalism's failure to be acknowledged. The chilling
dystopia depicted in 1984 made a deep impression on readers, and his ideas entered
mainstream culture in a way achieved by very few books. The book's title and many
concepts, such as Big Brother and the Thought Police, are instantly recognized, often as
bywords for modern social and political abuses.

Orwell's "Animal Farm" was released in 1945 and financially secured him for the first
time. Four years later, the book "Nineteen Eighty-Four" was released. The book, which is set
in a hypothetical totalitarian future, left a lasting influence, and several of its phrases—
including "Big Brother is monitoring you," "newspeak," and "doublethink"—have since
become commonplace. By this time, Orwell's health was failing, and on January 21, 1950, he
passed away from tuberculosis.

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 In 1984, Orwell explained that a well-run and the effective propaganda machine is
essential to the Party's complete control over the superstate and its citizens. "Ripping human
minds to bits and putting them together again in new shapes of your choice" is how
knowledge is regulated and disseminated. The Party's idea of doublethink, or the practice of
concurrently believing two contradictory statements, is introduced to the reader through
paradoxical assertions. The Party created the doublethink approach to control every element
of society, undermine the ability of the populace to reason through information, and
persuade them to blindly accept all statements and policies made by the government. Winston
was so brainwashed that he questioned his memory throughout the book, giving readers a
glimpse of the effectiveness of the Party's doublethink. The Party's motto also includes
paradoxes that subtly ring true. The Party sends people to die in battle, spends essential
resources that raise the standard of living, and keeps hysteria at a high level through perpetual
conflict. Constant conflict employs fear to persuade people to follow governmental
directives. Big Brother is the person the populace turns to for security, making them more
devoted. The Party tricks the Oceanian public into conflating freedom and enslavement
through doublethink, further confusing them and making them easier to govern. The Party's
motto's third line, "Ignorence is strength," also applies. Big Brother's main advantage is the
general ignorance of the populace.

The Party strives for complete and mindless obedience, and they achieve it by
denying people their individuality and destroying independent thought. Winston tries to
stand up for his unique personality throughout Nineteen Eighty-Four in opposition to the
group identity the Party wants him to accept. He writes in his private journal, has an illicit
sex relationship, and insists that his version of events is authentic.

Orwell also addresses the punishment of rebellion against said propaganda in the form
of torture (both physical and mental), eradicating all hope of overthrowing the Party. He
depicts torture so efficiently that the victim loses all sense of self and wishes for death as
they no longer feel human. Winston and Julia were utterly void of emotions when they met
after their time in room 101 due to the unspoken horrors they witnessed. Orwell also
explains how the poor outnumbered the Party yet had no power or authority over them.
They feared the

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Party to death and willingly obeyed its orders mindlessly, Further proving the narrative he has
witnessed in plain sight "the poor stay poor the rich get rich."

Through the protagonist (Winston) in his book 1984, Orwell examines what it means
to be a person. Orwell examines how a totalitarian regime impacts humanity and a person's
capacity to remain "human" in a world based on devastation and manipulation. What it
means to be human varies for each person. Giving cruelly to others may be considered
human, according to some. Winston defines humanity as the capacity for free thought and
action and clings to his ability to remain human throughout the book.

Unfortunately, Winston's struggle for freedom is relatable to many outside the world
of fiction. Generations of people have struggled and continue to struggle in the lethal grasp
of injustice and tyrant authorities, as humans will forever be selfish and greedy and easily
blinded by power. Orwell’s unjust society in 1984 will continue to haunt readers with it’s
realistic depictions of propaganda, collective identity, torture, and class decision.

Works cited

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 BBC - History - Historic Figures: George Orwell (1903 - 1950). www.bbc.co.uk/history/
historic_figures/orwell_george.shtml.

Importance of Humanity in 1984 - 1012 Words | 123 Help Me.

www.123helpme.com/ essay/Importance-Of-Humanity-In-1984-654828.

Orwell, George. 1984. Intra S.r.l.s., 2021.

Wordsworth Editions, 2021. TED. “Talking About Injustice... and Other Topics.” The
Black Sheep Agency, theblacksheepagency.com/blog/talking-about-injustice-and-other-
topics.

Writer, Frank Critic. Kermode. Frank Kermode Is A. His Most Recent Book Is The Age
Of Shakespeare. “The Uncompromising World of George Orwell.” Australian Financial
Review, 6 July 2007, www.afr.com/politics/the-uncompromising-world-of-george-
orwell-20070706-j74ew.

A Quote From a Hanging. www.goodreads.com/quotes/891551-it-is-curious-but-till-

that-moment-i-had-never.

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