The power of alienation: an analysis of George Orwell's 1984

Abstract

Totalitarianism is the most detrimental regime a society can have as it stops citizens from having freedom, personal identity and individualism, which eventually leads to the alienation of individuals and the destruction of one’s mind and self. Different events in history have shown how power always leads to corruption and it consequently results in the enslavement of the population, concepts which are present in George Orwell’s novel 1984. The aim of this project consists in providing an account of the socio-political control which the individuals in charge of social and political power exert over the population and the concept of alienation through George Orwell’s literary work 1984. In addition, this project will reflect and provide a critical perspective regarding the issues that appear in the novel and also a comparison with contemporary events. The description and analysis of the dystopian society in 1984 has the goal of providing an account of the concept of alienation and how the different methods used in the novel contribute to the establishment of a totalitarian society where the citizens are not aware of their actual situation due to indoctrination and alienation. The novel 1984 exposed some themes and ideas as predictions on how society would become in the future. This project concludeS that most of his ideas were not far from reality and that the mechanisms exposed in the novel are actually present in our current society to a certain extent.