1984 is a dystopian novel by English novelist George Orwell. George Orwell was known to be against totalitarianism and democratic socialism, throughout 1984 he would constantly warn readers about the extreme effects of a government with unlimited authority, who would strive to regulate every aspect of society. An obvious and collective human experience resident in Oceania share is oppression and conformity. Besides exploiting technologies and training the juniors to spy on all individuals and inflicting fatal physical torment on enemies of the state, the totalitarian system which rules Oceania practices severe psychological torture through language. Language is manipulated to coerce Winston as well as force him to deviate from his beliefs or from what he knows to be fact, this is done while he is being tortured in Room 101. During the vigorous investigation, OBrien begins to ask rhetorical questions. He uses this strategy to weaken the strength of Winstons views and to imply that not
hing can hinder the success of establishing such a totalitarian government. A powerful moment used is when he repeats What difference would that make?, forcing Winston to lose hope and question the strength of the government. After OBrien compels Winston to embrace Ingsoc, Winstons imagination decays as he can no longer fix his mind on any one subject for more than a few moments at a time. This limits thinking and disables arguments over crucial social and political issues. By implementing and upholding these totalitarian schemes Big Brother eliminates any hope for a future utopia. The minds of individuals, including Winston, become encapsulated as they lack the power to express their real feelings toward the dystopian society they live in. George Orwell has successfully depicted how characters become the vehicle through which the audience understands the impact of oppression as Winstons mental state after intense torture entails how Big Brother controls the past, present, and future.