Orwell's Dystopian Society

The definition of a dystopia is a place that is undesirable or unwanted. When people think of a utopia they think of a perfect world or society. It’s something that is described as beautiful and nice. Dystopia will obviously attract the opposite descriptions. The novel, 1984 by George Orwell, is a keen example of a dystopian society. In the novel, the story follows a man named Winston Smith and his perspective on the society he lives in. This society doesn’t want people to have any type of individuality or even love.

This society goes strictly against basic human nature.

The readers are first introduced to his home, the “Victory Mansions”, although the name is very misleading. They are very worn down buildings. In this dystopia they like to make everything sound way better than it is and mislead people. In order to do this they develop a new language called Newspeak. This is a way for the Party to control what people talk about and how they feel.

On the inside of the apartment building there is a poster saying “Big Brother is Watching You” which is mentioned several times throughout the novel. The Party wants to control many aspects of the society’s lives. The Party does this by using many types of manipulation frequently. At a certain point the manipulation is thought of as a normal thing. This novel is a prime example of a dystopian society because of the invasions of privacy, the corruption of language, and the controlling of a mass population.

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How Orwell creates a perfect dystopian society

First, Orwell creates a perfect dystopian society by making many invasions of privacy in the world. There is around the clock surveillance everywhere. Not only outside but in their own homes. The people of this world are frequently being watched by Big Brother. Winston shows small acts of rebellion by moving his furniture around so that in a corner of his room he is unseen. Orwell describes this by, “ By sitting in the alcove, and keeping well back, Winston was able to remain outside the range of the telescreen, so far as sight went”(Orwell 6). The television records the whole room making it impossible to do anything without the Party finding out. Another addition to the invasions of privacy is that they also are listening in on audio. In this world there is also a thing as thought crime. Lexico defines thoughtcrime as, “An instance of unorthodox or controversial thinking, considered as a criminal offense or as socially unacceptable”.

Since a dystopian society is described as a world unwanted or feared, having thoughtcrime as an offense is very unwanted. In the United States, freedom of speech and thought is highly appreciated. Every single person is expected to turn the other in at any time. No matter the relationship. Many families are turning in each other. There isn’t a single place to have a “private” moment. Winston’s forbidden diary is another single act of rebellion. Something as simple as having a diary to write in about your thoughts was very illegal. Although he is not allowed to have his own thoughts he wants to have something for himself that no one will know about. All of these invasions of privacy in their lives create a dystopia. Orwell expertely describes a dystopian society by emphasizing an invasion of privacy.

Corruption of language

Next, Orwell also creates the perfect example of a dystopian society by a corruption of language. In this dystopian society there is a new idea being implemented. It is a new language called Newspeak. Newspeak is created to basically erase all the deeper meanings behind words. This is in hopes that it will limit free thought and free speech. Since they couldn’t describe the freedom they wanted the thought wouldn’t occur to them. For example, if the they were to use the word good, they wouldn’t have a word bad. It would be called ungood. This is to take the “bad” meanings of words out so that they’d no longer exist. This new language was all about the controlment and manipulation of society. Newspeak will make it easier for the Party to control and manipulate a mass population. They then would call the language prior to this, Oldspeak. The Party wants to try to controll how people converse and give them as little options to rebell or think for themselves. Not only have they created a new language, they change the names for common things. For example, the apartment building Winston lives in is called Victory Mansions.

Although, when Winston goes into the building he describes it as, “Even at the best of times it was seldom working, and at present the electric current was cut of during daylight hours,”(1). The apartments are very worn down. These buildings aren’t kept up at all. In efforts to manipulate thoughts, the government names the building the Victory Mansions they make them seem nicer. By cutting the language down this is just one of the ways their government manipulates the population. Once everyone learned it, they wouldn’t even have the words to rebell against what was happening. Orwell believed that if thought could corrupt language than language would be able to corrupt thought.

Control of the mass population

Lastly, Orwell has the government control the mass population in order to create a dystopian society. One of the laws in this society is a ban on sexual relationships. By making this a law in the society it limits the relationships people have. They don’t have relationships they would want to rebel for. In the novel, Winston meets a woman named Julia who he immediately is interested in. So their love affiar begins in a world that doesn’t want any love. As Winston and Julia continue their relationship it gives Winston more anger towards the party. He is inspired to get away and be free with Julia. In the end he is brainwashed until he no longer feels anything for Julia. All of his feelings are towards the Party and he is very grateful for them. Everyone in this society is prompted to report their family or coworkers also. This manipulation of the mass population is just another perfect quality of a dystopian society. George Orwell describes a dystopian society perfectly.

To conclude, George Orwells novel 1984, has all the qualitites of a dystopian society. He is trying to show what the advancement of technology could lead to in the future. He uses many invasions of privacy in the novel to create this fearful feeling throughout the book. With all the technology the people are constantly being watched and listened in on, even in their own homes. No where is a safe haven.