| George Orwell (1903～1950), formerly known as Eric Arthur Blair, is a journalist, novelist,essayist and critic of the United Kingdom. His life was short, but his keen insights and sharpreviews recorded the era in which he lived, and he made many predictions of his time. Orwellwrote quite a few books, but it is believed that Nineteen Eighty-Four (1948) is one of his morefamous ones. He erects his vital position in English literature mainly through his writings onpolitical subjects. In Nineteen Eighty-Four he metaphorically conveys how totalitarian powerdecays normal order of society and the lives of ordinary people. Orwell holds that writers have anobligation of fighting against social injustice, oppression, and totalitarian power.The story in Nineteen Eighty-Four happened in a state-owned country--- Oceania. Thetotalitarian power in Oceania is in huge pyramidal structure, and the core of the power isexercised by the Inner Party members. Inner and outer manipulating systems, omnipresenttelescreens and extreme punishment make it easier for the government to both corroborate theabsolute authority and penetrate extreme totalitarian power into interpersonal relationship, mind,language, and even emotion. Newspeak is a cage and“ultimate weapon”for citizens. TheNewspeak has become a mind-control device, and the ultimate goal is destruction of will andimagination. It shows the alienation of language, and how it can be used to conceal truths, andeven how it can be used to manipulate history. There are always political propaganda,falsification, Doublethink and three absurd slogans that are used as weapons to get people willingto do whatever is wanted, to submit to power.Now the phrase Big Brother has become general usage, to describe any overly inquisitiveauthority figure or attempt by government to strengthen surveillance. Winston attempts to gainhis freedom by writing his diary and finally is reformed to support it and love“Big Brother”. It isa tragedy of totalitarian power and a barehanded man who quests after value of his existence.O’Brien is the executor and spokesman of totalitarian power. Under the control of the Party,sexual intercourse is looked down as a disgusting minor operation. The only goal of Love andmarriage is to reproduce next generation and serve the Party.At the end of this thesis, the author holds two avenues of hope for a life outside the watch ofthe Party and the eyes of Big Brother. The first possibility remains usually unspoken and unconscious: desire. The second is the proles that exist outside the overall manipulation of theParty.The thesis consists of four chapters besides the introduction and conclusion. In the introduction,a brief description is made of George Orwell’s life and the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, followedby a review of the former research on the novel. Chapter One and Chapter Two separatelyintroduce external mechanism of the totalitarian power and internal mechanism of the totalitarianpower briefly. Chapter Three concentrates on personification of power and rebellion againstauthority in the novel, and it also describes sexual defiance. Chapter Four is about two possibleways to eliminate totalitarian power. The thesis ends with a conclusion that highlights the majorpoints of the research and points out its limitations. |
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