Similarities of Injustices: Our World and 1984

Surprisingly, 1984 shares many social injustices with our world today. Simply because our world is modernized and has incredible technology doesn't mean that it is an utopia. Actually, far from it, our world has a very uneven wealth distribution and quality of life differs significantly from each group of people.

For example, in America, the minority upper class, contributing less than 2% of the population, holds immense amounts of money and enjoy lives of prosperity and luxury. These people are the ones that have large influence on the government, and therefore  direct government policies. Meanwhile, the rest of the population perform the manual labour in the industry and perform most of the bureaucrat work in the government. The rest of the population have significantly lower wealth, live lives of economic hardship (Especially during recessions and depressions) and do not enjoy luxurious qualities of life. They also do not have as much influence in government decisions as the upper class. Does this remind you of the Inner Party, the Outer Party, and the Proles in 1984?

Secondly, there are many countries in our world with totalitarian, oppressive governments. One such country is North Korea- the government controls all aspects of the country, including the freedoms of its people. In fact, similarly to Oceania in 1984, no citizen of North Korea is allowed to leave the country without official permission. Most of the citizens live lives of hardship, and it is not uncommon for famines to occur. The government oppresses its citizens and sends rebellious individuals to political prison camps. This is just one example of oppressive governments and the injustices they commit.

Lastly, the idea of freedom being taken away from you is a major point of George Orwell's novel, as well as a major issue in today's world. In many countries and societies, people are denied the freedom to have their own political/religious beliefs, or the freedom to say what they want. In 1984, any sign of disobedience  no matter how insignificant, could result in arrest and torture by the Thought Police. In many countries in the world, having different political/religious beliefs or sexual orientation results in your privileges taken away, and etc. The freedom to write and say what you want, the freedom to believe whatever you want, is nonexistent in many societies today.

By using different elements of the story, George Orwell used his society of Oceania in 1984 to raise awareness to readers of the social injustices in our world today.

Social Injustices in 1984

This is a Telescreen. Placed in every home of Party members and the public, it is similar to a television, where the Party can broadcast their propaganda to the Oceanian citizens. However, it has another role besides broadcasting propaganda- it is a monitoring surveillance instrument. The Party can see and hear anything on the other end of the telescreen, to search for any rebellious activity. Furthermore, no telescreens can be turned off (Except for Inner Party telescreens), which means that everyone is under strict, constant surveillance by the Thought Police.

The elimination of privacy and constant monitoring is just one example of the social injustices that George Orwell creates in his dystopian world of 1984. If I could sum what social injustices Orwell was trying to describe, in one word, totalitarianism. Totalitarianism- the political system of the government holding control over everything in the state- is not an injustice by itself, but many other injustices sprout from totalitarian governments. Although there are too many injustices in the novel to include all, the most notable examples are the Constant Monitoring, Fear, and Disinformation.

For example, dictators and dictatorships fear rebellion. As a solution, many tyrannical governments in history have used monitoring and surveillance to keep their subjects in check, to ensure that there are no hidden plots to overthrow their rule. Although George Orwell used telescreens and microphones and exaggerated the injustice of privacy and surveillance to extreme measures, he gets the message across.

Also, George Orwell portrays the idea of dictators using fear to obtain their needs. In 1984, the Thought Police are a feared secret police organization, monitoring and later arresting any individuals suspected of thinking crime (Called Thoughtcrime, therefore Thought police). These individuals are sent to the ministry of Love, interrogated and then tortured until they confess. If they continue to resist, the individuals are sent to Room 101, where they face the worst nightmare of their lives. These rumors (Later proven to be true) are spread among the society, and people become so frightened of the Party that they fear thinking crime itself.

Lastly, Disinformation is a frequently-used tactic applied by the Party to manipulate the population. Many times during the story, Winston (While working at the Ministry of Truth) changes production records to fit the Party's agenda. For example, he comes across a report regarding the production of boots, and while it says that the production of boots has over fulfilled the estimate by about 62 million pairs, Winston changes the status to 57 million pairs, while knowing that very likely no boots had been produced at all, "as about half the population of Oceania went barefoot." By giving citizens false information about different statistics, the Party satisfies the citizens, although nothing much has actually improved.

Also, no ordinary citizen is allowed to interact with anyone from the other superstates, so that citizens do not realize that their lives are no better than their enemies, or maybe even worse. No citizen actually knows first-hand about the course of the war between the superstates- for all they know, Oceania could actually be losing the war. By not allowing any ordinary citizen to obtain the truth, the Party successfully uses disinformation to manipulate the population.

Oceania-- a Dystopian Society

Oceania is one of three superstates vying for power in the world of 1984. According to the novel, Oceania was founded in the mid-1950's when the United States annexed the United Kingdom. Then, English-Socialism (Called INGSOC) became the political ideology of the state. Later, in the 1960's, Big Brother and the Party took control of Oceania, and after many years of nuclear warfare between the three superstates, Oceania became the twisted world that we see in 1984.


How is 1984 a dystopian world? A dystopia is the opposite of a utopia (A perfect world). Many dystopian worlds feature futuristic technology to oppress its citizens (For example, there were mental and physical handicaps in Harrison Bergeron). The telescreens and the speakwrite machines are excellent examples of the futuristic technology, because the novel was written in 1949, when computers were not invented yet. Orwell features technology as a way to ensure total control over the Party's subjects.

There are three social classes in Oceania- the Proles, the Outer Party, and the Inner Party. The Inner Party, contributing 2% of the entire population, effectively controls the state are given many privileges. The Inner Party can be classified as the oligarchical minority class in Oceania, while the other classes live lives of fear in constant surveillance and oppression. In short, while 2% of the population live lives of luxury and ease, the rest of the population live lives of scarcity, starvation, and hardship. According to Winston, more than 50% of the population in Airstrip One do not wear shoes, while the Inner Party members live in mansions and eat chocolate, real coffee, and many other luxuries that other classes cannot acquire.

 Only a small oligarchical minority of the population live luxurious lives while the others live lives of hardship and starvation, and the environment in the world of 1984 is a ruined world; London itself is a devastated city with ruined buildings, and only the four ministry buildings have been built over the past few decades. Citizens of Oceania are constantly brainwashed with propaganda, and the Party has absolute control over its subjects.

Therefore, Nineteen Eighty-Four can be clearly called a dystopia.

The Party's Slogans

War is Peace- Freedom is Slavery- Ignorance is Strength.
These are the words of the Party, imprinted on the Ministry of Truth. These words are an example of doublethink, a form of psychological manipulation used by the party. By forcing a individual to accept two mutually contradictory ideas at the same time, the individual gradually loses independence and strength of mind. After living through constant fear by contradicting propaganda, the individual is able to be forced to accept anything the Party dictates, even if they are completely illogical and make no sense.

 Even the name of the four ministries are examples of Doublethink- the Ministry of Truth (Based on lies), the Ministry of Love (the Torture department), the Ministry of Plenty (Focuses on strict rationing), and the Ministry of Peace (in charge of war). Doublethink is one way of how the Party rules with an iron grip.

The New York Times- Book Review

Here is a book review by Yun Kim from the New York Times:

"Written in 1949, George Orwell draws up an alternate world where after World War 2, only three superstates exist in the world- Eurasia, East Asia and Oceania. The novel takes place in the "Future" England, called "Airstrip One". More specifically, it focuses on an individual named Winston Smith, an insignificant individual working for the Party, the government of Oceania. In public, he supports the Party just as any other person, but in secret, Winston despises the Party.

In a world where history can be easily rewritten without any political consequences, where people suspected of being "Thought Criminals" can be arrested and removed from history whatsoever, where two-way telescreens can spy on people around the clock, the Party of Oceania rules the state with an iron grip. But there are some people, along with Winston, that hate the Party. While working, Winston meets a girl named Julia that reveals she loves him. Winson begins a secret love affair with Julia, and he can enjoy life and its delights again, but deep down, he knows that the Party will eventually get to him.

George Orwell writes with a ferocious style and describes the dangers of totalitarianism. After partaking in the Spanish Civil War and witnessing the brutal oppression by the communist government, Orwell grew to despise totalitarianism and made various satires of Communism/Socialism, the most notable being Animal Farm. The reason for the title of the novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, was to suggest that the terrible world in the novel could in fact become reality in the near future when it was written (1949)  if totalitarianism was not opposed.

Although this novel used various symbols and motifs to get the message across, it was truly amazing and made readers think, there are many moments in the story where the reader may get uninterested, especially the beginning. Other than the occasional boring moments, I believe George Orwell successfully wrote about the dangers of communism and totalitarianism in his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, to which i give a 4.5/5. I think other readers will appreciate this novel, and I strongly urge readers to try George Orwell's amazing novel."

Winston Smith

Winston is the main character of this novel. The story introduces Winston as he walks up seven flights of stairs to his apartment in the Victory Mansions (A dirty apartment building in London). He lives in London, in the Territory of Airstrip One in the superstate of Oceania. London is shown to be in ruins after a devastating war, except for the four ministry buildings towering in the sky, of which Winston works in the Ministry of Truth.

The Ministry of Truth (Called Minitrue) is ironically a Ministry of Propaganda, where Winston works with others to rewrite history for Propaganda purposes, such as falsifying production rates to make the citizens satisfied. Also, if Big Brother (The mystical Head of the Party) makes a prediction that turns out to be wrong, the Ministry of Truth rewrites his prediction so he is always correct.

Although Winston appears to fanatically support the Party, he secretly despises it. As the story progresses, the anti-Party acts he commits become more intense and severe, ranging from writing anti-Party messages in his diary, to become entangled in an illegal love affair, to finally joining a secret Brother against the Party. However, Winston knows that he will be caught eventually by the Thought Police, and that there is nothing he can do about it. Winston is an interesting character, rebellious but fatalistic individual that hates the Party.

The Party

1984 is a world where everything's different. In place of the different countries before World War 2, there are only 3 SuperStates on Earth, named East Asia, Eurasia, and Oceania. The latter is where the whole novel takes place in, and it is governed by the Party, with a mystical head of state named Big Brother, who may not even exist.

The Party is a authoritarian state that gives its citizens the smallest freedoms. There are effectively three classes in the state of Oceania- the Proletarians (Called the Proles; are the workers and labourers) comprise 85% of the population, the Outer Party (Do most of the actual work in the Party government) comprises 13% of the population, and the Inner Party (Political Leaders of the state; they enjoy a very good quality of life not enjoyed by other classes) make up 2% of the population.

The Party is a very oppressive government that is always on the lookout for disobedience. Two-way Televisions called Telescreens (That cannot be turned off) are placed in public and in homes, so that that Thought Police can observe the suspects around the clock. However, the Proles are kept sedated with cheap alcohol and pornography to keep them in line in support of the Party, so they are free from Party Surveillance that Party members suffer. Meanwhile, the Outer Party members are kept under strict surveillance by the Thought Police to watch for any signs of rebellion or disobedience. On the other end of the spectrum, the Inner party effectively controls the state, and do not suffer the surveillance that the Outer Party members endure. (i.e. their Telescreens can be turned off)