A Desolate Case

A Desolate Future

In 1984, Orwell cautions that embracing socialist ideas can yield to massive infringements of even the most basic freedoms that are taken for granted today. From the irony prevalent in the propaganda of The Party to his very choice of words, Orwell establishes a serious, dreary, and controlling atmosphere in his novel.

Orwell uses various figurative devices to portray the hypocrisy of The Party and create an environment with an absence of individual freedom. For example, the slogan of the party is “war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength”(Orwell 27). Theses lines are paradoxical because each of these verses are in actuality antitheses of each other, and the reader instantly feels as though they have been immersed in a negative utopia. What is even more worrisome is that the citizens of Oceania accept these statements without a second thought illustrating that people are not permitted to express their opinions in 1984. The irony of these statements makes it painstakingly clear that the citizens live in a very controlled environment with very little say in the matter. Orwell also makes several allusions to actual historic events such as “the Thought Police [who] come and seize people” much like the secret police of the Nazis and Soviets. By linking his predictions of the future with actual historic events he implies that if either of these groups had succeeded in spreading socialism or communism, the world could very well resemble that of the novel compounding a much more serious mood.