3
1984
What is a theme?
Themes
We can imagine themes like a big question about the world the text is trying to answer.
A text might try to answer these questions in lots of different ways
It's helpful to think of the theme in terms of this question - that will help you find good examples of the theme when you explore the book.
Power
How do repressive societies maintain power over their citizens?
Do individuals have the power to challenge the societies they live in?
Is violence needed to maintain power?
Power
Power
The Power of the State is to control the reality of its subjects
Actual violence in 1984 is very rare - there are some executions, Winston is tortured, but nonetheless the State maintains abolute control over the lives of its subjects.
The State uses directed emotions to maintain its power. During Two Minutes Hate, citizens are encouraged to vent their rage against a supposed enemy of the state, but Winston's internal monologue reveals he simply directs it at anything that annoys or frustrates him. Nonetheless, this is cathartic and helps the State prevent opposition to its rule.
The State could have simply executed Winston, but that wasn't enough. Their torture, both psychological and physical, is directed at bending him to their will before he is killed, and ultimately, they succeed. Winston betrays everyone, and even himself, and accepts the State's version of reality before he is finally executed.
Reality and Truth
How does power control truth, and for what purpose?
What is the relationship between language and reality?
What are the limits of our understanding? How much can we know what is real and what is not?
Reality and Truth
Reality and Truth
Power defines the limits of truth
The State of Oceania constantly changes who it "has always" been at war with - sometimes Eastasia, sometimes Eurasia. Citizens are forced to accept this as reality and thus ignore their own experiences.
"Doublethink" is the idea of holding two contradictory ideas to be simultaneously true. Believing is not an act of individuality - instead, citizens are asked to accomodate the lies of the State even where it is evidently false.
"Newspeak", the language of Ingsoc, reduces the possibility of even thinking of a different world. By controlling and limiting language, it becomes impossible to think of certain radical ideas, like freedom or equality.
Winston tries to learn the truth of the world before Ingsoc through the old man in the pub, but he is unable to get anything of value. This compares with the fact that the antiques dealer, Mr Charrington, is ultimately a trap leading Winston into ruin as he searches for truth. The past holds no answers or escape - it isn't "real" when taken against the powers of the State to define gistory.
The Individual
What value does individuality have?
Can individuals challenge power in any meaningful way?
What is the value of individual resistance?
The Individual
The Individual
The Individual is an illusion
Winston nurtures his secret thought crimes and doubts about the State - but when it finally turns on him, he cannot resist it, even in his own mind. He sees five fingers, in the end, because that is what the State demands.
The State consumes and destroys even its most loyal - Tom Parsons is betrayed by his own daughter despite his love for the IngSoc. This further indicates that things we would ordinarily regard as basic human feelings, like love for your family, can be subverted by the all-encompassing power of the State. True loyalty is irrelevant for the state - whether it destroys a patriot or a rebel, it makes the same statement.
Even love and desire cannot be maintained in the face of power of the State. Winston and Julia eventually betray each other, and all emotion is gone from their relationship. Love does not conquer all.
In the end, before his execution, Winston's hatred of the oppressive society he lives in is converted to love for Big Brother.