Orwell's 1984

In Orwell’s 1894, a recurring theme that I recognized was control. The Party did not only control every source of information but the bodies and minds of each individual. The Party had the power to rewrite any newspaper, book, speech, poem, and even a historical event. In this book the main character Winston, was one of the people who alter these types of media. The information in each was changed to fit the current standings of Oceania’s economy. Being a citizen of Oceania meant that you were not aloud to keep any documents, records or photos from the past. The Party’s intentions of this were so that each individual would slowly forget their past life and come to terms of the past that the Party presents to them. In the beginning of the book Winston discusses that he was not left any documents or photos from his past, which makes it hard for him to remember how society was before big brother and even the memories of his own mom and dad.
Manipulating the minds of the people of Oceania was also the Party’s forte. No person was aloud to ever think any contradicting thoughts of the Party, which in newspeak terms it was considered doublethink. If doublethink was committed by any person, they were punished and viciously tortured. The torturing was meant so that the individual comes to terms of the reality that the Party enforces upon the whole economy. Along with having your thoughts invaded, you were also subjected to having your body controlled by Big Brother. The party enforces every individual to participate in a rigorous morning work out, no matter the age, sex, or physical condition you are in. Along with these workouts, the mind control and the rearranging of the past, your every move was watched and studied. The party looked at people’s actions to see if they were loyal or not to the party. With any wrong move it could be taken that you were in the brotherhood and quickly lead to an arrest and dim future. The recurring theme of control played major parts in this story and with out this power, the plot, climax and characters would not be what they are.