Wednesday 14 June 2017

In George Orwell's 1984, why would it be contradictory to Party doctrine if a Party member behaved?

In 1984, if a Party member behaves, it implies that this person has free will and therefore makes a rational and conscious decision to abide by the Party's rules. This is contradictory because it is this sense of free will which the Party seeks to destroy. This is explained by O'Brien in Part Three, Chapter Three, when he is talking with Winston in the Ministry of Love:


Ours is founded upon hatred. In our...

In 1984, if a Party member behaves, it implies that this person has free will and therefore makes a rational and conscious decision to abide by the Party's rules. This is contradictory because it is this sense of free will which the Party seeks to destroy. This is explained by O'Brien in Part Three, Chapter Three, when he is talking with Winston in the Ministry of Love:



Ours is founded upon hatred. In our world there will be no emotions except fear, rage, triumph, and self-abasement. Everything else we shall destroy — everything. Already we are breaking down the habits of thought which have survived from before the Revolution.



As we see from this quote, the Party does not want people to have feelings, thoughts, or personal loyalties of their own. This is why the Party has developed Newspeak and why the Party governs so many aspects of life, like dating and marriage, and rewrites history to suit its political agenda. In contrast, the Party's power is based on the imposition of its worldview on others; the Party tells people what to think and what to feel and uses violence to eradicate free will. 


So, in Oceania, it is contradictory for a Party member to behave because conforming to the Party's rule should be second-nature, not a conscious choice. 

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