Book 1984 by George Orwell

A certain theme that stuck out a lot in this book was the "Physical control" of the bodies of its subjects. Winston, is followed and looked over by the Party, everywhere he goes. They constantly watch to see if he makes any sign of disloyalty, so that if he does, they would arrest him. The Party forces their members to go through tough, heavy morning exercises, called Physical Jerks. After that, the members would work long gruelling days at the government agencies, and would be in the state of exhaustion. The Party brutally beats and tortures the humans if they manage to defy the Party. On Page 245, there is a scene showing how O'Brien has physical control over Winston.

"That was forty," said O'Brien. You can see that the numbers on this dial run up to a hundred. Will you please remember throughout our conversation, that I have it in my power to inflict pain on you at any moment and to whatever degree I choose. If you tell me any lies, or attempt to prevaricate in any way, or even fall below you usual level of intelligence you will cry out with pain, instantly. Do you understand that?"

Through that quote, you can see that O'Brien has total control. He can inflict pain to Winston any time he wants, even if Winston is telling the truth. This is the power of physical control. It's kind of similar to what Saddam Hussein did to his people, the Iraqis. If anyone was caught talking about the government, they would be persecuted. The more physical control you have, the more abilities you have with that control. O'Brien can do anything with Winston if he wanted to. He can beat him, kill him, starve him, torture him, etc. This is why physical control is so dangerous, and the book does a good job showing that. After Winston goes through the period of being tortured and beaten, he realizes that that nothing is more powerful that physical pain. With the physical torture, the Party can make the humans believe in what they want them to. They can make them believe that 1+1=44 and anyone that objects on that would be beaten. Overall, Brave New World did a great job handling themes.

Use of Symbolism

The use of symbolism in this book is pretty good. "Big Brother," is a symbol throughout this book and shows us an abstract meaning. All over London, there are posters everywhere stating that "BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU." Big Brother, is the face of the Party. The citizens are made to believe that Big Brother is the ruler or the nations and head of the Party. Big brother symbolizes the Party in its public manifestation; he is a reassurance to most people, but he is also an open threat. By this, I mean that Big Brother is kind of two faced. You see that the good thing about Big Brother is that his name suggests his ability to protect the ...