Research On Power In 1984

George Orwell is a world influential writer in the history of English literature in the 20th century.He is praised as "the cold conscience of a generation".In the last stage of his life,he created the novel 1984 with in-depth social observation and wise political opinions.The novel has rich themes and diverse connotations,and contains Orwell’s unique views on the issue of power.Based on Michel Foucault’s power theory,this paper analyzes what means the people in power take to discipline and manage the people,and how rational individuals resist.Analyze the relationship between power and body,power and discourse,and explore the formation and development of Orwell’s view of power.The first part is the introduction,which explains the research object,introduces the basic situation of George Orwell and 1984,combs the research status of Orwell at home and abroad,and briefly combs the theoretical basis of this paper.The second part is based on Foucault’s discipline power theory,starting from the relationship between body and power,analyzes how the ruling class of Oceania uses body to discipline the people,and how the people use body to fight.Foucault believes that power operates in all kinds of social relations,and power itself is a relationship of power dispersed in society.For the ruling class,in order to completely discipline the people,the first thing is to firmly control the people’s body,which is the first step for those in power to discipline the lower class.The power holders of the upper class group realized the restriction and management of the people through space allocation and time management,while the monitoring of discipline panoramic openness and the power of ideological police reached the extreme of power discipline and produced obedience to the people that fully met the requirements of totalitarian rulers.The strictly controlled people also tried to launch a series of struggles with their bodies as weapons.The third part studies from the perspective of the relationship between discourse and power.Power and discourse are external and internal,complementary and inseparable.For those in power,mastering the right to speak is an important step to realize the control of people’s ideology.Only by standardizing discourse and controlling ideology,can their regime be ruled for a long time and firmly.The people in power in Oceania manipulate and reshape the people’s ideology by means of tampering with history,using new words,publicity and education,and constantly eliminate the subject and discipline the subject on the basis of depriving them of the right to speak.The lower class not only lost their physical freedom,but also gradually lost their thought and soul under the infiltration of this diffuse discourse power,developed into the highest form of discipline-self discipline,and completely became the shadow and machine of totalitarian government.The people who were in prison and had nowhere to escape were unwilling to endure oppression and launched ideological resistance,but they all ended in failure.The fourth part is based on the previous research,thinking about the formation and development of Orwell’s view of power.Orwell’s life was closely related to political events.From his contempt for authority in childhood to his later experience of participating in the Spanish Civil War and World War II,Orwell saw the essence of totalitarian repression and dehumanization.In other words,the purpose of his writing was to oppose totalitarianism."1984" is a novel created by Orwell with unique and wise political opinions based on his own experience and the social reality before and after the two world wars.As a humanitarian writer,Orwell clearly realized that his duty is not only to create literary works with aesthetic value,but also to show readers a real social world through his own creation,in order to remind the people to always be vigilant against totalitarianism,so as to avoid the world in the novel and the mistakes of the past.The fifth part is the conclusion.Through the management of people’s body and emotion,the authorities in 1984 realize the control of people’s thought and spirit.Today,with the development of the times and diversified ideas,people are blinded by interests,and there are many opportunistic desires lured by power.Therefore,Orwell wants to convey to us through his works,In this modern society where power is constantly reset,we should always keep a clear mind to guard against the infiltration and inundation of power to individuals.