17 February 2012
Negative Effects of the Abuse of Power
James Madison once said, “The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands will ever be liable to abuse.” The quote stresses the fact that any form of Government has power. However, power will always be abused whenever it is in human hands. Any human who obtains power will have the ability to abuse it even if they do not intend to do so. In George Orwell’s novel, 1984, he tries to warn us about governments with too much power. 1984 is about Winston’s experience with The Party. The Party controls all of Oceania through brute force. No one has an identity or their own personality. Orwell utilizes the symbols of the Two Minute Hate Sessions, the invasion of privacy through the telescreen, and double think to exhibit the negative effects of a Totalitarian government.
The Two Minute Hate Session exhibits the negative effects of a Totalitarian Government. The two minute hate session is a ritual the Party has members follow every day. There is a similar video every day to induce a form of brainwashing. The content of the video is relatively the same. For example, Winston finds that, “…he was shouting with the others and kicking his heels violently against the rung of his chair.” (14). Even though Winston has complete control of himself at first, the Party automatically controls him during the Two Minute Session. Winston hates Big Brother but his mind changes, “At those moments his secret loathing of Big Brother changed into adoration.”(15). Winston doesn’t feel the smallest amount of love for Big Brother, but when the Two Minute Hate Session starts, all his repugnance towards Big Brother turns into love. A person’s feelings are controlled by Big Brother and the Party. Winston is brainwashed when the chant starts, “In the Two Minutes Hate he could not help sharing the general delirium, but this subhuman chanting of ‘B-B! … B-B!’ always filled him with horror. Of course he...