1984

9 Pages 2365 Words

wallowing, one had the sensation of being hit on the back of the head with a rubber club”
The Victory Cigarettes had very little tobacco, and, if held upright, the tobacco would simply fall to the floor (8). The Victory Coffee was served in old, oily, dirty, handleless mugs. The coffee itself had no cream and came with a single saccharine tablet (44). There was no real sugar available, the saccharine tablets were the only choice. Orwell was using these images to show that the government had too much control over society. He was warning against giving the government the ability to control even matters of the smallest measure.
Such items as real sugar, proper white bread, jam, milk, real coffee, and real tea was not available to the outer party members. These items scarce and were saved for only the elite powerful party members. An illegal black market still had these things available, but to buy them was forbidden. The items that were available, such as the saccharine tablets, were not real and had little flavor. They could be manufactured by the government in great numbers and distributed easily. Thus, the government had complete control over what was consumed and how much. They could give the people goods and products that could be easily manufactured even though quality suffered.
Orwell added the image of the telescreens to prove his point, that society should not be controlled by the government. The telescreens allowed the people to be watched easily, and the people understood they were being watched. The posters of Big Brother gave an extra boost to the thought of being watched. Orwell stated that “The black-mustachio’d face gazed down from every commanding corner” (6). The poster’s eyes seemed to watch as one walked by and were just another reminder of how no one could escape from the watchful eyes of Big Brother. If no one could escape, then the government has complete control and no matter how hard one...