The literary piece Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is truly a complex and intricate story about the pursuit and deprivation of freedom. The novel is not a reflection of the author’s lifestyle, but of a potential society overcome with corruption. Orwell predicts that the futuristic society would spread hate and terror amongst its people and freedom would no longer be existent. He conveys these thoughts by revealing the implications of several strategic and efficiently crafted scenarios that leave the citizens of Oceania with no liberty of their own. Orwell warns the modern era of an impending government control that will suffocate society’s freedom through a defined class system, perpetual warfare and a society with suppressed thoughts and emotions.

The division of classes must be avoided to prevent loss of freedom. As shown in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, a troubled society with governmental separation of classes results in demeaning and unfair circumstances for its citizens. A defined class system inlays many freedom robbing rights that a person should have. Because of a permanent hierarchy of status and occupation, it is impossible for a lower class member to move up in society. In the novel the proletarians are exactly as their name suggests; they are the scum of their society, their life style is dirty and unorthodox and the government doesn’t care for them in the slightest. This disregard for the whole social class by the government leaves no hope for their existence and impedes on their human right to excel and succeed in what they choose. “The aim of the Low [Proletarians] … is abiding characteristics of the Low that they are too much crushed by drudgery to be more intermittently conscious of anything outside their daily lives” (Orwell, 210). The proletarians are so beat-down by the government that they feel discouraged to do anything in life other than what they have already done. Orwell uses this scenario of social-confinement to clue in the future society of mistakes to avoid. He argues that in order to maintain ones freedom, there must be a flexible social system in which the individual governs their success, not the other way around. “Out of the three groups the Low are never even successful in achieving their aims” (210). Therefore, as noted from the works of George Orwell, a defined class system must never be put in effect if one still wishes to have their freedom. Likewise, a permanent class system has smothered freedom; continuous warfare contributes to the same thing.

Society must abstain from war in order to maintain their freedom. The topic of war is always a frightful one. In times of hate and murder people never feel safe; as such they are in constant fear. In the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, this crippling state of mind plays a large role in the strategic grasp the government maintains on its citizens. By inflicting fear and terror into people, Big Brother is able to send mass amounts of people into a war that is never meant to be won. “It is a warfare of limited aims between combatants who are unable to destroy one another, have no material cause for fighting and are not divided by any genuine ideological difference” (193). By maintaining a war, government is able to do what they like, when they like without being subjected to questioning by its citizens. This strategy interferes with a human’s right to feel safe and know the truth, but under no circumstances would the government want anyone to feel such things for it would directly conflict with the concept of war which is to hinge on fear and terror. In war, there leaves no room for society to progress, without peace there can never be progression. In the novel, Orwell shows a society with massive potential to grow, using its resources for its own selfish ambitions.

The scientist of today is either a mixture of psychologist and inquisitor, studying with extraordinary minuteness the meaning of facial expressions, gestures and tones of voice and testing the truth-producing effects of drugs, shock therapy, hypnosis and physical torture; or he is a chemist, physicist or biologist concerned only with such branches of his special subject as are relevant to the taking of life (202).

Therefore, the purpose of warfare is to keep the populous in a constant state of fear and panic, suppressing the citizens strength to override the government and claim their rights. Similarly war puts people in to a suppressive state of mind where their ideas and thoughts can be shaped and molded.

Freedom can be taken from its beholder as long as a higher power has the ability to suppress ones thoughts and emotions. In the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, Orwell depicts a society where unorthodox thinking results in death.

Thoughts and actions which, when detected, mean certain death are not formally forbidden, and the endless purges, arrests, torture, imprisonments and vaporizations are not inflicted as punishments for crimes which have actually been committed, but merely the wiping-out of persons who might perhaps commit a crime at some time in the future (220).

This is done to suppress all negative thoughts against the government. Even if one is suspected of such illicit crimes, he or she will be vaporized to be made an example of. By controlling ones thoughts and emotions the government is able to craft the ideal conforming citizen without subjection or rights. This mass conformity is done by removing the human instinct, leaving them with suppressed and moldable opinions, crafted to what ever the government chooses. A major problem that the government faces is the sex instinct and all other natural impulses. When people are in a sexually active relationship, they are always happy, and thus want happiness to surround them (208). What the party did was try "to kill the sex instinct, or, if it could not be killed then to distort and dirty it” (69). By doing this, it would be impossible for a human to feel strong emotions toward anything because they are brainwashed into believing that emotion and pleasure are forbidden. Because humans in this civilization cannot think or feel for themselves, they are no longer free. Their freedom lies within their own wants and needs, and due to such control by the government it will be nearly impossible to even say how one feels because of the language cut-backs the government has implemented. “The whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought. In the end we shall make thought crime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it” (55). Therefore, once a society’s emotions and thoughts are dismantled, their will no longer be freedom.

George Orwell warns readers of a future governmental take over of society’s freedom. He reveals this hostile overthrow of human will through cases of war, suppressed emotions and a defined class system; all of which systematically removes freedom and bombards human rights.

Only time will tell whether a world like George Orwell’s as depicted in Nineteen Eighty-Four will ever come to be. But then how could a civilization prevent this? Society has become so hot-headed with power and money it would be nearly impossible to predict it’s forth comings. The main question left to the reader is if they have faith in our otherwise dysfunctional society. If they do, then the future will be bright and luminescent, if not, then there is no telling what might happen.