1984 Essay: Freedom Is Slavery

Freedom Is Slavery

            One of the slogans and most prominent ideals of the party is Freedom Is Slavery. It seems to be an obvious paradox but carries with it several unwritten connotations. Throughout the novel 1984, George Orwell depicts the party as a power hungry egomaniac, which obsesses over controlling its people with impunity. Freedom Is Slavery specifically deals with controlling others by limiting their free will. However, it also involves limiting their actual behavior and how they interact with the party and each other. Freedom Is Slavery is a pertinent aspect of the party’s control because it involves controlling free will, limiting human behavior, and altering the people’s perspective of power and rebellion.

            The party has an easy time controlling the people’s free will and their choices. When people are free, they have the ability to rebel. One of the party’s underlying goals is to control the way people think and act. They are ultimately attempting to abolish the possibility of rebellion. The party gains power when their people are enslaved. This is because the people become consumed with serving the party and never contemplate rebelling. The freedom then comes to the party. They have little work to do when the people are willingly assimilating.

The thoughtpolice have little to worry about: “Of course I’m guilty…I brought her up in the right spirit, anyway” (Orwell 233). When people like Parsons are so willingly going along with the party, there is very little that needs to be done. Parsons is the definition of a slave. When Winston asks him if he is guilty, Parsons does anything but hesitate to admit to thoughtcrime. He also confesses that he’s glad they caught him before his thoughtcrime progressed. He wants to thank the thoughtpolice when he is tried. Only a man completely under the control of the party would willingly admit that he did something wrong. His crime was calling out “down with big brother!” (233) in his sleep. He technically has no clue whether or not he actually committed a crime. His daughter turned him in when she overheard him. She was intentionally listening through the keyhole. Parsons then commends his daughter for turning him in. He believes that the destruction of the family unit is a good thing. There is no freedom when one cannot feel free around his or her children. The party uses children as an extension of the thoughtpolice to further limit the people’s freedom.

            The party only accepts people that are willing to be slaves to the party. O’Brien tells Winston that when he finally surrenders to the party, it must be of his own free will (255). Even in death, all people must be slaves. It is believed by the party members that anyone who dies while deceiving the party has successfully rebelled. They must surrender their own beliefs to the party. Any rebels agree to die if it means rebelling against the party. All the party wants is for everyone, alive or dead, to agree with the party’s ideals.

            Freedom Is Slavery also pertains to the direct control of people’s behavior. O’Brien explains to Winston everything that the party plans to do: “Everything else we shall destroy…All competing pleasures shall be destroyed” (267). The party has broken the bonds “between child and parent, between man and man, and between man and woman” (267). If people are able to create bonds, the party fears that there will be a unity of people banding together to rebel against the party. If a parent and child still had a family bond, there’s a possibility that the parent may pass on any rebellious behavior to the child. Instead, the party decides to indoctrinate the children so that they never trust the parents and so Big Brother is the parental figure. O’Brien goes on to say that “the sex instinct will be eradicated” (267). The party plans to do this by abolishing the orgasm. The orgasm exists so that the people will be compelled to have sex over and over again. This is nature’s way of continuing life. If the party controls this, then the party can control the birth rate. When this happens, it’s easier for them to regulate the children and indoctrinate them. Also, the orgasm allows people to relax and be in good moods. The party would much rather have people tense and angry. If one were to be relaxed, there would be no need to continue to obey the party. The fear is that the orgasm will lead to rebellion. Any emotion will only be targeted at Big Brother. All love, loyalty, and laughter will be towards Big Brother (267). If people were to show loyalty to each other, then people would stop giving each other up to the thoughtpolice, so more thoughtcriminals will go unnoticed. If they can share love, then a union will be formed and a possible rebellion against an anti-sex party will be initiated. The same goes for laughter. One of the party’s aims is to completely abolish all “competing pleasures”.

            Using Freedom Is Slavery, the party can alter the people’s perception of their true role in society. Winston recognizes that “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four” (81). As long as someone has the ability to believe what they want to believe and not what the party wants them to, then they have freedom. They also have the ability to rebel. This is not what the party wants. Once O’Brien brainwashed Winston, he could no longer believe that two plus two equals four. He believed that it was five. Winston admits that he could just as easily believe that two plus two equaled three. Once any proof of a fact is deleted, the party has the freedom to rewrite it as they see fit. This is where the true freedom exists: having the freedom to change the past in front of the eyes of slaves who are to ignorant to realize that they are slaves. They just believe that they are an essential part of the party’s success.

            Freedom Is Slavery exists when the people become slaves. This gives the party freedom to do whatever they please without question. When all people are following in a straight line, the party can stray off in another direction without anyone noticing. When people stray off on their own, they may be inefficient at what they do. When everyone comes to a general consensus, efficiency is created. In this society, natural rights are to be treated as privileges one must constantly earn. Freedom Is Slavery because the party is free as everyone else suffers.