Nineteen Eighty-Four Rhetorical Analysis

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Finally, Orwell satirizes the human inclination towards violence. In Nineteen Eighty-Four, the most obvious point of satire is Winston’s torture in the Ministry of Love. It can be argued that Winston’s physical torture was downright ineffective next to his psychological torture; his torturers could likely have cut back on the physical torture and still garnered the same result. Orwell is here commenting on violence as the first resort, often in cases where it is not necessary. It is not an uncommon practice today: even when looking for recent examples, one has to look no farther than the incidents of torture that occurred post-9/11 in the United States. Orwell also uses the circumstances of Winston’s confession to further illustrate his point.…show more content…
What pulls a confession from Winston, however, is purely psychological: being faced with his worst fear. After this confession, Winston has no rebelliousness left in him. Again, this suggests to the reader that the psychological torture was not completely necessary; it was used simply because that was the instinct of the people torturing him. Also, in Nineteen Eighty-Four, torture is most often used as a method for gaining (and keeping) power. It is not used sparingly, either; the novel references hundreds who have been vaporized, and throughout the novel it is seen that some who were vaporized where some of the most loyal members (such as Parsons and Syme). The Party likely does not need to rely as heavily on violence as it has chosen to stay in power, so why are they doing it? The logical suggestion would once again be that violence is where there instincts…show more content…
In this novel, however, Orwell directs his satire more towards how a particular person or group's use of violence will change over time. In the novel, the animals (and the pigs) use violence to overthrow the Mr Jones and gain better life, and in this case, it could be argued that the violence is justified. However, its use soon becomes a habit in situations where it is not needed, but Napoleon particularly wants to use it. One of the most graphic examples of this in the novel occurs during the purges: “And so the tale of confessions and executions went on, until there was a pile of corpses lying before Napoleon's feet and the air was heavy with the smell of blood, which had been unknown there since the expulsion of Jones” (Animal, 57). This provides a parallel to the many violent regimes which began as rebellions.Napoleon not only uses violence more liberally than necessary, the other animals remain convinced that he is still right, and that he is not abusing his power. The most likely reason for this is that they also naturally believe that violence is the answer, even when it is abused. This further advances Orwell's point; even as the violence is used against them, the animal's inclinations towards violence prevent them from making any real protest. Finally, most of the animals in Animal Farm will themselves become violent if provoked effectively, as seen during the initial rebellion and the various defences of

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