These four simple words make up perhaps the most terrifying political slogan to have ever been created. However, in the fear-filled world of 1984, such a slogan is an ever-present reality for the citizens of Oceania to face.
In George Orwell's 1949 hit novel, 1984, Winston Smith wrestles with oppression in Oceania, a dystopia where the Party inspects human actions with the ever-watchful gaze of Big Brother. Despite the Party’s ubiquitous ban on individuality, Winston dares to rebel against the Party in his own minor actions. Unfortunately, Winston finds the totalitarian state’s will to power to be capable enough to intrude into the comfort of an individual’s will, values, and love. But with all that said, who is Winston Smith?
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Winston is nothing more than your average Joe. He’s 39 years old, hates exercising, and has a low-level job destroying records in the ironically named Ministry of Truth. His daily routine consists of itching a varicose ulcer above his ankle, secretly writing in his diary, and working for the Ministry of Truth. Nevertheless, he maintains an illegal affair with fellow party member, Julia, that he desperately tries to conceal from the Party. Orwell’s 1984 explores the idea of manipulation in a war-driven society to express the easily manipulated vulnerabilities that come with constant paranoia, a concept that our modern “post-truth” society is inching ever closer to.
Before examining the use of fear in the Party’s hate-based ideology, the correlation between fear and hatred must first be examined. In 1984, fear and hatred govern the lives of the people of Oceania. To fully examine hate, we must know where it comes from, and why. Psychiatrists Robert Robins and Jerrold Post in their book Political Paranoia: The Psychopolitics of Hatred argue that this “fear of the stranger and projection of hatred upon the other is the psychological foundation of the concept of the enemy” (Robins, Post 89). Their work has been very useful for discussion on fear and how fear – in this case, paranoia – breeds hatred. This concept of abhorrence originating from distress is evident when examining Winston’s initial bigotry towards Julia. Winston harbors a deep contempt for women, seen when the both fears and hates Julia: “ Winston had disliked her from the very first moment of seeing her ... because of the atmosphere of ... general clean-mindedness which she managed to carry about with her. He disliked nearly all women ... It was always the women ... who were ... spies ...” (Orwell 12). He resents Julia for her attractiveness and youth. He seems to resent the fact that he desires her as well and that she is “sexless” (Orwell 18). This adds to Winston’s hatred for Julia and for the fact that he desires her in the first place, as his desire will likely not only be unsatisfied but will endanger him. Winston felt a “peculiar uneasiness, which had fear mixed up in it as well as hostility, whenever she was around him” (Orwell 13). It is clear that fear and hate are connected. He fears her because he desires her, and he hates her because he fears her. A more important reason for him disliking Julia is because she projects a “general clean-mindedness”, the sort of Party purity that Winston hates and that the Party idealizes. This is the same purity and “goodness” that Winston professes to hate in Julia (Orwell 144). The purity is exhibited in what Winston calls fanaticism. Evidently, Winston hates Julia because he fears her capacity as an agent for the Party. This in turn shows the clear relationship between fear and hate. Hate is born from fear, and it is this fear and subsequent hate that is so commonly manipulated by those who would seek to wield it. Fear and hatred have played their part in the darkest chapters of history, from wars to genocides. In 1984, fear and the ideology of hate govern the lives of the people of Oceania interminably. Orwell deliberately included hatred in this novel because it always exists as an undercurrent influencing the characters and the society they live in.
In 1984, the most discernible weapon used by the Party to gain control over the populace was through instilling a sense of paranoia deep into the masses. The most ubiquitous way the Party achieves this is through the never-ending state of war with the other two superstates, creating an atmosphere of a besieged city, and fostering a deep hatred for the enemy. Perhaps the most jarring example of this is Hate Week, a psychological operation intended to increase the hatred of the population for the current enemy of the totalitarian Party, as much as possible. During Hate Week, Winston observes an immense loathing of the enemy, noting, “If the crowd could have got their hands on the 2,000 Eurasian war-criminals who were to be publicly hanged ..., they would unquestionably have torn them to pieces” (Orwell 228). By describing the crowd as brutal, commenting “they would unquestionably have torn them into pieces”, Orwell vividly depicts an intoxicating sense of hatred directly tied to human nature. By saying they would’ve “unquestionably” done so, it is clear this hatred is seen as an article of faith. This is something that is still relevant in our world. The concept of hatred has changed after the 9/11 attacks from a psychological and emotional diagnostic term into a political public discourse. This shift of significance shows that hatred, and the fear it comes from, must be viewed primarily as an ideology of power and control. 1984 offers a vision of a world dominated by hatred as a form of ideology and by hatred that resides in the minds of many Party members, born out of fear of external threats.
By fostering a culture of fear, the Party legitimizes its rule and presents itself as a savior compared to the barbarians who threaten its rule. This leads to fear, and therefore hatred, channeled towards these mysterious external forces. An initial picture of how the Party utilizes hate, born from the fear of an external force, as a form of control is seen in the Two Minutes Hate that Winston attends. “As usual,'' we are told, “the face of Emmanuel Goldstein, the Enemy of the People, had flashed onto the screen” (Orwell 14). Goldstein is the supposed leader of the Brotherhood, not only a rebel but a traitor to the Party and the people of Oceania. He represents the Party’s enemy, an object used to create fear and dependency on the protection of the Party and the Thought Police while creating an object to hate. He is conveniently always out of reach of the Party, allowing him to permanently remain – along with Eastasia or Eurasia – in the public consciousness. Hate is always hatred of something, though that something does not necessarily pre-exist the hate. In 1984, hatred was shaped to be deliberate and targeted. The thought of hate as being turned into a deliberate, conscious disposition can be applied to the Party’s various methods of control, as they tap into human nature and promote their ideology on a subconscious level. This is seen during Winston’s experience during the Two Minutes of Hate, where his emotions for Big Brother change to that of the crowd’s mood. The most horrific thing, Winston adds, is that even a true thought criminal like himself finds it “impossible to avoid joining… [the] hideous ecstasy of fear and vindictiveness, a desire to kill, to torture, to smash faces in” (Orwell 19). Winston’s secret loathing for Big Brother, the face of the Party, becomes, for a brief, but terrifying moment, true adoration and pleasure. He no longer knew himself. The result is that the Party creates dependence, as Party members seek protection from the enemy. The Two Minutes of Hate offers the only comfort allowed to its members, giving a disturbing glimpse into the psychological means by which totalitarian control is possible. Orwell takes the reader to how political propaganda ‘heals’ through the power of ‘proper’ beliefs—the pseudo-salvation of mind that comes from loving and hating the ‘right’ faces. Being a member of a group, Orwell argues, is linked to being aggressive toward others not part of that group out of a fear of their capabilities. During Winston’s interrogation, the idea of controlling thought is mentioned, and O’Brien rebukes Winston by suggesting that he has “not controlled it. You are here because you have failed in humility, in self-discipline” (Orwell 285), and he continues to say that “only the disciplined mind can see reality”, which suggests that the ability to redirect hate subconsciously unconsciously is key to the Party’s grasp on power. Directing unconscious emotions of hate against any object ensures that the Party can always find new enemies, and new threats, to sustain itself, and to sustain the feelings of animosity and hatred it promotes in the population.
Orwell’s historic novel reminds us to take a step back from the media frenzy in our “post-truth” era of what passes for political discourse, take a deep breath, and ask ourselves whether or not we are in control of what we believe. Do we really have free thought, or are we motivated by fears we are not even aware of? 1984 warns us of this potential harm. When we go off to vote, do we really make a conscious choice or has Big Brother already filled out the ballot for us?
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