Power in 1984

The theme of power is prominent in the dystopian novel 1984 by George Orwell and throughout this book he develops two different types of power. This is collective power and individual power, which will both be addressed separately. Firstly, the notion of power through the collective is characterised through the totalitarian Party in Airstrip One, Oceania, one of the three super-states. In chapter 3 Part 3, Winston claims that, “The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake”, and that power comes from the oppression of sensual experience and basic human instincts and through the manipulation of history. In regards to the oppression of sensual experience and basic human instincts, the novel opens with a characterisation of Winston’s apartment block. It are described as smelling of “boiled cabbages and old rugs”. Through olfactory imagery, the reader is able to understand the conditions of the Outer Party member’s life as being dank and foetid, coupled with the ironic naming of the apartments as ‘victory mansion’ seems to suggest that whilst there is that pretense of both nationalism and grandeur, the reality is different. This says two things, firstly it shows a denial of the living conditions by the Party and secondly it expresses the societal division between the Outer Party and the Inner Party when contrasted with the vibrant living quarters of O'Brien's home in chapter 8 part 3. In this chapter, the visual imagry is overwhelming for both Winston and Julia through the use of synesthesia and accumulation. The effect of such a comparison epitomises the division between the two classes whereas the Inner Party, and the collective institute that makes up the Party has access to richer sensual perception in olfactory, kinesetic and gustatory senses and they can control the senses of the lesser classes. This oppression of basis human senses deprives the human body to which the Party utilises in "keeping the people in a constant state of angst", which unables them to be