Satire in 1984

How does Orwell use 1984 to criticize and satirise societies and religions

Orwell uses ‘1984’ in many ways; it is more than just a novel. He satirises society and religion through his use of imagery and also by the actions and feelings of the characters in the novel. Big Brother can serve as a metaphorical representation of many things, God, totalitarianism, Stalin and other historical figures, or simply as a form of control. This illustrates Orwell’s ability to critique organisations through literature.
Orwell appears to be critical of religion in ‘1984’ illustrated by the bland language he uses to describe marriage making the reader feel that marriage, in ‘1984’ is meaningless and pointless. The Party do not allow love or affection to be present in marriage, “permission was always refused... physically attracted to one another”, this illustrates the idea that marriage is a sham – people do not marry for love, they marry for other reasons supporting Orwell’s belief that religion portrays the idea of the ‘sanctity of marriage’, when in reality marriage can be forced or devoid of love. In modern society this reason could be money or status, in ‘1984’ this reason appears to be for procreation.
Winston’s wife describes sex as “making a baby” and as a “duty to the Party” illustrating that the Party have made sex a “duty” – it is not for pleasure or love, it is something party members feel that they must do in order to be loyal to the party with “duty” giving the impression that sex has become a task or a chore. The Party’s belief is that sex has one purpose; procreation. Through this belief the party have removed intimacy and love which could mirror Orwell’s belief that religion also removes intimacy and love – religion also makes sex seem like a duty. This idea is enforced further when Winston says that “Sexual intercourse was to be looked on as a slightly disgusting minor operation” with the use of the word “operation” again making sex appear unnatural and mechanical. Orwell satirises religion by showing how their views (the sanctity of marriage and the love in marriage) are undermined by other religious beliefs (sex only for reproduction – this removes love).
The idea of contradicting beliefs is also illustrated by Winston visiting a prostitute. The Party states that it is illegal to visit prostitutes but Winston later tells us that “tacitly the party was even inclined to encourage prostitution” illustrating that the Party makes rules, but later breaks them; if the Party doesn’t support its own rules then why would the people? This satirises society and government as it shows how governments often have one rule for the people, but break this rule themselves for example, there may be laws against killing people but political leaders, I.E Stalin, may break these rules if they feel it benefits them.
The breaking of certain rules that the Party set conveys that the Party may not have as much control as they first thought. He describes the punishment for consorting with a prostitute as “5 years in a forced labour camp; not more” with the use of “not more” highlighting Winston’s belief that this is a minor and inadequate punishment; his fear of punishment and the party is not high enough to prevent him from breaking the law – the Party have a lack of control. This, again, satirises society as it shows that even the most totalitarian governments do not have control – basic human instinct will eventually outweigh any punishments put in place; it is impossible to fully control a human being.
This lack of control is also supported by the freedom that the Proles have – the party cannot control each member of society and let the Proles leave freely. This also highlights the hypocrisy of the Party – why can the Proles live freely if party members can’t? Over-control also affects Winston and has a similar effect to under-control. Winston states that he consorted with the prostitute because “the patrols would catch him on the way out” whether he broke the law or not. This illustrates that because the Party and so controlling, Winston commits a crime because he feels it may be a waste if he doesn’t, he commits a crime for the sake of it. This shows that the Party’s desire to completely control people can backfire and result in people committing crimes or disobeying the Party, simply because they will eventually be caught for something. This also satirises society as it shows that over control can lead to rebellion, as was the case in the French Revolution, and can lead to people committing more crimes because, like Winston they know that eventually they will, rightly or wrongly, be blamed for something. This satirises paranoid government figures, like Stalin, who killed many of his close friends because he feared that they were going to betray him. In conclusion, Orwell satirises society in many ways and uses the Party and characters in the novel as direct representations of societies and religions. Flaws can be seen in the Party that can also be seen in certain organisations and this allows for criticism of these organisations and allows ‘1984’ to become a novel with many possible meanings and representations.,