Utilitarianism In 1984

The dystopian novel 1984 by George Orwell warns its readers of the possible future that can reflect the novel’s premise of a controlled and dehumanized society. Throughout the novel, it is evident of the numerous techniques that the leading party, that is referred to as “The Party”, uses to have control over its citizens as a whole and individually. One of the more prevalent one’s in the book is the idea of a common enemy. Throughout time, many revolutions have went underway because of the shared belief in hatred towards the opposing force, most notable being the American Revolution, but in today’s society the idea of a common enemy is still a popular tactic employed by politicians to gain supporters; as is evident in political advertisements,
Torture is defined by the Merriam Webster Dictionary as “the infliction of intense pain (as from burning, crushing, or wounding) to punish, coerce, or afford sadistic pleasure.” In both 1984 and today’s world the definition holds true. In 1984 the mysterious man O'Brien tortures Winston to make him become one with the Party and pry as much information as they can out of him. There was a number of techniques used on him such as beatings, electrocution, and rats. All of these techniques obtained all the information they needed from Winston. The most important of the techniques is the rats, which O’Brien introduces tauntingly stating “By itself pain is not always enough. There are occasion when a human being will stand out against pain, even to the point of death. But for everyone there is something unendurable–something that cannot be contemplated” (Orwell 234). These rats allowed O’Brien to get the answer he wanted from Winston, him selling out Julia. President George W. Bush did something extremely similar to what O’Brien did to Winston. President Bush became infamous for the waterboardings of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Abu Zubaydah from the Islamic terrorist group Al-Qaeda. In an interview with Matt Lauer on the Today Show, President Bush openly admits to the actions answering “using those techniques saved lives” (Decision Points--George W Bush--Waterboarding). Though the end may be different from the Party’s in 1984, it does not justify the means. Torturing someone is most likely the worst and most painful experience someone will ever experience and even though they were terrorists, they did not deserve it. Similar to Winston’s rats, waterboarding was Khalid’s and Abu’s breaking point. Matt Lauer describes Abu’s understanding of Islam as “having to resist interrogation up to a certain point and waterboarding was the technique that allowed