George Orwell’s book, ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four,' most of the times published as ‘1984’ is a fascinating book. Published in 1949, the book talks about how the ‘Inner Party’ elite persecute individualism. In addition, independent thinking, described by the writer as ‘thoughtcrimes’ is also depicted. The leads character is called Winston Smith. Winston Smith is a man who works for what the writer calls ‘the Ministry of Truth.' The name that he uses for this Ministry is ‘Minitrue.' Tyranny is a theme that is also explored by the writer (NovelGuide).
Psychology is defined as ‘the scientific study of human behavior and mental processes. For any person or scholar that enjoys psychology, the book ‘1984’ provides for an interesting, fascinating and great read. In this book, the author provides a psychological terror that any person that enjoys the subject of psychology would be interested to dissect. As one reads through the book, the main question that dominates is, ‘Do human beings have the power to control their behavior?’ The answer to this question is found within the book. Therefore, the book is very important to answer this question, whose answer eludes most of the scholars of psychology, as well as laymen. After reading the book, one can come up with one conclusion. Our brains control our behavior, and our brains are controlled by many factors.
Many psychologists, as well as, literary giants describe ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ as a ‘political fiction’ and ‘Dystopian science-fiction’ (GradeSaver." Study Guides & Essay Editing | GradeSaver). The professionals describe this novel this way because of the style, plot and content. Additionally, the language used is also unique. For example, some words such as ‘Big Brother,' ‘Memory Hole,' ‘2+2=5,' ‘Room 101,' ‘Telescreen,' ‘Newspeak’ and ‘Thoughtcrime’ (NovelGuide) are words that only Orwell uses in the book. Words like these make the book more interesting to read. When he was writing this book, Orwell wanted to give the ‘terrifying possibility of totalitarianism.' The protagonist, Winston, envisions experiences that are nightmarish in nature. Harsh oppression is shown by ‘The Party,' ‘Big Brother’ and the ‘Thought Police.'
Most of the characters show the relationship between our social interaction and brain functionality. For instance, Julia is a person that works for the fanatical ‘Junior Antis Sex League.' For this reason, Winston loathes her very much. Another reason Winston loathes her is because he sees women as fanatical supporters of the ‘Ingsoc.' He hates this organization with a passion. Nevertheless, Julia fell in love with him. She writes a love note that says ‘I LOVE YOU’ (Orwell, 76) and hands it to him when Winston goes to help her after she falls down. Winston’s mind changes about this girl when he reads the note.
Winston long held the view that he could not attract puritanical young women of the caliber of Julia. Therefore, when Julia expresses her feelings to him, he is shocked. Consequently, the two people fall in love and begin to have an affair. This fact NIL the relationship between our social interaction and brain functionality. Winston changes his mind immediately he reads Julia’s note (NovelGuide). Even though he viewed women in a different light, his interaction with her makes him change his mind about her. The above change of mind by Winston describes how the brain’s functionality is changed by the social interaction. Another great way that proves that the brain’s functionality is influenced by our social interactions is how Julia manages to change Winston’s mind about his hatred for the organization that Julia works for. Julia manages to convince him that she also hates what Winston hates. The interaction between the two is the cause for this (GradeSaver." Study Guides & Essay Editing | GradeSaver).
Our brains control our behavior, and our brains are affected by many factors. Feelings are a good example of the factors that control our brains. Winston’s mind is controlled by his feelings towards Julia. The love that he has for her makes him blind to the bigger cause that he was fighting for. It also makes him forget his views. Even though he still holds his views dear, he becomes sloth in his fight for what he believes in. For example, Winston and Julia are captured by the Though Police who are members of the Ministry of Love. Winston is taken to jail. The person that he believes is his friend, O’Brien, is the one person that also ends up betraying him (Orwell, 119). The stage of political re-education is where Winston confesses to committing crimes that he did not commit shows that our brains are affected by many factors. The brain is also the determinant of our behavior. The love that Winston has for Julia makes him not to betray her in his confessions. Although he is tortured and almost killed, Winston does not bring himself to betray his love for Julia.
Examples of factors that dictate Winston’s brain are love, fear and loyalty. The mentioned issues also affect his behavior. Because this is because the brain is a determinant of behavior (GradeSaver." Study Guides & Essay Editing | GradeSaver). One of the factors that influenced the mind of Winston, and consequentially his behavior is loyalty. He considered O’Brien his friend. In fact, to establish true loyalty, O’Brien gave Winston some books to read (Orwell, 128). He gave him ‘The Theory of Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism’ by the author Emmanuel Goldstein.' The book was meant to pass as a message. The message was perpetual war as a concept. Another message that the book had was ‘War is peace,' ‘Freedom is slavery’ and ‘ignorance is strength.' However, he did not get the message. Winston never suspected anything. His lack of suspicion is one of the things that made him to be completely unaware of the betrayal that O’Brien had on him. The loyalty he had towards O’Brien made him blind to the fact that there are friends that are not friend. The consequences of his loyalty were his change of mind. As a result, he was captured and taken to jail where he ‘rotted away’ (NovelGuide).
The next factor that influenced his actions is his love for Julia makes him change his mind towards some of his perceptions. As discussed above, he changes his mind towards his hatred for the organization that Julia works for. The change of mind ends up making him be slothful in his course. On the other hand, fear is also a factor that dictates his behavior. The last straw that makes him betray Julia is when he is put in a room (Room 101) that has rats. Just before he is put in the room full of rats, Winston shouts, “I have not betrayed Julia.” O’Brien, who was the one integrating him agrees with him. He then asks him why. Winston responds by saying “he had not stopped loving her; his feelings towards her had remained the same”. Nevertheless, O’Brien takes him to the most feared room in the ‘Ministry of Love.' (Orwell, 147)) Room 101 is the room where the prisoner’s worst fear is administered to them. The people in the Ministry of Love know that Winston’s worst fear is rats. Thus, rats are released towards him. As the rats run towards him, he cringes and ends up doing what he swore that he would not do. He betrays Julia. His love for her also ends up into oblivion (GradeSaver." Study Guides & Essay Editing | GradeSaver).
It can be noted that the fear factor made Winston change his mind (NovelGuide). Consequently, this changed his behavior. First, he betrayed the person that he never did through all the torture that was administered to her. Second, his love for Julia stopped. The actions of Winston clearly indicate how our brains function. Fear as a factor can make a person change his mind about something that he or she holds dear in his or her heart. As a result, the change of mind makes a person to change his or her behavior. Betrayal of the person that he loved was the consequential action of the change of mind that was triggered by the fear of rats that Winston had (GradeSaver." Study Guides & Essay Editing | GradeSaver).
In summary, there is a relationship between our social interaction and brain functionality. The relationship is evidenced by how Winston’s mind changes as a result of his social interactions. For example, his interaction with Julia and O’Brien make his mind to function in a specific way and towards specific directions. The social interactions also determine our behavior. Even though Orwell wrote the book ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ with totalitarianism as the main theme, his protagonist, Winston, manages to bring up other themes. An example is the relationship between our social interactions and our brain functionality. The relationships that he has with both Julia and O’Brien determine how his mind functions. For instance, his love affair with Julia makes his mind think about Julia all the time.
Additionally, our brains control our behavior, and our brains are affected by many factors. The claim mentioned is reflected widely by the behavior that Winston exhibits whenever his mind changes about something. For example, it can be noted that the fear factor made Winston change his mind. Consequently, this changed his behavior. First, he betrayed the person that he never did through all the torture that was administered to her. Second, his love for Julia stopped. A clear indication that this claim is true is the change of mind by Winston when he sees the rats. Although he exhibited different behavior before the rats were unleashed, he changed his mind when he saw them. Consequently, his actions also changed as a result of the change of mind that was due to the infiltration of fear as a factor that affects the brain.
Works Cited
"1984 Nineteen Eighty-Four Study Guide." Novelguide. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2014.
"1984 Study Guide : Summary and Analysis of Part One I-II | GradeSaver." Study Guides & Essay Editing | GradeSaver. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2014.
Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty Four. St Ives: Penguin Books, 2003. Print.
