Repression of Natural Inclination

In 1984, the people of Oceania are very limited to their abilities. The one I picked was repression of natural inclinations. This topic seemed to have the most to work with. To start, the telescreens restrict everyone’s ability to do specific things. The purpose of the telescreen is to induce fear into the hearts of people. The telescreen is a non stop stream of both surveillance and propaganda. “Big Brother is Watching You”(Orwell 2) is what the telescreens display to make people not do certain things.


People in Oceania are restricted to having sexual relationships unless they are married and forced to have a child. Cameras watch your every move from the telescreen and if you do something that is “crime worthy”, the party will seek you out and take you into the ministry of love. Another form of repression of natural inclinations is the ability to interact. People can’t have formal conversations with other people unless they find a secret place like Julia and Winston did. First Winston had to find a place and time to meet with Julia because of the letter she had given him when she fell. Winston then had to deceive a plan to locate and talk to Julia without being seen by any cameras. After he set up a place and time to chat more, Wiston met up and Julia gave him directions to a secret place. This process was very fleshed out. They made it so they would not get caught. Later in the book, Winston and Julia find a second hiding place to go to, which is above Mr. Charrington’s shop. Little did Julia and Winston know that there was a hidden telescreen in that room which led to them being caught. Throughout the book, everyone has dietary limits. Everyone has a limitless amount of Victory Gin and Cigarettes, but are limited to things such as chocolate. Also people are limited in speech. In Oceania, the language is “Newspeak”. Newspeak is meant to limit thought and to minimize the amount of wording. Limited thought is shown through propaganda. The thought police are said to monitor what you are thinking, but nobody can be sure whether they can or can’t.





In 1984, restricts are present throughout the book, not only in natural inclinations, but also thought and language. Oceania is a very restricted place and don’t forget, Big Brother is Watching You.