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1984 What It Means To Be Human Essay

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What does it truly mean to be human? To be alive? To breathe? To be sentient? The answer is not exactly clear, but that doesn’t stop people from at least trying to find the answer. The main character of George Orwell’s novel, 1984, Winston, attempts to stay human in a totalitarian society. Staying human doesn’t just mean to be alive and healthy, but to be able to think and have a personality. A few major questions have been raised because of this philosophy. What does it mean to be human based on Winston and Oceania? How are the people of Oceania dehumanized by this? What does Orwell mean by all of this? Staying human means to have a personality and freedom of the personal mind. What does it mean to be human? According to Winston and George Orwell, it doesn’t take that much to be considered human. Winston shows, multiple …show more content…

1984 is a cautionary tale that follows Winston through the cruel world he lives in. To give a bit of background, the novel was published on June 8th, 1949, only about two years into the start of the cold war. The “horror” of communism was rampant during this time, and George Orwell wanted to show what could happen if a government had so much control over the people of their country. He wanted people to understand that governments should not be able to dehumanize people, otherwise the people living there aren’t technically human. Orwell wanted people to know how to stay human, they just have to have a personality, and to hold onto your own opinions. According to George Orwell, it doesn’t take a lot to be human, but the few things it does take are so important, that if we were to let them go, our worlds would fall apart. George Orwell wants his readers to understand and hold on to the things that are important to us, the ones we love, the things we do, the people we are, because those are the things that truly make us

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