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The human mind demands rights, once that is destroyed the human is just a machine, a tool for others to use. "1984" by George Orwell, helps us see that this is possible in an alarming warning. "1984" is about a man named Winston seeing through the lies of The Party and who's mind starts to demand rights. The Party is a small group of people who have assumed control through rewriting history and have been worsening the lives of the people, but saying it has been getting better, to the joy of the brainwashed people. The people obey them and live in these harsh conditions first in fear of the telescreens, small television like boxes in every ones, but the proles, the poor people, houses. Along with the thought police, people who can read your thoughts, The Party has been able to remove all those 'against The Party', or people who think there own thoughts. Winston is able to remember the past and sees that The Party is a lie and mentally refuses to believe, he remembers a better time a and freedom. Freedom to think as you did without fear of being caught for daydreaming. He is determined to obtain that what he remembers. In "1984", George Orwell uses Winston's individuality, determination, and fear to reveal that theme of the suppression of the development of free thought.
Winston's individuality of thought lets up see what is going on, when the other people have had there thoughts bent to think that the telescreens are good and help the thought police to fine those who are against The Party, Winston still is against them and wishes for more privacy, he has kept his original thoughts and maintained his individuality despite the harassment of The Party. "You had to live--did live from habit that becomes instinct" (Orwell 6-7) is one of the remarks made about the telescreens from Winston's thoughts. Once a person makes the habit to obey and listen to the telescreen, to always act as it wishes, it becomes an instinct, embedded into the mind and suppressing the ability to express ones self, soon the people bend there thoughts to the telescreen and The Party. Winston is able to maintain his individuality of thought and preserving the way he thinks, instead of switching to doublethink as others have, which is where the mind creates two contradicting statements and analyzes the statements to see which is against The Party and accepting the once that The Party has embedded into there mind, the person then deletes the original thought and deletes the memory of the event, becoming unaware of what is going on. Once the mind has been accustomed to this method of thought it is soon programed to do so. Winston is ale to keep his individuality of thought and can see what is going on around him, he sees that The Party has been altering what has been done and said, even if it was said just the week before. If a person shows act of self thought they are taken by the thought police, for people are thought that "Thought crime does not entail death! Thoughtcrime IS death" (Orwell 27), Thoughtcrime being the action of free thought, so by having his own thoughts he is taking a stop to preserving himself, and keeping himself from becoming a machine of The Party. Winston soon begins to understand that without freedom of thought, no other freedom is possible.
Winston's determination is the strongest trait. His determination helps him to go and looks for the Brotherhood, a group of people who are against The Party, despite the fear of being caught. He and Julie are both determined to go against the Party, although Julie's form of rebellion is not really and individual development of thought like Winston. Julie symbolizes a teenager like rebellion, not and original thought and is not done for the better of all, just doing what the rules say not to just for the natural teenager rebellion and determination to break and question the rules. Winston and Julie go to O'Brien house and talk to him, O'Brien says he is with the Brotherhood and asks if "You are prepared to give your lives away?....commit murder?...commit acts of sabotage which may cause the death to hundreds of innocent people?.....throw sulphuric acid in a child's face..... commit murder....." (Orwell,142) and much more, all of which they agree to except to be separated. To agree to commit these acts may cause Winston to seem evil or corr opted , but really Winston was so determined to have freedom, freedom that are country has given millions of lives for, that he is willing to corrupt and ruin his life to create freedom for himself and others. His determination helps him to overcome his fear of the thought police and to go out and talk to the Proles for more information about the past despite his fear of being caught by The Party.
Fear. The whole story is built around int. His fear of the telescreen. His fear of them finding his journal that has "DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER" written in it. His fear of the thought police. It is the fear that helps us understand how terrible a crime is for him to just think or daydream, to just wonder about the truth, a penalty by death. The human mind is a huge field with no limitations, a place where a human can see what is going on, to see what is right, to question life. To fear for your life just from a daydream, the fear of thought. The strongest fear though is the fear of rats, a fear so strong that it can destroy the human mind, ripping it from its will and leaving it to become just a machine that The Party may use. As O'Brien said "...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. Courage and cowardice are not involved. If you are falling form a height it is not cowardly to clutch to rope. If you have come up from deep water it is not cowardly to fill your lungs with air. It is merely and instinct which cannot be disobeyed. It is the same with the rats. For you they are unendurable. They are a form of pressure that you cannot withstand, even if you wish to. You will do what is required of you." (Orwell, 234), and fear is what they used against him. O'Brien had used a cage that was hooked to a mask to attach to Winston's face. The cage was filled with giant rats that were starved that O'Brien used against Winston as he told him facts about rats to scare him even more till soon Winston gave up the only think he had left. He screamed for them to do it to Julia, the girl he loved. His mind gave up and collapsed, refusing to take in the amount of fear. Stripping Winston of his development of free thought and this later ending the story with him reciting what The Party and telescreens have been saying through out the book.
Through all this the author teaches us the importance of are thoughts and shows us that with out thoughts, actual human thoughts, the human is no different form a computer, a machine that one can program to there will and desire, to use as the please. The Party has learned that the best way to control a person is to destroy there thoughts, for that is what demands the freedom. When The Party was finally done that is just what Winston was, another machine for there use. Orwell teaches us that we must preserve are thought and not let others tell us what we think, we must develop are own thoughts. For without freedom of thought, no other freedom is possible.