The filmed version of Nineteen Eighty-Four displays how minimal cases of extreme horror can be used as a means of oppression. For the characters of Nineteen Eighty-Four, witnessing public executions of thought criminals and prisoners of war is a daily experience that the citizens living in Oceania undergo. The film displays a crowd of thousands gathered around several prisoners blindfolded and awaiting execution. With each gunshot fired, a hysterical cheer erupts from the crowd while the camera focuses on a horrified expression on Winston’s face, a detail not conveyed in the text version. Winston, who has already convicted himself of thought crime, clearly realizes that the message of resist and be shot is being directed towards thinking minds like his own. The oppressive message is ignored in Winston’s case, since he is merely using the crowd as a cover to meet with another thought criminal. Yet the scene still displays how horrifying images can create the mindset required for a ruling class to dominate those below it. The ruthless display of power conveyed by helpless prisoners being executed for even the simplest forms of resistance is a method of conditioning those who disagree with the party into thinking that there is no hope to alter the future.
Prior to the execution scene in the novel, and before he has met his female thought criminal counterpart, Winston displays the feelings of helplessness that the party desires from individuals in his position: “His heart sank as he thought of the enormous power arrayed against him” (Orwell 37). At this point in the story, Winston seems to believe that he is the only free mind in a sea brainwashed inhabitants. Upon the threat of exposure, and therefore death, Winston is terrified to make his position on the party known. Winston’s fears consequently show how the horror of ridicule followed by execution are used as a means of preventing fellow thinkers from uniting and becoming a formidable force capable of competing with the party. An individual opposing an oppressor such as the INGSOC party will understandably feel hopeless in comparison to its power. Should those who wish to resist the tyranny realize that they have the influence or the numbers to do so, they may very well act out on their desires. The terror of death upon exposure is henceforth used by INGSOC to preserve the individualistic and helpless mindset.
To further ensure that the individuals disagreeing with INGSOC remain in a personal and helpless frame of mind the party trains its followers from an early age to spot and expose thought criminals. In the filmed version of Nineteen Eighty-Four, this becomes evident in the scene where Winston is fixing his neighbors sink. For no apparent reason, the young boy who is also present in the room announces that Winston is a thought criminal. As unjustified and irrelevant as this claim may seem, the child is in any case correct. Winston’s position is not uncovered as a direct result of this accusation; however the incident displays how an oppressor can use its subjects to further enforce its terrorism. The child’s statement tells Winston that the very people he wishes to free are willing to expose people like himself. Recruiting other individuals to oppose the party becomes a nearly impossible task as a result of this dog like loyalty. Formidable opposition of the oppressor, and thus hope for changing the situation also becomes unquestionable with the acceptance of this realization. Again, the minimal display of horror, a ruthless execution ceremony, has been maximized in effect; reminding the individual the he is helpless in the face of the oppressor.
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