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April 14, 20260 citationsOpen Access

Reimagining Surveillance and Colonized Mentality: Analyzing Orwell's 1984 Through Bio-Political Existential Lens

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TBTehmina BibiMSMehran ShaukatSASara Anam

Key Points

  • To explore the impact of biopolitical power and surveillance on individual freedom and human identity in Orwell's 1984.
  • Qualitative analysis of the primary text, George Orwell's 1984
  • Attentive textual reading
  • Investigating secondary sources on bio-politics and existentialism
  • Individuals in Oceania limit their actions due to fear of punishment and surveillance
  • Surveillance leads to self-censorship and conformity to Party expectations
  • Winston's experiences illustrate the undermining of identity and human expression by totalitarian control

Abstract

In today's world, power and surveillance significantly impact human behaviour and identity. George Orwell's 1984 paint a vivid and terrifying vision of how political control and constant surveillance affect individual freedom and existence. The goal of this study is to examine 1984 using Michel Foucault's Biopolitical Existential Theory. The objectives include investigating how biopower functions in the novel, how citizens internalize terror, and how continual surveillance and disciplinary control affect human existence. This study takes a qualitative approach, emphasizing attentive textual reading and topic analysis. The primary source is George Orwell's novel 1984, while secondary sources include scholarly articles, periodicals, and theoretical writings on bio-politics and existentialism, all of which provide support to the view. The research reveals that Oceanian individuals limit their actions out of fear of punishment and constant surveillance, rather than out of personal desire. Continuous surveillance forces people to self-censor, control their feelings, and conform to the Party's expectations. Winston's experiences demonstrate how identity, love, resistance, and human expression are systematically undermined when bio-political power has complete control over both the body and mind. In a nutshell, the study explores that 1984 exemplifies how totalitarian organizations employ bio-political tactics to limit human existence and eliminate genuine freedom.

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Cite This Study

Bibi et al. (2025) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69ddd9e1e195c95cdefd74c4https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19534421
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