Topic > Critique of Social Classes in 1984

In George Orwell's 1984, the differences and relationships between the proles, the Outer Party and the Inner Party reflect different aspects of human nature and the various levels of the human psyche. The lowest and most savage level of humanity is represented through the proles, as they are controlled by nothing more than animalistic instincts. Demonstrating their subjugation in the society of 1984, Orwell argues that the personality will seek to suppress these instinctive forces despite the immense power they wield. The Outer Party represents the malleability of human nature, the idea that social and familial forces ultimately shape much of each individual's character. As in the novel, this level is, in a sense, stuck between the higher planes of the personality and those of the indomitable human spirit. These higher planes of personality are exemplified by the Inner Party and its absolute control over matter, reality, and even other human minds and the minds of its own members. With this group Orwell intends to characterize the immense power of the human mind over all other levels of the personality. Through each of these three groups, Orwell describes some aspect of human nature and uses the interrelationships of the groups to demonstrate the ultimate composition and influencing factors of human life. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayThe largest and probably most powerful of all influencing factors is that of innate human instincts, just as the proles were the largest and potentially most powerful class in the novel. The proles are Freud's Id, the most rudimentary and least refined type of consciousness, humanity in its raw and powerful form. They are a humanity stripped to the core, and Winston describes them as those who "retained the primitive emotions which he himself had to relearn by conscious effort" (136). Winston's mantra, "If there is hope, it lies in the proles," illustrates how much power this lowest level of the human psyche truly possesses. Unfortunately it is difficult to direct this power towards something useful outside of oneself, just as it is difficult to awaken the proles to the fact that they have so much power. This is due to the fact that, just as each individual prole is only concerned with his own well-being, each person's id is completely self-centered. Therefore, the mind tends to reject this crudely emotional component of nature, just as the Party subjugates the proles. If the proles represent the emotional aspect of human nature, then the Outer Party represents the reactionary aspect. In the same sense that Party members live on a higher plane of consciousness than the proles, this reactionary part of the psyche is concerned with something outside the individual self. At this level of human nature, the influences of culture and society change the outcome of the personality. Therefore, it is at this level that the personality is mouldable, capable of adapting to external forces. O'Brien says, "Men are infinitely malleable," and, in a sense, they are (222). This aspect of human nature takes on all the effects of the external world and can conform to them with varying degrees of intensity, depending on the strength of the mind. There will always be instincts at the core of the personality, but this section constitutes the very substance of the personality, and if this section is malleable, human nature is, in essence, malleable. It is as if the proles represent nature, the Outer Party represents education, and the Inner Party represents each individual's conscious balance between nature and education. Because the Inner Party constantly bombards the Outer Party with appeals to.