The Relationships, Freedom, and Distinctions of the Classes in Oceania

"Throughout recorded time, and probably since the end of the Neolithic Age, there have been three kinds of people in the word, the High, the Middle, and the Low." (184). Society has always been split up into classes even though it might have varied from time to time but the structure had never been changed. Even if it were about today or five hundred years ago, there would have always been the system of the Upper class, Middle class, and then the lowest class. In George Orwell's 1984, the three social classes, the Inner Party, Outer Party, and Proletarians, depicts how their lifestyle differentiates from each other and the extent of their freedom in Oceania. They had many great distinctions where at times they barely knew of each other existence but these three classes are all connected and held together by one source, Big Brother.

The Proletarians or also know as the proles is the lowest class in Oceania. They make up the majority of the society where they claim up to eighty-five percent of the population. The proles were not considered human beings, instead they were treated as if they were animals. The Party slogan for the Proletarians is, "Proles and animals are free" which shows that the Party believes their worthiness is nothing but a mere creature that works and breeds for the country. Known to be the reject of the society, the proles are

not put under the rigorous monitoring of the Party because they believe the proles do not have the intelligence to rebel against the government. Proles are shown to be thoughtless beings that are kept "happy" with lotteries, silly songs, and pornography and believe in all of the government's misinformation. They would be bombed by their own people but still believes that it is Eastasia that's doing it because of the Party propaganda. Although Winston Smith, the protagonist of the book, has hope in the proles because he thinks that "if there is hope, it lies in the proles." What he doesn't realize and soon finds out is that the proles has no reason to start a revolution against the Party because they will never need to. The Proletarian already has all the possessions they need in life.

Next comes the middle class of this society which is called the Outer Party. It is the class between the wealthy and the poor or could be said as the bourgeoisie of French society. Every middle class throughout history should have been well off except for the one in Oceania. It was a totalitarian government in Oceania and the Outer Party are the thoughtless slaves that work for Big Brother and believes in Big Brother. They were bureaucrats that were workers of the Inner Party and do most of the work for the four ministries of the government. They are the one that prepares for all the events such as hate week, and organizes all the documents of the government. Ironically though, the Outer Party is seen as the worst off of the three social classes. They were always under constant supervision by the Party and they lack the personal independence the proles contain. The Outer Party

...