The Misuse of Power and the Extent of Free Will Within A...

In both Nineteen Eighty-four and A Clockwork Orange, free will and the misuse of power are two intrinsically linked themes which are woven throughout and that govern everything that happens within both novels. The different reactions of different characters are an area that both George Orwell and Anthony Burgess focus on with interesting parallels between the two main protagonists, Alex and Winston. Winston and Alex, although very different, react in quite a similar fashion to events surrounding their circumstances. Their control over their own free will and use of power is evident from their actions. Within nineteen eighty-four, the limit of free will associated with each character is clearly evident. A character is bound only by the†¦show more content†¦It is clearly the exact opposite to Nineteen Eighty-Four, where many are punished throughout even for â€Å"thoughtcrime†. This shows evidently the contrasts between the two novels. In CWO, you have free will to the extent within which you can legally ‘get away’ with things or ‘twist’ the system, whereas in the latter, the expressed echelons of free will are as such that there is barely any space for private thoughts, and the state use fear and terror tactics almost to put their ‘minions’ into a submissive culture whom abide by the states every whim, thus showing a clear mi suse of power and a great lack of free will. This lack of free will is greater exasperated by the radical new languages within each novel. The radical new languages used in both novels, are clear indications of the perspectives that most be people upheld in regards to those who were in power at the time in which these texts were written. Delving deeper into the texts, Nineteen Eighty-Four’s ‘Newspeak’ is the clear product of a corrupt authoritarian governmental regime, within which every movement and action is controlled by the state. This is governened by a policy of ‘Ingsoc’ which states that â€Å"all knowledge rests in the collective mind of the Party†, thus meaning in reality that whatever the Party says goes. Any seemingly controversial or any that are even slightly evocative of producing independent thinking are abolished. It