How much power does the Government truly have?

Hello everyone this is Raymond. I am still reading more in 1984 (its getting better with each page). However the first chapter of the book really made me think and I finally came to the question. How much power does the government truly have over people. As you can see in the government created in the book 1984 not only does the government have visible methods of control, but also extremely discreet ones that we ourselves really can't notice without deep analyzing. I believe governmental control is a strong theme in the book and was wondering any of your thoughts on the theme of government.