1984 Journal Topic C

Being that it is 3:00 am, excuse any blatant grammatical errors I may make, after all you have to chillax because this is my blog (haha).

In 1984, Orwell tries to horrify his reader by warping things in society into something you'd see at a haunted house.  Children beg to see men killed.  Bombs constantly explode, severing limbs which are tossed off to the side.  Babies are eaten by rats.  Fights over insignificant things are sparked around every corner.  Gin is the preferred beverage to water.  Pornography is a mass marketed item.  Sex is no longer sex.  The dictionary is slowly dumbing everyone down, taking away personal expression.  And worst of all, you can't even have individual thought!  If I was around in 1949 when this book was published, on one hand, I would in no way believe this "garbage" (in reference to my opinion at the time).  However (assuming I'm the average Joe Capitalist American), I would revel in the not-so-subtle anti-socialist theme that runs through it.  Some of Orwell's claims are outlandish, crazy, (and in a word the man loves to use) lunatic.  Even weirder thing about these proclamations: they are right.  Hitler's regime mirrors that of the party in a horrifying fashion (with exception to the fact that Hitler was physically real).   Acceptance of violence is getting younger and younger.  In many communist nations and nations with ultra-nationalist parties, bombs are in fact going off uncontrollably, sent from, yes, their own country!  In parts of India babies are tossed out on the streets.  Alcoholism is a growing problem in the U.S.  Pornography is one of the largest global markets.  And in many countries like North Korea, steps are being taken to erase individual thought, through use of community.   Offered alternative: clean cut democracy.  But, also Capitalism because of the lack of forced "share" of all goods.

1984 Journal Topic A

"Here we reach the central secret.  As we have seen, the mystique of the Party, and above all of the Inner Party, depends upon doublethink.  But deeper than this lies the original motive, the never-questioned instinct that first led to the seizure of power and brought doublethink, the Thought Police, continuous warfare , and all other necessary paraphernalia into existence afterwords." (216-217)

This passage is very important to the main purpose of every action this government does.  They simply convince everyone that things are different then they really are, because if every human mind perceives something differently from how it really happens, did it REALLY happen that way?  It's the whole if a tree falls in a forest, and no one hears it, did it really happen thing.  This passage reveals that the "instinct" to seize power led to the application of doublethink, and all other strategies the Party uses for control.  So this passage tells of the origin and processes of why and how this government runs.  Right before this, the class system is being discussed (as it is an excerpt from Emmanuel Goldstein's book) and he talks about how classes are in a cyclic path of trying to improve their life, while holding off the other social class.  That also feeds into the doublethink because one way the higher class is able to subdue the proles and the middle class is simply by brainwashing them.  It's a method of social class control.  The thought police also help retain the class system because if anyone is having thoughts of rebellion they are stricken down before they can gain support.

1984 Journal Topic B

In 1984, Winston is fighting the government of Oceania.  George Orwell creates a horrific prediction of the future by manipulating what are thought of as basic human rights.  Not only can you not reproduce by your interest (whatever that may be), but you can't even think original thought!   And on top of that, if you do defy the government, you are either erased from existence, or tortured into conformity.  Winston rebels against this by having sexual relations for his own reasons, and setting up an alternate, self controlled life.  In order to escape the thought police, he works in secrecy.  Out of cameras views, using doublethink to his advantage.  In order to gain the truth about various records, Winston takes documents from his work and links them together.  This rebellion is very successful, until he is caught.  He had it all going for him, his own passionate relationship, individual knowledge, and an independent (to an extent) life.  But part of the horror of Orwell's created society is the inconsistency of day to day life.  There is no consistency, because the past is constantly changed.  Backbones of the society like language, politics, war, and jobs are constantly changed.  Worst of all, constant surveillance makes citizens uneasy.  The line of what you can and can't do is hazy.  And when Winston is inevitably caught, the punishment is severe.  With torture, they don't just hurt you physically, they mess with your mind.  They make you know that ONLY what they say is true.  And to Winston, this is the most horrible punishment of all.  He knows 2 and 2 make 4, but in the end, if they say it is 5, it's 5.