1984 Paper

Is Big Brother Still Watching?

At the conclusion of 1984 I am very pleased that I took the time to actually read the whole book, instead of just skimming it like I sometimes do. The themes in this book will always be valuable to humans as they pertain to different aspects of the human nature. In this book Orwell explores, lust, fear, power, language (in the public sphere!), history and other relevant themes to today’s society. There were many moments in the book when my jaw dropped in awe of the society portrayed, especially the moments when the “child heroes” would turn someone in for being different or when people would suddenly disappear and have their records “vaporized.” As the plot progressed the book became very hard to put down at times. Throughout the novel I was hoping that the Brotherhood or some form of resistance would arise, and that Big Brother would be destroyed; however this never came to fruition. The masses never revolted or inquired about why most of what Big Brother said didn’t make sense, and the main reason for their accepting whatever they were told is fear. Fear makes humans do irrational things. Fear limits our ability to reason and to fulfill our potential. Another component that comes out of fear is that of brainwashing. Ingsoc and Big Brother worked together to first place fear in the masses then systematically brainwash them till they could not think for themselves.

The people’s submission to Big Brother for fear of being killed or tortured made me take a look at how fear affects daily life. Everyone has fears and it affects all their interactions to varying degrees.  In the case of Winston he was never able to overcome his greatest fear and in the end he submits to the will of Big Brother.

“But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.” (308)

The ability of fear to completely change the thought process of someone is one that scares me. I have some fears that if I was faced to deal with immediately I would probably submit to whatever was being asked, and I’m sure everyone has their “Room 101”, yet at what point is facing that fear better than becoming a mindless pawn? The truth is there is no universal answer, and I am glad and hope I will never have to live in a society like that of 1984.

Some other themes that I think our class should pay special attention to, are language and technology. As our seminar is all about language it was interesting to explore a world in which the ability to express oneself would be severely limited. The systematic destruction of language would not only diminish the ability of people to grow intellectually, but it would destroy the potential of future generations. The next theme that is very relevant to not only our class but to modern society is the use of technology. The world of 1984 in which telescreens and microphones are strategically placed to monitor the masses is not far fetched. We have street cameras on basically every street, we can have our phone calls monitored by the government, and the Internet is never completely private or confidential as everything can be hacked into. Although there are some parallels I don’t think we have too much to worry about; at least for now.

To conclude, 1984 was a pleasant surprise and reading it was a lot more enjoyable than I thought. I had many laughs at the awkward moments and cringed at some parts. The variety of themes and questions that arise from this book could be discussed for pages on end. I believe the reason that this book is still so widely acclaimed is not only because it is entertaining as a story, but because it is a book that analyzes human nature, emotion and intellect, and that is what makes it appealing and a classic.