A man sits in an airtight, breathless room with an electronic screen embedded in the wall, and his every move is monitored even in the dark. There is also a poster on the wall that says, “Big Brother is watching you”(Orwell). This is the living environment described in George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984, as Bossche introduced, “Winston, the main character of the novel, lives in a country where individual thought is banned, where only the leader, Big Brother, is allowed to reason and to decide”(Bossche). In this work, people have lost their freedom of thought, as if being locked in a cage of thought. In Orwell’s society, humanity is stifled by power, and freedom of thought is imprisoned. The dystopian society is a 'monster' in the novel 1984 by George Orwell because people’s thoughts are not free in Dystopia, and a society without freedom is terrible.
The theme of 1984 was dystopian. Someone may ask, it seems like Utopia is a pretty good social environment, why is the book 1984 dystopian? The first thing that is needed to mention is that Utopia does not just mean a 'wonderful world'. The term utopia first comes from Plato's Republic, so utopia mainly refers to Plato’s utopia. Plato’s utopia is actually a highly hierarchical society, but the strict order is exchanged for peace and stability, which is the perfect social structure that Plato likes. Dystopia mainly refers to an anti-Plato utopia that relies on strictly prohibited structures in exchange for peace. When talking about utopia and dystopia, Toma mentioned, “Modem utopias, which almost invariably turn into dystopias, share common elements regarding the use of power in new kinds of societies, societies that invariably turn into totalitarian systems”(Sava). In Orwell's 1984, totalitarians constructed a hierarchical society. In such a society, thinking of all are forced agreement, is required to obey totalitarian hundred percent. The dystopian society relies on strict social order and control of thoughts to achieve social stability, which is the extremization of Plato’s utopian society. In 1984’s Oceania, where the story happened, people’s thoughts were controlled and they had to follow what the leader Big Brother said and did. There was no freedom to be an independent individual, which is a “monster” for people living there, and that’s why 1984 is a dystopian work.
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The main reason that the dystopian society in 1984 is a “monster” is because there was no freedom of thought, the totalitarian state exercises ideological control over its people. In this dystopia, the first thing totalitarians do in order to control the people’s thoughts is technological surveillance. In this dystopia, the first thing totalitarians do to control people's thoughts is surveillance. To successfully achieve ideological control, totalitarians use technology to achieve real-time monitoring of the people. Everyone's actions, words, and deeds are clearly visible on the telescreen, so they can't generate rebellious thoughts. As McKay says, “Through the advancement of technology, the Party has installed telescreens in every home, office, hallway, and anywhere else members may go. These devices allow the Party to both surveil and control its citizens… telescreens and the controls the Party uses to infect the ideas of those subject to Big Brother”(McKay).In Oceania, everyone's private lives, whether they are ordinary people or leaders, are exposed under the electric screen, just like transparent people. And privacy is very important, as Greenwald said, “But equally essential to what it means to be a free and fulfilled human being is to have a place that we can go and be free of the judgmental eyes of other people....when we're in a state where we can be monitored, where we can be watched, our behavior changes dramatically. The range of behavioral options that we consider when we think we're being watched severely reduce...when somebody knows that they might be watched, the behavior they engage in is vastly more conformist and compliant”(Greenwald). When living in a society that is monitored everywhere, in order to prevent their words and deeds from being wrong, people will try their best to comply and avoid showing their real ideas. Because their different behaviors or thoughts can be easily detected under the monitoring of the electric screen, and the result waiting for them is to assimilate their thoughts. This is why in this dystopian society you can see 'Big Brother looking at you' posters everywhere, proving that everyone is constantly monitored by the screen. In this way, the goal of totalitarianism is achieved. When people know that they are being monitored, they dare not think differently or do different behaviors.
The telescreen is a kind of external compulsion to humans, but the external influence is not enough. The totalitarian indoctrinates people internally. In Oceania, the most successful brainwashing is the party's three slogans, 'War is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is power' (Orwell). These three slogans are also everywhere. People in Oceania have accepted this idea from birth, just as many people in real life are told that 1+1=2, so most people will naturally accept this view without doubting it. For the people of Oceania, these three slogans are deeply embedded in their consciousness like natural principles, and most people will not question them. When war is seen as peace and ignorance becomes power, the second goal of totalitarians is achieved. He successfully used a period of time to turn people into ignorant, difficult-to-question, raised animals. People are inherently difficult to deny what he said, and even if they have different ideas, they will be monitored by an external screen. In this way, the indoctrination of thought is successful, and the purpose of thought control is also successful.
The above-mentioned ideological control methods and methods have enabled the totalitarians in Oceanic countries to almost achieve the goal of ideological control. On top of this, they have also done something that has never appeared in other totalitarian countries. That is to control people's words and thoughts, so that they have no ability to express or convey their own rebellious thoughts. Newspeak is a new language specially invented by Oceania to control people's thoughts. As Seaton comments on Newspeak, “But the greatest horror in Orwell’s dystopia is the systematic stripping of meaning out of language. The regime aims to eradicate words and the ideas and feelings they embody”(Seaton). The emergence of Newspeak makes it impossible for people to commit any ideological crime. Just like the protagonist Winston in the book, even though some people think that the concepts conveyed by society are not right, they don't know how to understand them clearly. Or even if they have fully understood their rebellious thoughts, because the people around them do not have the same thoughts, they will either assimilate with those around them or change them. But under the influence of Newspeak, changing the people around has become a difficult thing to achieve. They don't have the right language to describe their ideas, and there is no way to change others’ thoughts. At the same time, the concept of doublethink also appeared, according to Orwell describes, “And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed -- if all records told the same tale --then the lie passed into history and became truth. ‘Who controls the past,’ ran the Party slogan, ‘controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.’ And yet the past, though of its nature alterable, never had been altered. Whatever was true now was true from everlasting to everlasting. It was quite simple. All that was needed was an unending series of victories over your own memory. ‘Reality control’, they called it: in Newspeak, ‘doublethink’”(Orwell). In order to achieve the goal of mind control, doublethink eliminates personal thoughts and accepts two kinds of contrary beliefs at the same time, but takes it for granted when facing incorrect things. For example, as mentioned in 1984, let people think that 2 + 2 = 5. Everyone knows that 2 + 2 = 4, but “The ‘2 + 2 = 5’ becomes a reoccurring reference in 1984. The main character, Winston, is seen as a ‘slow learner’ and tortured for not understanding how 2+2=5 is true if the inner party tells him it is”(BaZiLe). These methods make the dystopian society in 1984 a totalitarian one, they keep all the free thoughts in a cage and control them, letting the society be without freedom of thought.
In this way, the totalitarians succeeded in depriving most of the whole society of their freedom of thought, and the society without freedom is terrible. What 1984 talked about is also reflected in real life, “The Party in 1984 governs and controls its members through its three slogans: War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, and Ignorance is Strength (Orwell 4). Ignorance is a strength best relates to the Trump administration. This slogan is explained in the book, a propaganda-filled text explaining the logic behind the Party and its governing policies. Here, it becomes apparent that, like Trump supporters, Party members are expected to ignore truth or facts in favor of the official narrative”(McKay). Take things that have happened in history, such as the cultural revolution in China from 1966 to 1976. During the cultural revolution, the whole society took what the leader said and did as the highest criterion. As long as what the leader said was right, once someone had different ideas or pointed out the leader's mistakes, he would be criticized collectively and even injured. As described in 1984, anyone with a different idea or even a little doubt like Winston will be taken to a small room for education, in other words, brainwashing. Even in today's society, people still find the shadow of what happened in 1984 in their lives. After Trump was elected president, the sales volume of 1984 was extremely high, perhaps because people felt the feeling of books in their own lives. Like Freytas-tamura introduced, “George Orwell’s classic book ‘1984,’ about a dystopian future where critical thought is suppressed under a totalitarian regime, has seen a surge in sales this month, rising to the top of the Amazon best-seller list in the United States and leading its publisher to have tens of thousands of new copies printed... Readers see a natural parallel between the book and the way Mr. Trump and his staff have distorted facts”(Freytas-Tamura). It can be seen that people all hate a society without ideological freedom and how it is a “monster” for people.
All in all, the dystopian society in 1984 is completely a “monster”, it imprisons the minds of its citizens and robs them of their freedom of thought, and renders society a fearful world without free thought. Freedom of thought is the most important thing to be an independent person, like Bossche says, “He often proclaimed that 1984 could happen if a man did not become aware of the assaults on his personal freedom and did not defend his most precious right, the right to have his own thoughts”(Bossche). We should try our best not to make 1984 a reality.
Works Cited
- Bazile, PawL. “10 Ways Orwell’s 1984 Is a Progressive Utopia.” Proud Boy Magazine, 24 Nov. 2017, officialproudboys.com/cool-guy-stuff/10-ways-orwells-1984-progressive-utopia/.
- Bossche, Edmond. “THE MESSAGE FOR TODAY IN ORWELL'S '1984'.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 1 Jan. 1984, www.nytimes.com/1984/01/01/nyregion/the-message-for-today-in-orwell-s-1984.html.
- Freytas-tamura, Kimiko De. “George Orwell's '1984' Is Suddenly a Best-Seller.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 25 Jan. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/01/25/books/1984-george-orwell-donald-trump.html.
- Greenwald, Glenn. “Why Privacy Matters.” TED, Oct. 2014, www.ted.com/talks/glenn_greenwald_why_privacy_matters#t-667311.
- McKay, Ivy. “Donald Trump and Doublespeak: An Unsettling Precursor to the Dystopian Society of George Orwell’s 1984.” University of Central Florida Undergraduate
- Research Journal, vol. 10, no. 1, Oct. 2018, pp. 22–28. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=133491473&site=ehost-live.
- Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four: 1984. Buccaneer Books, 1949.
- Sava, Toma. 'From Plato to Swift and Orwell, from Utopia to Dystopia.' Journal of Humanistic and Social Studies, vol. 7, no. 1, 2016, pp. 9-16. ProQuest, http://ezproxy.fhda.edu/login?url=https://ezproxy.fhda.edu:2187/docview/2269918297?accountid=38235.
- Seaton, Jean. “Why Orwell's 1984 Could Be About Now.” BBC Culture, BBC, May 2018, www.bbc.com/culture/article/20180507-why-orwells-1984-could-be-about-now.
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