1984 Not So Far Off
The year 2002 has finally arrived. This is a time to take a retrospective look at what has happened in the previous year. The same thing happened in 1984. Back then; the people decided if what George Orwell had predicted in his novel had come true. Taking a quick glance, the appearance of the society then, compared with the fictional society of 1984 was like night and day. But, on further inspection, George Orwell’s predictions were really not that far off. Now in 2002, the evidence of a 1984 like society is ever the more visible.
The focus of hatred in the two-minute hate can be seen today as well. Hate is an emotion that everyone experiences. In 1984, two minutes is taken every day to focus hate on Emmanuel Goldstein. Very little is known about him except for the fact that he opposes the party. “ He was the primal traitor, the earliest defiler of the Party’s purity. (14)
Because the party always changes the past to coincide with their views, no one really knows if Goldstein ever existed. He may have an object to focus party members hate on so that they love Big Brother all the more.
This can be seen in the United States today, and in the past. In colonial times hatred was focused on Britain. They were the sole reason for all hardship in the colonies. They made life horrible for the settlers. In World War II hate was focused on Germany and Japan. Japan attacked the United States when the nation was not in the war. Americans then enjoyed seeing the atomic bomb fall on the Japanese cities. After World War II, the American hate was then focused Russian Communism. America had to make sure democracy prevailed over communism. Russia was a foe that the United States was always competing with.
The Emmanuel Goldstein of today would be Osama Bin Laden. After his terrorist act hate was focused on him. The media told Americans that he was the one to hate. Americans listened to what the media told them. Osama Bin Laden is made fun of by Jay Leno and other comedians. The rock band Jackyl even produced a song, I hate you Bin Laden. “To dissemble your feelings, to control your face, to do what everyone else wad doing was an instinctive reaction.” (18) The hate grew severe enough for some Americans to commit hate crimes against people of a Middle-Eastern patrimony. After the terrorist exploit, love suddenly arose for today’s Big Brother,...
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...t generation of The Party loyalists. “It was somehow slightly frightening, like the gaboling of tiger cubs which will soon grow into maneaters.” (23)
Brainwashing children can be seen today as well. In school kids learn about how great their country is. They “Pledge allegiance to the flag”. They don’t even realize what they’re saying. They are just told to memorize the words, and to say them over and over again. Some Middle-Eastern children learn the United States is evil from the time they’re very young. So, by the time they reach adulthood they hate the United States just like the rest of their peers. Religion teaches children the basics in order for them to keep those values for the rest of their life. They also memorize words and have blind faith toward a God who they can’t understand yet. Children are influenced the most easily, and today’s society as well as the society of 1984 took advantage of that.
Though the year is currently 2002, people can still look back at 1984 and the similarities between now and then. With a quick glance, today’s society seems completely different. But, on closer inspection, some aspects of 1984 are much more true than anyone ever realizes.
While there are many different emotions, there is one that stands above all others; Hate.
Even though there are many reasons why people disagree with the statement that 1984 is like society today, I obviously agree. We may not be to that point yet, but there are many similarities between our societies. The slogan, War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength, shows how frightening the dystopian society in 1984 is. Hopefully conditions do not ever reach the same level.
Through out the course of history there have been several events that have been a pivotal point which has molded the behaviors and thoughts of this century. A lot of notable activist and authors wrote stories and speeches about how they believed that this day and time would be like. A lot of these views were very accurate surprisingly. In the novel 1984 author George Orwell gives his vision on how he believed that the countries would be like if they kept going the way they were.This report will give you a brief rundown of the characters, theories and principles of this novel along with some of my personal insight of the novel.
When George Orwell’s epic novel 1984 was published in 1949 it opened the public’s imagination to a future world where privacy and freedom had no meaning. The year 1984 has come and gone and we generally believe ourselves to still live in “The Land of the Free;” however, as we now move into the 21st Century changes brought about by recent advances in technology have changed the way we live forever. Although these new developments have seamed to make everyday life more enjoyable, we must be cautious of the dangers that lie behind them for it is very possible that we are in fact living in a world more similar to that of 1984 than we would like to imagine.
Ultimately, common ideas found in the novel 1984, totalitarianism, surveillance, and lack of privacy are also ubiquitous in modern society and government. Big Brother and modern day government have been able to control its citizens through surveillance equipment, and fear all for a little more power. There is much to learn from such an undesirable form of society much like the one of Oceania in 1984. Examining Big Brother government closely, alarming connections can be made to real-world government actions in the United States and the cruel world within Orwell's book.
Thirty years have passed since the year George Orwell predicted that a totalitarian government would rule society; many believe that his prediction precluded the reality by thirty years. In the novel, 1984, George Orwell describes a society in Oceania ruled by a highly controlling totalitarian government, referred to as “Big Brother”. The utopian and dystopian genre of this novel appeals to readers that like science and/or political fiction. Many characteristics of today’s society support the claim that every day, society becomes more and more like the society depicted in 1984. The popular rapper Childish Gambino, on his latest album Because the Internet, has even stated in a song, “We all Big Brother now”, referring to the lack of privacy posting to the Internet creates. One can attribute technology as the main cause to this increasing similarity between today’s society and that portrayed in 1984. Technological advances are creating a seemingly more comparable world to that depicted in the novel “1984”, as shown through the use of smartphones and the use of social media.
Many people today are fighters and make attempts to stand up for what they believe in. Another way 1984 impacted us today is that the novel was a prediction of a controlling government. “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever” (page 267). Just like in 1984 they had “telescreens”monitoring their every move, we know there are so many surveillance cameras used everywhere we go. There are also microphones and the government is able to tap their citizens’ phone to monitor what they say. This ties into the main theme
Even though many of Orwell’s ideas in his novel 1984 seemed completely fictional, several of the concepts throughout his book have a common link to today’s society. For instance in the same way telescreens monitor people every second of their li...
A very strong feeling of dislike, intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury. Is how Websters discribes the word Hate. Thurman gives proof of that definition in this chapter about hate. He uses stories and personal examples that provide us a picture in words of what hate means and how Jesus was totally against the hatred. He writes that hatred is death to the spirit and disintegration of ethical and moral values. Above and beyond all else it must be borne in mind that hatred tends to dry up the springs of creative thought in the life of the hater, so that his resourcefulness becomes completely focused on the negative aspects of his environment. The urgent needs of the personality for creative expression
These examples display the inevitable fact that all over the world subtle but significant events are taking place that appear to signify a shifting toward a totalitarian government, much like the one present in 1984. This is extremely disturbing because most people will agree that the life lived by the characters in 1984, is not one of any value. Though they are “protected” from several of the problems that many of the free world citizens and officials face, they have no control over their thoughts or actions. This leads to unbearable uniformity. It is chilling to know that though George Orwell’s book was written as fiction, portions of it are becoming factual.
In the same way as love, hatred requires a certain intimacy between two people. A relationship cannot consist of either love or hate without there first being a close relationship between two individuals. Hawthorne explains that for these emotions to exist, “each, in its utmost development, requires a high degree of intimacy and heart-knowledge” (Hawthorne 246). In order for either of these emotions to be conceived within an individual, the person must first make an effort to acquire a deep understanding of the other person. It is necessary to have a familiarity with someone else’s character in order to either love or hate them, and it is impossible to become close to som...
Throughout history, the powers of love and hate have constantly been engaged in a battle for superiority. Time and time again, love has proven to be stronger than hate, and has been able to overcome all of the obstacles that have stood in the way from it reaching its goal. On certain occasions, though, hate has been a viable foe and defeated love when they have clashed. In the novel A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens presents several different power struggles between love and hate.
... others more easily (McDougal). Hate itself takes up a lot of energy. All that wasted energy could be channeled into other areas that are more rewarding such as helping others.
Upon my reading of the novel 1984, I was fascinated by George Orwell’s vision of the future. Orwell describes a world so extreme that a question comes to mind, asking what would encourage him to write such a novel. 1984 took place in the future, but it seemed like it was happening in the past. George Orwell was born in 1903 and died in 1950; he has seen the horrific tides of World War ² and Ï. As I got deeper into this novel I began to see similar events of world history built into 1984.
In society today for the most part, people are free to speak freely, connect with friends and family and stay in touch with what’s happening in everywhere. It’s not unusual think that everyone enjoys the same rights and privileges but in reality this is not so; in some parts of the world speaking one’s mind could result in death, broadcast agencies are forced to have their reports approved and leaders strategize wars and alliances like seasoned chess players. This might all sound very disheartening but is in fact tame compared to the literacy works and ideas conjured up by English author George Orwell in his novel 1984 which depicts fictional life under the cruel and all seeing “Big Brother” regime of futuristic London. During his lifetime growing up with the examples of a Soviet Union and Nazi Germany and later through his military experiences, Orwell witnessed firsthand how easily people could be manipulated and the truth become twisted. It is for this reason that George Orwell’s novel 1984 is an important work of literature because it discusses timeless themes like democracy, censorship, and politics which have all remained highly debated topics in society today.