| George Orwell’s 1984 is an incredible piece of art that all humanity should require to read in their life. 1984 is a dystopian described by George Orwell which has written in 1949 to warn the future generation people about the dangers of totalitarianism, warns against the collectivism of the government which people no longer have the freedom of speech and the liberty of human rights. Orwell’s 1984 can be read in manifolds; political, philosophical, psychological and sociological. In fact, his book is beautifully written with so many depths and philosophical question that remains for people to think deliberately even after you put down his book. “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU.” The most gloomy part of the book is the dystopia nation described by Orwell in the book that caught me thinking what is the best forms of government to govern the society and what should or what shouldn’t the government do. Humanity has been struggling with the problem of social cohesion since the time of Plato. What is the best form of government? For Orwell, the danger lies in the power of the government; Totalitarianism is the worse of all that Orwell afraid humans do not have the right to oppose the party or freedom of thoughts to express individuality. In 1984, Orwell portrays a state in which the government monitors and controls every aspect of human life to the extent that even having a disloyal thought is against the law. “WAR IS PEACE, SLAVERY IS FREEDOM, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.” In this book, there are several metaphysical and epistemological questions running in the course of the book that requires to ponder. For instance, BIG BROTHER is infallible and all-powerful. Every success, every achievement, every victory, all knowledge, all wisdom are held to issue directly from his leadership and inspiration. Nobody has ever seen the BIG BROTHER. It is the guise of the Party. His function is to act as a focusing point for belief, love, fear, and reverence of the party members. This political ideology of the party seems to have so much resemblance with the form of religion that Catholic Roman used to dominate the western society; Ingsoc. This propaganda of political tactics has been exerted by the party members to keep the people in the state remains ignorance and governed. The question here is what is true? For Winston, he is a realist that he sees things through his observation, senses, and memories by experiencing. The whole reality of Winston constructs by his own perception of the mind and senses and it is objective and external, existing in its own right. On the contrary, O’Brien is an idealist of the party member of BIG BROTHER. He believes reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Not in the individual mind, which can make mistakes, and in any case soon perishes; only in the mind of the party, which is collective and immortal. He believes that the Party holds to be true is the truth. It is impossible to see reality except by looking through the eyes of the Party. In other words, “Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past.” Since every observation and experience of the human mind only dependent on the subjective of individuality. ” By itself, pain is not always enough. There are occasions when a human being will stand out against pain, even to the point of death. But for everyone, there is something unendurable–something that cannot be contemplated.” At the last part of the book, Winston finally won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother and reintegrated back into society as a loyal and faithful Party member. Winston’s free will, represented by his love for Julia, is directly challenged by the Party, and he must choose between Julia and Big Brother, between individuality and conformity. This dehumanizing progress of thought manipulation and torture is the questions of humanity that Orwell trying to impose in his book. Can we human nature can be changed in such a way that man will forget his instinct for longing freedom, dignity, and love? What makes us human? Last, I think reviewing my notion here is insufficient to convey the richness and depth of Orwell’s 1984. I urge people to read it. Pose the questions individually. Ponder the questions of totalitarianism for the collective good. |
Lone Wong | Things to remind in the journey of life 