George Orwell Essay, Research Paper

George Orwell^s vision of the world in the year 1984 is horrific and

chilling. Written in 1949, this piece of literature is an everlasting

classic that reminds us that history is a vital part of human

existence, although we often forget it. The past, present, and future

are as changeable as human opinions and beliefs. In this book, Orwell

highlighted on some of the fears that many people have for the world

that we are creating. The control of the Party that he speaks of is

like that of the Nazis of World War II. The only difference between

the Nazis and Orwell^s imagined Party, is the emotion. The Nazis fell

from power because of the emotions of its leader, Adolph Hitler. The

Party held up because their leader, Big Brother, was merely an image

and had no emotion at all. Within my reading, I encountered many

interesting points, both scenes and lines, that I remember vividly.

All of these points reflect the type of power that we humans have to

control our existence as we know it. From the points that I

concentrated on came my own thoughts and fears about what future the

human race was able to create. The point that I remember most vividly

is the motto of the Party. The motto is: ^Those who control the past,

control the future; Those who control the future, control the

present; Those who control the present, control the past.^ This

slogan played a main part in the plot. George Orwell incorporated this

theme into the story to show the kind of power that the Party actually

had. The Party did control the present, so they were able to do with

it what they wished. The members of the Party rewrote history at every

current change, whether the changes be as simple as a human dying or a

change of enemy in the ongoing war. The Party had every piece of

literature rewritten and every photo reproduced to fit their fictional

stories of war success and economic advance. By having this power, to

control the past, they controlled the future. With the power to

control the future of the human race, the Party manipulated the human

body and its functions. It also controlled the hum! an mind through

physical experiments and the enforcement of complete orthodoxy to fit

their needs. This absolute power is everlasting and definite. This

idea of total power made the line memorable. A second prominent

concept that I came across in my reading was the idea of doublethink.

This meant that a person was to know and believe in one idea while

subconsciously knowing that it was wrong. Everyone knew the ideas of

the Party, forgot them when they didn’t serve a specific purpose, and

then they remembered them again when they were needed. This could all

happen to a person with in a single moment. After the moment passed,

the idea was forgotten again. One of the concepts of the party was that

two plus two equals five. Everyone was to believe this if and when the

Party said so. If it was convenient at any one time to think it, they

did, if it was not, they did not. This is an example of doublethink.

The Party manipulated people into thinking what they wanted. In this

way, it controlled the human mind, body, and spirit. The third most

memorable point in this book was not a concept of the Party, but it is

about human instincts. Humans naturally need the love, affection, and

acceptation of another human. To feel any of these primitive emotions,

one had to secretly brake all of the rules and regulations of the

Party. Two of the main characters in this book shared human feelings

for each other that the Party didn’t encourage. They secretly read

forbidden books, sang age old nursery rhymes, and made love to each

other, all of which the Party banned because they encouraged free

thought and human emotion. After reviewing all of these points, I find

that my fear of what the human race is capable of is more realistic

than I originally thought. The thought that human existence was

regulated with such rigidity is disturbing and unnerving. George

Orwell^s writing may, in some way, keep us from forgetting that we can

learn from the past and what we did then will determine what we do in

the future. As long as we always remember that free thought and

expression are uncontrollable, no one person or organization can stop

us from experiencing them. As long as we understand this concept there

is no way to go but forward.