"BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU!"
Ah George
Orwell! You just cannot escape the shiver down your spine when you hear the
name. He has given us the darkest realities of our worlds, slamming with us the
true nature of governments, political propaganda and even the gullible nature
of the rest of us while we take up our roles in the system. If you are yet to
know him, well congrats, ignorance is bliss dear reader!
After
reading his novel Animal Farm for my undergraduate, I thought it was a one-off experience
which I didn’t wish to return, but here I am after getting the next blow from
his novel, 1984. Would I recommend the novel? No. Will you read it either way.
Yes.
For those
confused, Eric Arthur Blair popularly known by his pen name George Orwell is famous
for his dystopian novels, Animal Farm and 1984. Although he has
several great works, today I would like to write about his pinnacle of work, 1984.
The book was published a year before he died, in 1949, narrating the
follies and not so popular truths about our political systems, as in Animal
Farm.
Dear
reader, let us take on a journey to the world created in the novel. A great war
has passed, toppling the rules and leaders of the old world. In its wake, we
wake up in the superstate of Oceania. The government, “The Party” is ruled by
the “Big Brother” who has eyes everywhere, telescreens, hidden cameras, wiretaps
and whatnot. Freedom exists as long as you do not act against the boundaries
set by ‘The Party’, as long as you do your work without question, as long as
you go exactly where you are supposed to do and do exactly what you are asked
to do. Even thinking is a crime.
Okay it cannot
be too bad as long as life is good right? Oh reader, you are so wrong! Suppose
all the things you own that means the world to you is now categorized as
contraband; books, music, toys and anything associated with leisure. Now you buy
what they ask you to buy, eat what they give you without question and if you
dare read a book that’s not theirs you are in deep trouble.
What is the
worst case? Jail? Oh no. You
mysteriously disappear one day, and no one will bother asking because if they
do, they will join you in a not so happy place, where they will not hesitate to
make an example of you. You get tipped off by your neighbor, your colleague,
even your own family for that matter. In a world where no one can trust anyone,
‘The Party’ wins, ‘Big Brother’ wins.
Although I do
sound nihilistic, well, I do apologize dear reader, I have only presented the toned-down
version of the novel. Reading the novel is a dreadful experience, giving us
some bitter truths we do not want to hear.
“So what?”,
you may ask, dear reader. “It is greatly exaggerated”. But as you read through the novel you realize
how many many examples in the novels are actually happening even in the so-called
‘democracies’ in the world. Take for example, in the novel we see the
government actively trying to alter history, erasing great men and women who had
excelled in all forms of art, science and politics, rewriting the history so as
to benefit the policies of the present government. Even material objects; books,
paintings are burnt so as to remove all sort of evidence of the past in the story.
What
do we learn? Well as much as I dislike politics as the next guy, it is
necessary that we learn how it works, since even though we claim ourselves to
be free, our rights might be slowly taken away from us, and we would collectively
forget what once existed when we find out that our history is altered.
A
funny movie scene which I remember that appears to mock democracy but in a
deeper sense mocks the very nature of democracy itself. (The Dictator – 2012)
Again, I
would not suggest a read for this novel. However, if you are more into films,
watch the film Equilibrium (2002). It has a similar plot which you might
enjoy.
Is it
just me or is everyone else getting these long-lost footages of the American
911 attacks? Is it some sort of a propaganda media to justify an upcoming war?
Only time will tell.
Until next time dear reader!
Lan
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