“How is it that human beings can know anything? And how should they try to live?” These were two outstanding questions, philosopher, John Locke addressed in his intellectual life. One of his theories, the Blank Slate Theory, is the theory in which an individual human being is born with no innate content. He even illustrates this theory by saying, “Let us then suppose the mind to be, as we say, white paper void of all characters; without any ideas… Whence comes it by that vast store which the busy and boundless fancy of man has painted on it with an almost endless variety? Whence has it all the materials of reason and knowledge? To this I answer, in one word, for experience”. Do you believe that this theory is evident in 1984? If so, how does it relate to 1984? Is it that the Party tries to narrow the mind to only a blank slate?
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The blank slate theory is evident in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty Four in that the Party’s major initiative is to transform this theory into a reality. Diminishing a human into an entirely malleable being is an ideal prospect to the Party. Members would be able to “[believe] that nothing exists outside of … [the] mind” (279) and in turn, be programmed to deem the Party’s leader, Big Brother as an everlasting entity. The Party depicts this mindset through the struggle with Winston, the development of Julia, and in the Party’s main principles.
In order to control Winston Smith’s uprising against Big Brother, the process of the Party consists of attempting to erase all of Winston’s previous conclusions about his life and humanity. Similar to the articles that are “re-inscribed exactly as often was necessary” (42) the Party is certain that they can force Winston to control his past. The argument that Winston Puts forth is the insanity of underestimating human instincts. Winston comes from a world before INGSOC and thus he has a stronger desire to unleash his emotions and his “curious, slow [shocks] of recognition” (129) that trigger memories. He doubts that the Party can be successful if the Human spirit can be felt in the form of love, curiosity, or remembrance.
Julia is a character whom is in close resemblance to a blank slate, a product of the Party. Regardless of the Party’s influence on her, Julia still feels human attraction when she first meets Winston. This is the only emotion she cannot suppress. She learns to master all other sentiments through the self-control and obedience taught by the Party as she listens to Winston’s revelations according to Goldstein’s book with “her eyes shut.” (209), uninterested. Nonetheless the Party still fails to completely convert Julia as she agrees to meet with Winston again after their torture from the Ministry of Love. The Party can not fully dampen her personal human need for physical contact and interaction.
INGSOC preaches that “only in the mind of the Party, which is collective and immortal.” (261) can reality exist. Although the human mind can imagine, INGSOC can debase them to a blank slate, conquering their pasts and even their present situation. The flaw is that INGSOC itself is a contradiction in that it may believe in the superiority of the Party but it also remains aware of the human instinct. This is illustrated through the necessity of doublethink. For the Party to control the human subconscious, it would require its annihilation. The Party cannot deny the human condition. It can train the human how to behave towards their impulses, but evidently they cannot initiate its extinction. As long as this human quality is present, their blank slate theory is useless.
John Locke theory famous theory, The Blank Slate Theory can be directly applied to George Orwell's ostentatious political novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four with direct reference to the depletion of the current language and the reprogramming attempts of the party. With the depletion of the language the "inner party would select this version or that (the new newspeak dictionary), would re-edit it and set it in motion the complex processes of cross-referencing that would be required"(48) which would assist in providing a language which the part would be able to use t provide information to the people. In reference to the John Locke's theory this information would be set into the peoples blank slates, which would allow the party to control almost all thought of those who were impressionable enough. With a totalitarian rule the most dangerous aspect of the human mind is free thought, and this is an attempted to be controlled by using the language in order to write certain value and morals on the blank minds of the people. While Winston (the main character), is waiting in jail he comes across a poet named Ampleforth. The two men discuss why they are in jail and saying that "there is only one offence, is there not?" which is an accurate assumption by these two men. The only crime recognized by the party because of its danger it thoughtcrime. The only way to correct this in facture is to reprogram an individual in order to place their mind back to what John Locke calls a Blank Slate. The person who reprograms these individual O'Brien tells Winston that he simple wants to do what's best of Winston by saying, "I shall save you, I shall make you perfect."(256) suggesting that complete ignorance is preferred by the party. John Locke's Blank Slate theory I believe is the driving theory behind the party's attempt to reprogram of influence the entire population of Ocenia to follow the party. The party depends of this theory in order for their society endure generations to come.
Locke’s “Blank slate theory” is evident in nineteen eighty-four because the party attempts to erase the experience already embedded in an individual’s slate in order to impose their own ideas. The Party wishes to strip the older people of their instincts and innate intelligence. They also try to fill in the fresh clean slates (the mind) of young children with the ideologies of Ingsoc. They brainwash young children “…they were systematically turned into ungovernable little savages, and yet this produced in them no tendency whatever to rebel against the discipline of the Party”(26) this is because their slate has been filled with loyalty towards the Party and has no knowledge of any other alternative. Training in ‘crimestop’ instills them with prejudice against unorthadoxy and convinces them of the superiority of the Party, so that they are bound to their teachings. The blank slate theory is dependent on experience and since young children barely have any it is easy to create an atmosphere of experience favoring Ingsoc in their lives. Thus they become drowns of the party because they have only experienced its doctrines which now lie embedded in the slate which is their minds. With older people this is much harder to do, because they have previous experience of the pre-Revolutionary era, and thus have been exposed to other political ideologies. This is clearly visible when O’Brien is unable to make Winston reject his subconscious and say that he is holding up five fingers. The Party’s slogan “Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past” (260) is associative of Locke’s blank slate theory. According to Locke a person’s knowledge is derived from what they have experienced, if the Party is able to control the past they can control how a person will react in the future, because their previous experiences have been influenced by Ingsoc and thus it forms their present knowledge. The Party also realizes that to wipe clean the slates of all the Oceania citizens their natural instincts need to be eliminated so that there is no longer any form of innate content. Julia understood this “It was not merely that the sex instinct created a world of its own which was outside the Party’s control and which therefore had to be destroyed if possible”(139) anything that the party could not control need to be wiped clean of the slate. However the Party could did not succeed in erasing the subconscious because it is not controlled consciously. For example even when Winston wanted to force himself to believe that O’Brien was holding up five fingers he was unable to. This is because the slate can only record knowledge that is gained from of experience, on the basis that people are born with no innate content. Consciousness (memories written on the slate) can be controlled voluntarily, the subconscious however is innate and cannot be controlled willingly it is therefore not susceptible to be erased by brainwashing. Nineteen eighty-four relates to The Blank Slate Theory because the Party attempts to annul the information already written on the slate to fill it up with their doctrines instead.
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