Ostensibly there appears to be little in Nineteen Eighty-Four to suggest that ‘man is indestructible because of his simple will to freedom’. Winston Smith’s will to freedom can be seen, instead, to directly bring about his destruction. Little hope seems to be offered that this destruction is anything other than complete, an effect implied in part by a shift in the tone of the free indirect discourse which has established the narrative viewpoint of Nineteen Eighty-Four. The questioning, reflective language Winston employs throughout most of the text is replaced by the ideological cant of the Party: ‘it was alright, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother’
Taken from: http://www.netcharles.com/orwell/articles/col-hopebegins.htm
It is mentioned in the novel that the hope of the society lies with in the proles, for they have boundless political liberty, proving that man is indestructible for he has the human spark and the simple will to freedom. Discuss how humanity can lead to its own downfall and how a prole-like environment can be the last potential hope to deliver its salvation.
3 comments:
Humanity can lead to its own downfall if humans decide to take their emotions to the extreme. In George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty Four, Party members are forced to believe that their instincts and initial human reactions are wrong and will lead them to their own destruction. Out of fear and training, any “discontents produced by [this] bare, unsatisfying life are deliberately turned outwards and dissipated by such devices as the Two Minutes Hate,” (220) and therefore suppressed in every Party member during their daily lives. If humanity were suddenly given room to shape its own society without any boundaries, it could lead to its own self-destruction. Party members could begin to feel comforted by their own imaginative desires and this freedom to express every immediate reaction. Instead of having “no freedom of choice in any direction whatever” (219) every Party member would activate whichever action possible. Havoc would break out as Party members would not know how to handle such a privilege as self-expression. They would feel encouraged to satisfy personal opinions and render the ideas of others as inadequate. A narrow minded nature could spurn as these humans would believe in the goodness of their own intentions. A falsehood that every human impulse is moral would spread throughout the population. The past principle of INGSOC which emphasized the idea that “All you care about is yourself” (305) would be used in the opposite manner. In the Party’s doctrine a member’s goal is to save oneself from one’s own subconsciousness. In the rebellion of humanity members would solely be concerned with what they wanted and what affects the individual. Humanity must be exercised healthily and not used to benefit the individual but be capable of envisioning a world that promotes solidarity.
I don’t agree that a prole-like environment can be the last potential hope to deliver humanity’s salvation. Proles live in a state of bliss where their ignorance is a result of a lack of education. They do not attempt to overthrow the Party due to their apparent satisfactory lifestyle. The proles are able to be controlled for they truly cannot imagine another life other than the present. Indifference is their culture and as they are not severely punished when expressing human instincts, they are not nearly as deprived as Inner or Outer Party members. The ability to live by the principles of INGSOC is in itself a skill. Party members must control their subconscious in such a strict way that
“if you want to keep a secret you must also hide it from yourself.” (294) which takes enormous self control. Party members must create or imagine a technique they can use in order to flush out all human activities. They are well behaved as they understand the key to such cleverness. Members are taught to channel their emotions into the concept that INGSOC “is founded upon hatred” (279) and there should be a moment of realization where Party members will misplace their anger. Similar to Winston’s revelation when he hated Big Brother at one moment during Two Minutes Hate and then had complete disgust for Goldstein, Party members could harness Winston’s first reaction. It is dangerous for the Party to assign such trust in the members that their anger will be loyal. Only a revolution from the Party members themselves would be victorious. They posses the human qualities which the proles hold as well, but in addition, they have reason to feel disrespected and have proven their abilities to imagine and construct. The only concern is the previous possibility reinforcing that humanity can demolish itself if the members cannot share in each other’s revelations.
Humanity can definitely lead to it own downfall when people’s passion overrules their mind. The government is the very constructed and uses proper strategies and tactics to appeal to the general public. The government easily control a person “either through consciousness or through unconsciousness” (224), where they will eliminate the flaw within you, when then notice it. If a person would speak their mind without any support or construction, the public will not buy into their opinions, but simply conclude that they have lost their mind. The public likes to see the side effects and only view what sounds most appealing to their interest. This is evident it the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, where the government is trying to eliminate the sub-consciousness of a person, which allows the government to easily meld a persons personality.
The example of appealing advertisement is also discussed in Northrop Frye’s ‘The Educated Imagination’. the advertisers research on “ what makes the most direct appeal to the imagination” (84) and scary enough, the majority will fall for the idealistic perfection. Yes, humans act out of their passion. Winston Smith wanted all the answers for his unanswered questions, and that brought him to his tragic end. He had to be re-programmed to be what their government saw as the idealistic being. In my personal opinion, sometimes too much passion can hurt a person. A person should be willing to let go of few things on certain circumstances since not all their questions cannot be answered. When there is much greater power above, you a person should act carefully according to the party. When they have gathered enough information, power and money like Virginia Wolff might say, then you can form your own opinions and take control.
Throughout history man has witnessed the downfall of its own society several times. Many of the times humanity has been the reason for this downfall particularly the greed for power has resulted to this downfall. In 1984 the party’s only goal is absolute control “The party seeks power … we are interested solely in power… only power, pure power.” (275) In order for the party to achieve such power they must be able to completely control humans, which is almost impossible. If a party is able to completely control someone then they no longer are human, they become robots. In the novel 1984 the citizens seem to have been completely brainwashed into believing Big Brother and the party. However there is a flaw to the party’s methods, Winston “You are a flaw in the pattern, Winston. You are the stain that must be wiped out.” (267) Winston has the human spark; he understands what is happening and he is still human. This struggle for power and control is the downfall. This causes humans to be the downfall of humanity, be cause of each ones greed’s and wants.
In 1984 the parole-society is often seen to be the last hope to overthrow the party, because they are the only ones who have not been brain washed. Unfortunately they have not been educated and do not understand what the party is doing. As long as the paroles are satisfied they will not ask questions and search for the truth, they will continue to do what they are told and not challenge anything. However this parole society is not the last hope. It is not even considered a hope, the paroles may not be brainwashed but as long as they do not do anything about the society they are living in and try and expose or overthrow the party they are no different then the inner and outer party members. What seems to be the last hope is people like Winston who have the courage to stand up against the party to stand up for political freedom, and to develop there own opinions and to be human. During Winston’s reprogramming he is constantly reminded that he is the last one of his kind, “ You’re the only one left Winston” (268). The constant reminder O’Brien gives to Winston shows that he is not the last one and wants Winston to think that he can’t change something by himself. This shows that there are others exactly like Winston who are human and are not controlled by the party. This shows that the last hope for a 1984 society is not the parole but it is the people left who are like Winston with the courage to educate them to understand the society around them, and not be controlled by big brother.
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