The post this week will hopefully help you with next week’s post as well. I would like you to think about all that we have read from 1984 so far and think about connections that you can make to our times . . . 2012 (or so) concerning your topic. What are the ideas from your topic that show up in 1984 that you see showing up today, this week, or in the past five years? Was Orwell effectively warning us about dangers that have occurred in your lifetime? Have we heeded his warning or ignored it? And at what cost? This post is intended as a sort of “brainstorming” and idea collection as we work into next week’s post, so feel free to explore your thoughts as long as you stay connected to 1984.
The nuts and bolts:
- use at least one quote from the novel (don’t forget to give Orwell credit in parenthesis with a page number)
- give NO MORE than two connections so that there are plenty for all group members to use;
- be specific in your connections (simply saying censorship or sexism or torture still happens today, without giving specific examples, will fall well short of the mark)
- think creatively . . . find a connection not everyone else has made.
“He sat back. A sense of complete helplessness had descended upon him” (Orwell 10).If we take a sneak peak back into history we can see the fighting ground of WWII mainly taking place in Europe. Hitler, also, was clearly on the verge to world domination trough his infamous "cleansing process"; blond hair, blue eyes. The character, Winston, saw this even though it was halted by the Allied forces it's clear that world domination is possible. The Cold War soon following WWII further inspired Winston's prediction. Then the individual wars that followed; such as the Korean War and The Vietnam War, all supporting the worst possible outcome, if communist were to have won. Take a leap to modern day time and we can examine the War in Iraq. From the perspective I saw it the U.S. was doing the same as we did in the Vietnam War, tying to maintain peace and order for other countries. Treat of nuclear missiles, oil prices rising, and fall of powerful leaders all connect back to 1984.
ReplyDeleteThere are very good connections here. But, there isn't much about modern counts of brainwashing. The war in Iraq wasn't about power, it was a materialstic quarell, in my opinion. War is a good connection, though. It controls people to be scared of Musliums now! Everyone's been terrified of terrorists since 2001 and there are conspieracies everywhere. Think more about how the middle class is controlled.
DeleteI agree with Aurora. The US isn't too interested in peace, just our oil. But as far as brainwashing goes... war is an excellent way to keep people scared and following instructions. Any government gains power when their people are scared of threats and dependent on them.
Deleteyeah, i mean look at how willing the people were to work in factories, have rashions, accept a draft etc. The sense of nationalism and unity brought during times of war can actually be incredibly dangerous to our freedom
Delete“All hope lies in the Proles” (Orwell, 73). This quote shows how simple minded some people can be; the Proles just so happen to be grouped together in their ignorance. All over the world there are dictatorships, totalitarians, and control freaks. It will always be present in our lives. What I think is the most controlling in modern day time is the church. Even before our time, the church has been controlling the minds of people who can’t think for themselves. Just like the Proles, people who can’t find themselves find hope in something they can be controlled by. Religion in general is always pushed onto people; to try and influence and change others. In 1984, Big Brother is the Church, The Outer Party and the Proles are the people who are being controlled. People like Atheists and Agnostics are skeptical, just like Winston. Both can see the situation from the outside and can determine the corruption that some churches push onto others.
ReplyDeleteI really like this connection. I think the church has an oppressive quality to it, too. The whole concept of evangelism, where you go out and try to convince others that your beliefs are the only ones that are correct and that everyone who doesn't believe is going to hell, seems like a brainwashing scheme disguised as doing good for others. So the question is, how do we stop the brainwashing and turn the church back into the organization it was intended to be?
DeleteY'all that is a really great connection. I was just (Friday night) watching a program on teenagers that choose to leave the Amish faith. The Amish have great values that could really help the modern world today but they also instilled in theoretically children that the Amish faith is the way to go and every other walk of life is damned for hell. One person actually believe he's on his way to hell. So yes the church does at times abuses its power amongst people. But I also still believe that church is a good thing for people. If u don't believe in something you'll fall for anything and Winston is a prime example (Shorter D.)
DeleteThat is a good connection, but the bible stands alone, while Big Brother thrives off of the acceptance of his ideas. Most of the time, as with Winston’s case, acceptance is forced or conditioned. Contrarily, the bible and other religious books are truthful and will be prophesized whether they are read and studied or not. To believe in Big Brother and his ideals is Atheistic; Big Brother believes to an extent that he is God. I say to an extent because there is no proper revelation about the stars, the ocean, gravity, or the individualism of people. Big Brother can not change that, and thus has not attempted to change the individualism of the Proles. Hence, all hope lies in the Proles.
Delete“It is absolutely necessary to their structure that there should be no contact with foreigners…If he were allowed contact with foreigners he would discover that they are creatures similar to himself and that most of what he has been told about them is lies” (Orwell 162). This is Golstein’s description of how each superpower must shelter their citizens in order to keep them out of the loop and docile. They are not allowed to see people from foreign nations or else they would realize that they are all the same, and that their government has been lying to them about this the entire time. This is exactly like the cases of a few nations in the world’s recent past. North Korea, for example, allows few to no foreigners into their country, and shelters their people thoroughly to keep them ignorant and easy to control. The government controls everything, even the media and internet. They control what their people see and learn. This way they can manipulate their citizens into docile zombies that will do exactly as they tell them with no questions asked. Just like in 1984.
ReplyDeleteI learned something new, I had no idea that North Korea was under a similar control as the people in 1984. Honestly its not a fact that is hard to believe.
DeleteThat is crazy how North Korea has so much control over their contry. I wonder if this is where Orwell got the idea to write the book? Looking back at the novel and hearing about North Korea, they sound very similar and obsurd how the citizens of both places just follow the rules with no questions.
DeleteBut if the object was not to stay alive but to stay human, what difference did it ultimately make? They could not alter your feelings ; for that matter you could not alter them yourself, even if you wanted to(Orwell 138). Winston is in a way warning us that when it comes to those in power they key is to "stay human ". In his time the one in control was Big Brother, in our times the government. Thinking about it, in a funny way our Big Brother of today's time is which ever president is elected in office at the time. When it comes to the government and all the rules and laws they have issued it all comes back to them having some type of control. They have so many laws and policies that no matter which way we try to live our lives we fall into their controlling powers. This connects to when Winston says that it didn't really matter if the object was to stay human instead of simply alive either way it wouldn't make a difference. When Winston is expressing how even though the people on charge can have control over your actions, they could not have control of your feelings, he connects it all saying not even you can alter your feelings. This is so true and connects to the people of Winston's time and ours because no matter what you or the government does, your heart is going to feel what it wants to feel.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Paris in today’s society we are all about being part of a group left wing, right wing, republican, democrat, and so on. We are losing our individuality we are looking at things in black and white. Sooner or later we are either going to separate (civil war) or combine (1984).
Delete“[Chocolate] was normally dull-brown crumbly stuff that tastes, as nearly as one could describe it, like the smoke of a rubbish fire,” (Orwell 101). Winston, and the rest of the outer Party, had become used to low-quality products such as chocolate. The outer Party of 1984 is comparable to, in some ways, today’s middle class. More specifically, the quality of food produced in our society is not as great as it could be. We shell out $5-$10 for a fast food meal from McDonald’s because it is cheap and filling, but honestly how good do their burgers taste. Orwell may have foreseen a society hell-bent on quantity and ignorant of quality. I think we are living in such times, and the expense is ridiculous; McDonald’s is unhealthy and will greedily satisfy our ignorance. To an extent, Orwell predicted the future of food production.
ReplyDeleteI disagree. Orwell is describing a government that wastes its resources on war so that their people suffer, barely able to stay alive and nourished. They control the rations and food of every single person in their country. In our society today people have the freedom to go out and buy whatever they wish. People have the freedom to waste their money on delicious fast foods. Orwell's society isn't "hell-bent on quantity and ignorant of quality", it merely has the desire to make its people suffer in order to maintain control. This has nothing to do with the future of food production.
DeleteIf you think about it fast food is perpetuating the ignorance of the general society. Restaurants like McDonald’s can tell you that there food is 100% beef or white chicken breast but whose too so the cow healthy or that chicken breast you eat didn’t belong to a chicken that had been laid out dead for a week before being cook. Orwell was talking about how we conform to quality McDonald’s is good because we eat it all the time. There is a fast food restaurant on every other corner in mid- and lower-class areas of town but in the wealth parts of town (inner party) there is not as many. Coincidence?
DeleteI think he's right. Orwell's society at some point had to accept the idea of lower quality chocolate for it to become the standard. I'm sure the first McDonalds was really good but as they expanded, the consumers were okay with paying less for worse food. When that continues we have what we see today, thousands of mcdonald's that serve pieces of rotting cow for a dollar a pop. I dont think this is about food though, it's about standing up for what you think you deserve. Whether it's the quality of hamburger meat at mcdonalds or your right of free speech, if you don't put up a fight when it's disappearing, then do you really deserve to have it?
DeleteI think the chocolate tasting bad is more about keeping out enjoyable things. If there isn’t yummy chocolate to enjoy there will not be expectations to reach, the people will never demand high expectations. If all the food sucks then it just is but if there’s one thing that’s good it will just make people want more foods to be enjoyable, and if the don’t get what they want they will rebel. It’s only natural to rebel when expectations aren’t met, with no expectations there’s no rebellion
Delete"His first feeling was relief, but as he watched with the scarlet sash, that had just been tight enough o bring out the curve of her hips, the scene of his own inferiority was heavy upon him". In 1984 sex is a recurring topic that is so badly forbidden to even think about. When Winston’s wife learned they could not conceive, they split apart. The sexual pleasure he was seeking, she was not. In present day 2012, pleasure from sex is a huge thing people seek; especially teenagers. People dress basically with out clothing, while Winston could barley see an attractive body figure. But I’m sure in Winston’s time, STI’s wasn’t an issue. Since it’s so normal to have sex now, that’s a huge deal in the U.S. The totalarian government is very cruel and controlling, but could they actually be reducing death rates and disease rates? I think so. Not only sexes, revolution on the rights that all people deserve are born in this book. The ideas in Winston’s head are now reality.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read this portion of the book I immediately made a connection to the movie "The Immortals". The antagonist of that movie was steering in the same direction. The book,1984, doesn't state clearly why the party wants to take out or control sexual activity in the population; but in the movie the antagonist sought out to have every child with his genes. To make an example he went as far as castrating and destroying the reproductive parts of his male followers. Big Brother may be on to the same thing but in a different way. But until the truth is brought to light everything is up for speculation. (Shorter D )
DeleteI agree. In 1984 the only reason people were allowed to have sex was to produce offspring. If they even considered having sex for pleasure I'm sure it would be considered a crime, Thoughtcrime at that. If the government found out I'm sure there would be a consequence. Today the government don't really put alot into having sex. The most you would see would be a campaign advertising the have safe sex and wrap it up. Today the government just have other things to deal with.
DeleteYou forgot the page number...
ReplyDeleteSex is still frowned upon these days, but back then it was a government issue. Why do you think the Outer Party frowns upon it so much? Overpopulation? STD's?
“It is absolutely necessary to their structure that there should be no contact with foreigners, except, to a limited extent, with war prisoners and colored slaves. Even the official ally of the moment is always regarded with the darkest suspicion.” (Orwell) I feel we are slowly constructing an environment similar to this against Muslims, Arabs, and Hispanics in our society. Due to mass media we look at these people differently almost as outcasts in everyday life. Many people have refused to ride an air plane with a traditionally dressed Muslim or assuming every Hispanic is an illegal alien. In some case as a society we look at these people as enemies of the state and extremists believe we should separate ourselves from them completely. This is exactly what Orwell was warning about.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that is the case in our society. Hispanics are treated with ill-regard because of the insufficient space to accommodate them; often times they steal our jobs and have corrupted our societies by remaining illegal aliens. Arabs and Muslims is a touchy subject. We don’t treat them differently because of the picture painted by the media, but because of 9/11. What we must understand, though, is that not all Muslims and Arabs are extremists. I do agree that to some extent, this is the media’s fault. Because of the media, we as a society are predisposed to believing that everyone in the Middle East wants to end American civilization, and that all Hispanics wish to improperly dwell in our society. Is this not prejudice? Is racism not a form of prejudice? America was corrupt long before Hispanics started hopping the fence.
DeleteOkay this might be a little bit of a leap, but the idea of telescreens in every room is interesting to me. " The instrument (the telescreen, it was called) could be dimmed, but there was no way of shutting it off completely!" (Orwell 2). The connection I see here is how glued we are (as a society) to our tv and computer screens. The 24/7 spew of entertainment and information catches a lot of people, and these people put more focus on what is happening on their favorite tv show or movie star than they do on their own lives. Televisions and computers have ceased to be an escape from one's life, but has become a major part of it instead.
ReplyDeleteJust like 1984 the information that people get from these sources may not always be correct, but justified as so. News channels frequently air opinion based shows (ahem Bill O'REILLY, Keith Olbermann) which fuse what news is supposed to be with biased information. So I think this distorts people's perception of reality; which, according to Orwell, is a dangerous thing.
I think you completly missed the point, i think the tv shows how strangers, thier opinions and the government are aloud willingly into our homes everyday. We all have tv and computers in our home, how many have a webcame?, every phone as a gps device in it. All these items we take in to our lives everyday have a way of seeing where we are and what we are doing. Its spying, but we enjoy what the have to offer, so there is no back lash.
Delete“FREEDOM IS SLAVERY”…”TWO AND TWO MAKE FIVE”…”GOD IS POWER” These three statements best describe brainwashing in the book 1984. They show how you can be tricked into thinking freedom is bad, basic math is wrong, and that god is everything. The statement that best relates to today’s problems is “FREEDOM IS SLAVERY”. This reminds me of the genocide in Africa. Kony brainwashes his captured children into thinking the massacres are perfectly fine; that it is normal to have to kill your parents in order to be safe. In order to be “free” in Africa, they have to be enslaved by him. He scares the children into thinking that if they aren’t his slaves, or in his army, they aren’t safe from anything. This is directly related to the 1984 quote. In the book, they are enslaved by the government to all me uniform and not creative, like in Africa they are enslaved by their dictator to fight in a war.
ReplyDelete“FREEDOM IS SLAVERY”…”TWO AND TWO MAKE FIVE”…”GOD IS POWER” (Orwell, 228)
Delete“…the hostile figure melted into the face of Big Brother, Black-haired, black-mustachio’d, full of power and mysterious calm, and so vast that it almost it almost filled up the screen.”(orwell14) This isn’t exactly what I was looking for but its close, I was thinking about how Big Brothers picture is everywhere, it reminds me of North Korea. The picture of the great leader is everywhere; in every home there must be a picture to praise. Everything that happens they are brainwashed to think is good and that the leader is to praise. Even if things are going bad they still praise the leader, him doing wrong isn’t even in there vocabulary just like in the novel where rebellion isn’t in the vocabulary. Just like in the novel where the streets seem empty and there’s places they can’t go it’s the same in North Korea, the streets are always empty. It’s scary how similar a modern day society is so similar to this fictional controlling government. Maybe Orwell was right about our future.
ReplyDeleteThis concept relates to your post from last week, about how religion can control peoples lives. This is a great example of brainwashing and that one idea from the quote can be taken into aspects of ones life all over the world. I think that brainwashing is often found all over the world, but us just overlooked because society wants people to think and act a certian way.
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