Doublethink is Holding Two Opinions and Accepting Both
The sense that you are being watched feels unsettling and strange. Perhaps, you get a mental warning that another pair of eyes has been resting upon your back for a while now. A sudden chill, a nervous feeling, an uncomfortable sense - these may be the reactions to the sensation of being spied upon. But what if you felt this at all moments of the day, every day of the week, and every week of your life? What if the feeling was no longer a feeling but reality? Here we view the world of Winston Smith, the protagonist of 1984. In the dystopian society of Winston’s world, the government, controlled by a group called the Party, watches every individual within the country Oceania. Although George Orwell, the author, illustrates a fascinating world full of interpretive thought and theory, the actual plot of the story is dull, boring, and lengthy. In George Orwell’s 1984, Winston Smith lives in Oceania, a nation run by a small percentage of the population called the Party, where he works for the Ministry of Truth, editing and changing the past to fit the Party’s needs. In this nationalistic, dystopian society, Winston is always watched by “Big Brother”, the face of the Party. He struggles to be free of the themes presented by Big Brother - political slavery, sexual suppression, consistent censorship, and strong nationalism among others. Due to an innate seditious attitude towards the Party, Winston must appear to be fully engaged in the interests of his country to avoid being eliminated from history. This challenge becomes more difficult as he develops a relationship with Julia and faces the wrath of his totalitarian government. 1984 brings to light ideas of power and control of the minds of individuals that add to the analytical experience. There is plenty to interpret as Winston faces what is reality and what is not. For example, when one commits “thoughtcrime”, the holding of thoughts that oppose those of the Party, they are taken by the police and vaporized from existence. Winston explains this when he writes, “Thoughtcrime does not entail death, thoughtcrime IS death” (28) in his journal full of his own thought crimes. The mere thought of doubt or conflict with the government will ensure obliteration from all reality: the criminal is actually erased from history. All records of the rebel are edited, and all who used to know him are forced to behave as if he never existed. The idea of such punishment provides a great deal of contrast with the world most of us live in today, forcing us to think “what if?”. What if we lived like this? What would count as thought crime? Why must we die because of our thoughts? These are the questions that George Orwell poses in our minds. Even the very slogans of the Party, the essence of the message they wish to communicate, are contradictory and interpretive: “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength” (26). You become subject to such theories that the constant warring of the three superpowers that exist in Orwell’s world is what keeps Oceania in balance (War is peace): the war unifies the nation’s citizens against common enemies while subjecting them to propaganda. Being an individual with your own rights sets yourself up for failure (Freedom is Slavery): attempting to find freedom will do more harm than simply being a slave. A citizen who knows little ensures that the nation remains strong (Ignorance is Strength): the less the average citizen knows, the more powerful the government will be. Ultimately, these theories are correct in a sense. Contradictions are laced within the words of much of the novel, offering food for thought and inquiry and discussion. The downside to the fabric of powerful notions that is 1984 exists in the repetitive, gray, and long passages within the book. The story moves forward at a slow pace, especially in the beginning: certain parts are drawn out to the point that they become boring. An example of this is the reading of the book, written by the supposed leader of rebellion Emmanuel Goldstein. As Winston reads aloud the wordy writing of the book to Julia, his lover, even he takes note that all that was being said is not news: “He understood how; he did not understand why. Chapter 1, like Chapter 3, had not actually told him anything that he did not know” (217). The book takes up several pages within the novel, and most of it is a collection of knowledge that the reader has already absorbed. The reading of the book proves to be the slowest reading of 1984; it is, however, not the sole blame for the boredom that sometimes occurs. Sections when Winston is doing his work at the Ministry of Truth where he edits historical documents to fit the Party’s needs are long and dull. These along with the repetition of the same thoughts - thoughtcrime, punishment, history, doublethink - occurring within Winston’s mind create the feeling that you simply have to “get through” this part of the book. This does not mean the entire book will bore you to the point of giving up and throwing the masterpiece across the room. Winston’s affair with Julia and, ultimately, his capture are exciting yet predictable, surprising yet unsurprising: “It was starting, it was starting at last! They could do nothing except stand gazing into one another’s eyes” (221). Not only do these parts make up for the dragging moments of the story, they also add to the social commentary of the story. Although occasionally boring and dry, the plot has its fast-paced, exhilarating moments and very strongly supports the themes exhibited by Orwell. In all due honesty, if you are not prepared to have a book twist the thoughts in your head, then 1984 may not be the best; nevertheless, I would strongly recommend it for most avid readers. The ideas, theories, matter, substance that Orwell puts into this book easily leave you with an abundance of brain activity and theories of your own: perhaps, we as a people are not free similar to the people of Oceania under Big Brother. Surely, dictatorships like this have happened before. Do not let the mouthfuls of text take away from the experience that 1984 offers.
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