1984 - A Review
I read 1984 in the first week of 2023, inspired by Lex Fridman's reading list. It was a wonderful book that really made me think. Here, I am going to try to journal my feelings about the book.
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📜 The Erasure of History:
In this dystopian world, a totalitarian government has erased the concept of history. Every book has been altered to portray the ruling party in a positive light, even rewriting historical events to suit their narrative. For example, it is commonly believed that the party invented airplanes, but the main character, Winston, remembers airplanes existing before the party took power. The government also erases all records of individuals who die in battle, effectively erasing their existence.
The superstate of Oceania, made up of the United States and the United Kingdom, is constantly at war with one of its two rivals, Eastasia and Eurasia. The government manipulates history to align with the current conflict, erasing any evidence that it was once at war with the other rival. The party's control of the present allows them to control the past by rewriting it.
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🎮 The Ministries of Control:
The book introduces the slogans of the party, the totalitarian government, which seem contradictory at first glance: "War is Peace," "Freedom is Slavery," and "Ignorance is Strength." These double meanings are present throughout the world.
The party exerts control over the population through four main Ministries:
The Ministry of Truth manages media and communications, responsible for removing the past and making the party and the leader, Big Brother, appear strong.
The Ministry of Love is responsible for torturing those who oppose the party's doctrines. Those who commit "thoughtcrimes" are taken to the Ministry and systematically altered to become loyal party members. All human emotions, such as curiosity, courage, fear, and even love, are extracted, and replaced with party doctrine, making it impossible for them to commit “thoughtcrimes” again.
The Ministry of Plenty deals with economic issues.
The Ministry of Peace is constantly engaged in a never-ending war. The three superstates in the world must remain in a constant state of war to prevent uprisings. For example, in Oceania, people are starving and resentful, so the government constructs a war with Eastasia to redirect their anger toward a common enemy. The party members participate in regular "Two-Minute Hate" sessions, directing their anger toward the designated enemy.
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🐒 Restricting Human Consciousness:
One of the most terrifying aspects of the book is the goal of restricting human consciousness through the development of a new language called "Newspeak" by the party. English is now referred to as "Oldspeak." The idea behind Newspeak is that the more words there are, the more people can think and express emotions. The ultimate goal is to reduce all language to one word so that people will not have the ability to think critically, or even be able to commit thoughtcrime.
As I read this, it felt deeply disturbing to think about reducing human language in such a way. Syme, a developer of Newspeak, speaks about this in an inspiring way, but it's clear that this is a result of the brainwashing the party has done to its citizens. Individuals have stopped finding beauty subjectively and instead, find wonder in the ideals of the party, no matter how constrained they are.
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🗯️ Doublethink:
In Newspeak, there is a concept called "Doublethink," which means holding two conflicting thoughts in your mind at the same time. Examples of this include "War is Peace," "Freedom is Slavery," and "Love and Hate." Initially, I thought this was a pretentious way for people to stay in the good graces of the party, but it is much more complex than that. The party members believe that they can truly hold these conflicting ideas together.
For example, in order to believe that the past doesn't exist, one must "forget" the past. But then, one must also forget the act of forgetting, as there is nothing to forget. Party members do this all the time because the party wills it. The party is transcendent to the truth; it defines what is true. If the party says that you can hold two conflicting thoughts in your mind, then you can do that. If the party says that the past doesn't exist, then the past doesn't exist. There is no questioning that. Doublethink is a way to mold a person's intellectual self, making them into what the party wants them to be.
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💔 The Death of Love:
Winston and Julia, both working in the Ministry of Truth, discover that they both despise the party and fall in love. They join the rebellion with the hope of overthrowing the party. They both know they will be caught one day, but they feel it's their duty to resist and hope that their comrades do the same until the party is overthrown.
Winston and Julia make a promise to each other that they will not betray one another after they get caught. The betrayal, in their minds, is not about giving the party each other's names or locations, as everyone breaks under torture. The betrayal is about losing love for each other. Julia believed that love was the thing they would use to fight the party. If they stopped loving each other, it would mean the party has won.
The party eventually catches Winston and tortures him to the brink of death. They force him to hold two conflicting ideas at the same time, to believe that 2+2 = 5, and change him in every way, but his love for Julia remains. Then one day he is taken to Room 101, a room that contains the thing you fear the most. For Winston, it's rats. They put a box on his head with a wall separating his face from hungry rats, and they are about to open the wall when he realizes what they want. They want him to stop loving Julia, and only then will he be safe. He finds himself screaming Julia's name and telling them to do this to her instead and let him go.
They break Julia in the same way. Winston and Julia see each other once more, but the love they had is gone, and betrayal is all that's left as they say goodbye. The party won. They both now love Big Brother.
