1984

1984 left me wondering - what is beneath the psyche of George Orwell? While I found it hard to come to terms with what possibly future could hold in store for us, the prevailing sense helped me get a drift of it. Given his background, the work essays vehemently his anti-communism views. And true to the spirit it continues to remind us how ghastly a future we might have to face.

Much as he warns us about a totalitarian regime, a point that should not be missed is his allusion that such a thing could happen in the western democracies too. He is not talking only about the Soviet regime - there is more to it! In as much as he detests the dictatorship and oppression of such regimes he also criticizes the naive acceptance of the same by the common man. It is probably this aspect of the book that should be grasped the most. Animosity towards such ruthless regimes is evident and bound to be. But that is not just what needs to be heeded to. It is the minds of all we people alike. He censures the acceptance of such rules. Given the mindset of the society, as such, we should not be surprised to see ourselves moving towards times when our thinking can be programmed.

There have been heated discussions and debates as to whether 1984 is materializing in today's world as depicted by Orwell. The Orwellian world is an extreme depiction of totalitarian rule. It is criticized for its pessimism. But that was only a way he chose to portray such circumstances. The matter is - we as people are allowing the government bodies to monitor and control us a great deal. What with Acts such as The Patriot Act. Wiki states - Among its many provisions, the act increased the ability of law enforcement agencies to search telephone and email communications and medical, financial, and other records; Agreed that any more 9/11s have to be stalled and that such acts are absolutely necessary to a great extent to protect the Nation. However, beyond that, this Act gives the Government enormous amount of power. This is ability to know every communication of the common man and peek into their social and private lives. Consider the surveillance statistics in Britain - "According to the latest studies, Britain has staggering 4.2million CCTV cameras - one for every 14 people in the country - and 20 per cent of cameras globally. It has been calculated that each person is caught on camera an average of 300 times daily." (Reference - http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23391081-details/George+Orwell,+Big+Brother+is+watching+your+house/article.do). Isn't it possible to bring in the hostile atmosphere similar to the one in 1984 with these technology and technology driven privileges vested in the government?? It is this possibility that Orwell cautions us about. More importantly, it is the resilience of the masses that is more alarming!

Absolute totalitarianism is beyond just cruel oppression and subjugation. The Orwellian world is about transformation of "gullible" acceptance to a "conscious" one. If Winston was killed that would just have been killing of another soul who protested against the party. But the success of the party lay in the fact that instead of killing a rebel they turned him into a religious follower of the party philosophy. Now that is absolute totalitarianism. Such power so deeply entrenched so as to have control over each individual's consciousness was Orwell's vision. One should not be surprised with his vision given the world that he was part of.

Being a socialist that he was, Marxist influence on him is quite evident. His protagonist Winston detests newspeak - for newspeak obliterates expression of thought. This reminds me of Marx's quote - "'Language is as old as consciousness'. You can't have consciousness without having language, and vice-versa. Therefore, restraining the language restrains consciousness, and freedom of thought." Having gone through the ruthless communist tyranny, what Orwell portended for the future was only an extreme and horrifying vision of the same. In as much as he hated the Soviet Regime his attempt was to caution people about the extremities of such a rule and more so in putting up with one!