Censorship is an extremely present theme in 1984, especially with countless mentions of the "thought police". Winston is so paranoid that the Party will catch him that he even considers harming his colleagues and harming himself. As Winston goes on this journey of uncovering past history and what the Party erased, everything seems to be gone. The residents of the dystopian society in 1984 seem to be so brainwashed that they can't even tell clear lies. An example I thought was interesting was how the Party always announced that they were giving more food, but in reality, they were giving less. The residents, mainly the proles, have been given so much propaganda and have been completely brainwashed to the point where they aren't able to conceptualize what is right in front of them.
Parts of the society in 1984 also reminded me of the society in The Giver. In The Giver by Louis Lowry, color has been completely erased from society and a lot of history has been as well. There is a person assigned to be "the giver" who is able to see color, knows past history, etc. I think the main similarity between these two books was how brainwashed all of the citizens were. Altogether, I feel that censorship is the main theme and threat present in the society of 1984. What do you think is the biggest theme/danger of this dystopian society?
Yes, definitely parallels with The Giver! I think you're onto something significant about the censorship. It's a little odd that 1984 has remained so relevant given that so much of it is specific to Orwell's time and place, but the threat of rewriting and erasing the past persists even today.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think the way that the way the Party can manipulate memories, history, etc. is the most disturbing part of the novel. The whole war being against Eastasia vs. being against Eurasia was definitely striking, and the scale that the Party could manipulate thoughts of was kind of threatening. Great post!
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