In the beginning chapters of Part Three, Winston is finally captured and goes through a process comparable to brainwashing. Winston firstly goes through torture, and then he becomes brainwashed to believe that many of his memories are fake. Reflecting on these past two chapters, I think the brainwashing of characters seems to be a common occurrence in many utopias and dystopias. A notable example is The Giver by Lois Lowry. Although the brainwashing in The Giver is not as obvious, the characters in The Giver are made to believe that their government has informed them about everything, such as past history, when in reality the government keeps everyone in the dark about what exists outside of their society. In The Giver, there are also extreme constraints in the society such as no lying and not acting on sexual impulses, which is similar to the rules that The Party implements in 1984.
What novel do you think has similarities to 1984? And what are those similarities?
Great comparison to The Giver. (I love that book.) Maybe that's part of what's so enduring about 1984 -- it's sort of the ultimate negative consequences of some of these dystopian attributes such as brainwashing.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of dystopias have brainwashing in the mentally manipulative sense to some degree, but just as commonly I think we see brainwashing in the sense of burning history books and embracing the thought that "this is how it's always been".
ReplyDeleteI think brainwashing is just the easiest way to create conformity, and as these "utopias" require everyone to work towards them, conformity is nessecary.
ReplyDeleteIts a much more subtle form of brainwashing than what we would think of. Rather than brainwashing I would call it creating a new set of societal norms. Just on purpose and all at once.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with your characterization of The Giver, and the manipulation of history seems to be key. Orwell's other famous novel, Animal Farm, also reminds me of 1984. I don't know if it's the writing style or something, but the erasure of the less intelligent animals' thoughts, manipulation of history, etc. felt very similar.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting theme I have been seeing in these types of novels is that, not only are people brainwashed into conforming in a dystopian society, but they are deprived of any point of reference to which they could compare their current situation (e.g. historical records). That seems to be the key to controlling people. If they don't know that people had it better in the past, they are less likely to rebel.
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