Throughout Orwell’s 1984, there is constant separation between the various subclasses within the novel. Oceania, the main setting for the story, is a place full of corruption and discrimination, punishing those who express free thought or defy tough strictures set in place by those of higher power.
From the beginning of the book, an obvious corruption in the government can be seen. Orwell refers to The Party as something that “seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power.”(Orwell 332) Citizens are viewed more as objects, being sorted into different categories in society with little to no regard for individuality.
Freedom is limited as citizens are in a controlled environment under constant surveillance every hour of every day. Because of this, inhabitants of Airstrip One are severely limited in what they can accomplish as they are forced to follow a mundane daily routine with little to no room for deviation. Each person living in the lower classes is “thinking the same thoughts and shouting the same slogans, perpetually working, fighting, triumphing, persecuting—three hundred million people all with the same face." (Orwell 94)
Orwell wrote about this alternate version of the year 1984 in order to criticize the current world he lived in at the time the book was written in 1949. As strange and unrealistic as Orwell’s world might seem, there can actually some parallels that can be seen in our own world today.
On August 9, 2015, a boy by the name of Michael Brown was shot by a police officer in Ferguson Missouri after not complying with instructions to stand down. Some say that evidence suggests this was largely due to the subject’s race or ethnic background. Such an incident has now sparked a nationwide movement in the United States as people of all social, racial, and working classes are protesting this supposed mistreatment of citizens. Similar events have now been occurring in other locations such as Charleston, South Carolina, or Baltimore, Maryland where similar situations occurred almost a year later. A popular hashtag, #BLACKLIVESMATTER, is now being used in order to spread awareness on the subject, and allow for people to show their support for the topic (Ross 2). This protest can be considered a form of modern-day revolution.
Many similarities can be seen between the world of 1984, and our own world in present-day America. Just like how citizens of Airstrip One are punished for stepping out of line, americans are being targeted after being discriminated based on race. Some argue this punishment is completely unwarranted, and based solely on unrelated factors. Some even go as far to say that the same reasons that cause an officer to pull over a person of a different color are the same reasons that limit their ability to be treated fairly in terms of getting into a good school or having a good job, limiting their overall potential. A recent study by the Bureau of Labor showed that black and hispanic workers earn significantly less than than white and asian workers (Ashton 3).
However, a major difference between both settings is that in the real world, the situation has been given much attention by popular news stations as well as the public. It is now a large topic for political debate, and a large component in the recent presidential elections. Many ‘Black Lives Matter’ activists say that they “will continue to engage the 2016 presidential candidates and push their agenda of curbing police violence as the country moves further into election season.” (Speiser 1)
The clip below is from the film adaptation of Orwell's 1984, and showcases the measures taken by the Party in order to maintain singularity among its members through force.
Fig. 2 1984. Dir. Michael Radford. Perf. John Hurt. Umbrella-Rosenblum Films Production, 1984. DVD.
From the beginning of the book, an obvious corruption in the government can be seen. Orwell refers to The Party as something that “seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power.”(Orwell 332) Citizens are viewed more as objects, being sorted into different categories in society with little to no regard for individuality.
Freedom is limited as citizens are in a controlled environment under constant surveillance every hour of every day. Because of this, inhabitants of Airstrip One are severely limited in what they can accomplish as they are forced to follow a mundane daily routine with little to no room for deviation. Each person living in the lower classes is “thinking the same thoughts and shouting the same slogans, perpetually working, fighting, triumphing, persecuting—three hundred million people all with the same face." (Orwell 94)
Orwell wrote about this alternate version of the year 1984 in order to criticize the current world he lived in at the time the book was written in 1949. As strange and unrealistic as Orwell’s world might seem, there can actually some parallels that can be seen in our own world today.
On August 9, 2015, a boy by the name of Michael Brown was shot by a police officer in Ferguson Missouri after not complying with instructions to stand down. Some say that evidence suggests this was largely due to the subject’s race or ethnic background. Such an incident has now sparked a nationwide movement in the United States as people of all social, racial, and working classes are protesting this supposed mistreatment of citizens. Similar events have now been occurring in other locations such as Charleston, South Carolina, or Baltimore, Maryland where similar situations occurred almost a year later. A popular hashtag, #BLACKLIVESMATTER, is now being used in order to spread awareness on the subject, and allow for people to show their support for the topic (Ross 2). This protest can be considered a form of modern-day revolution.
Many similarities can be seen between the world of 1984, and our own world in present-day America. Just like how citizens of Airstrip One are punished for stepping out of line, americans are being targeted after being discriminated based on race. Some argue this punishment is completely unwarranted, and based solely on unrelated factors. Some even go as far to say that the same reasons that cause an officer to pull over a person of a different color are the same reasons that limit their ability to be treated fairly in terms of getting into a good school or having a good job, limiting their overall potential. A recent study by the Bureau of Labor showed that black and hispanic workers earn significantly less than than white and asian workers (Ashton 3).
However, a major difference between both settings is that in the real world, the situation has been given much attention by popular news stations as well as the public. It is now a large topic for political debate, and a large component in the recent presidential elections. Many ‘Black Lives Matter’ activists say that they “will continue to engage the 2016 presidential candidates and push their agenda of curbing police violence as the country moves further into election season.” (Speiser 1)
The clip below is from the film adaptation of Orwell's 1984, and showcases the measures taken by the Party in order to maintain singularity among its members through force.
Fig. 2 1984. Dir. Michael Radford. Perf. John Hurt. Umbrella-Rosenblum Films Production, 1984. DVD.