1984 by George Orwell - Book Critique

"Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past."

This book seems to have been written in fear. The totalitarian governments seemed to be quite frightening, and George Orwell shows us what it could have led to. Everyday people would easily be caught in the situation that Winston ended up in, but it is interesting to think of how other people would react in the same situation. This book is not a fairy tale, but it is so realistic that it is a possibility. My main question is this: if this were to happen, how could we escape the struggle?

Winston's situation seems hopeless in the end. When he got together with Julia to get by the structured controlling system, he thought everything would work out. He even had O'Brien reassure him that they would "meet in the place where there is no darkness." It was only until he found out that O'Brien set him up that he couldn't resist surrendering to Big Brother. His early hope was that the proles would be able to overthrow the Party, even though he saw them completely brainwashed and unable to explain the past truly. They seemed to work like robots, lifeless and inhuman. Things like newspeak and doublethink were diminishing any freedom for intellectual truth: "War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength." After having a romantic relationship with Julia and later being caught by O'Brien and put "in the place where there is no darkness," his fear of torture forced him to betray Julia and start to love Big Brother. George Orwell's psychological point was that physical pain can control the human emotions. The limitations of the body can potentially overpower you.

1984 is a brilliant work, as an individual usually could find no way out of it. All of their personal freedoms are taken away and their emotions suppressed. Pleasures seemed impossible because the physical situation is always watched through the telescreens. People are forced to act the way the Party wants them to, as their jobs are to change everything in favor of them. This control can be seen in the book's saying, "Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past." No one is able to remember what happened in the past because of this, and this gives the feeling of being blind and helpless. Where is the freedom at all?

For me, I didn't feel that I would be imprisoned or limited by this situation. Knowing the past isn't an issue for me, and neither is the future. Freedom can only be found in the present moment, and it can't be taken away from you. It is only fear, hate, etc. that gives such a limiting feeling. The physical situation and the limitation of the body means for most that there is no power, peace, freedom, or pleasures. What is so funny is that people overlook the immediate! The power to be is so much grander than physical pleasures, and love for Big Brother wouldn't be a problem if you were all-loving and all-embracing. The Party is not against that at all. There wouldn't be a reason to rebel because their would be no sense of limitation or control! You could feel like you are Big Brother, omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent. Physical pleasures cannot pass the power of all-encompassing, unconditional love. War would eventually stop this way if everybody was able to stay present. "Who controls the past controls the future," but that wouldn't matter anymore!

I recommend everyone to read this book, whether they find themselves potentially trapped in the same situation as Winston or if they find the way out. You can never find perfection in political systems, so worrying about that will only lead to fear and realizing the limitations of the body. Valuing the same things as Winston did could unfortunately lead to similar struggles. However, I challenge everyone to read this book and find a working freedom from the 1984 situation for their own lives. I believe I found the escape route and I would love for people to apply it, but I would also like to hear another method to freedom.

Orwell, George. 1984. Penguin Books. USA. 1949.