1984: The Story of the Past and Warning of the Future by agd

1984: The Story of the Past and Warning of the Future by agd - February 2015 Scholarship Essay

As a high school student, I was required to read many classical novels. I think all of the novels I read served a purpose. They each had their own plot and moral. My favorites were novels that had a particular motif I could relate to, or that I could pinpoint the significance of it being written. I enjoyed most of the books we read, but one in particular stands out. If I had to choose only one book for every high school student to read, I would choose 1984 by George Orwell.

Orwell gave his audience a unique look at the dangers of allowing the government to become too powerful. I most appreciate his perspective because even though it was written in 1949, it is still relevant today. He worried about giving the government too much control of our lives. In his book, there are three classes: proletarians (or proles), the Inner Circle, and the Outer Circle. The proles relate directly to most of us: middle-class. The Party, the book’s government, allows the proles to live slightly more freely. They are not required to own a telescreen, which is basically a constant video chat with the Inner Circle on a large television screen. However, even they are still forced to spend all of their time, energy, and money to support the war effort of the Party. The Party secures a brain-washed population by creating doublethink, a term coined by Orwell that signifies a paradox in thinking. This is exemplified by the Ministry of Peace, that is in charge of the war effort, the Ministry of Love, that tortures and brainwashes thoughtcriminals, and the Ministry of Truth, that changes history so that all evidence backs up the claims of the Party. The citizens are raised to believe in the party’s slogan, which is based on doublethink. “War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength.”

The Party succeeds because they realize that in order to keep the population from rebelling, it must create alternative avenues for energy release. Instead of releasing pent-up energy the way we do today, all citizens focused on the war effort. They got enraged by traitors, they admired Big Brother, and they focused on helping the war effort. Unfortunately, this is also another ploy from the Party. The country was at war with two others. At any point, they could win the war. However, they choose not to do so, because they need the war effort benefitted the Party. They needed an enemy to focus negative attention towards, as well as a consistent cause of fear. The citizens believed the Party was their only protection. They intentionally waste supplies and time building their war ship, and away resources that could be saved to build a new one after that ship is destroyed. This ensures the population is constantly without extra resources. Being forced to start from scratch, they still had to use all of their energy and supplies, which meant they did not have free time or resources to pull off a rebellion.

I consider George Orwell to be one of the biggest literary geniuses to have ever lived. This warning was not only told in an entertaining way, using the characters of Winston and Julia with their love story, but it is also one of the best pieces of advice people can receive. We cannot live being afraid of anything, to the degree that we give up so much of our freedom that we begin to live in a world where we are trapped in a life controlled by another. I think it’s worse for the citizens in the book, because they are unaware that they are slaves to the Party, but it’s definitely something that could happen to us in the future. It’s so reasonable, it’s actually terrifying. There is so much happening in the world of 1984, but I was particularly interested in the way Orwell presented the Party’s position; how it controlled the people and the mindset it took on.