Individuality in 1984 essays

Individuality in 1984 essays In the end the party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make the claim sooner or later: the logic of their position demanded it. Not merely the validity of experience, but the very existence of external reality was tacitly defined by their philosophy. The heresy of heresies was common sense. And what was terrifying was not that they would kill you for thinking otherwise, but that they might be right. For, after all, how do we know that two and two make four? Or that the force of gravity works? Or that the past is unchangeable? If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable-what then?" Freedom is individuality, and individuality is freedom. The denial of the rights to think and act upon unique thoughts is the basis of the partys power to control the mindless masses of Oceania in George Orwells hellish vision of 1984. In this passage, Orwell reveals his fear of the distinct possibility of the complete loss of individuality in modern society. Through the control of thought and stripping of human emotion, the party is able to abolish all diverse thought and action to ensure a stable environment robbed of all human dignity. And what was terrifying was not that they would kill you for thinking otherwise, but that they might be right. This forms the basis of Orwells fears of mind control. He illustrates here the partys ability to completely brainwash an entire society. If a single body can create a society in which every one of its members believes something that is not true, they are capable of anything. If facts are alterable in an instant, and lies can become truth, than opinions can be manipulated even easier. Individuality is the complexity and variation of thought, but the party values single-mindedness and ignorance. The people of Oceania are all conditioned ...