Orwell's 1984 is a cautionary tale; it warns against the dangers of a totalitarian regime that hinders intellectual freedom and liberty. In the novel, Orwell creates a dystopia; however, there are traces of Orwell's fictional world found in today's society. Can you find parallels between Winston's Oceania and the world in which we live today? (Note: You may have to do a bit of background research on the following words: dystopia, social commentary science fiction, and intellectual freedom.)
Another idea to make note of as you read and think about 1984 is the notion of paradox. What is a paradox and can you identify several paradoxical situations present in novel?
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A paradox is a seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true. There are several paradoxical situations in this novel. One of them is the three sayings: WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, and IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH. Another paradoxical situation is the names of the four Ministries: The Ministry of Love, Ministry of Peace, Ministry of Truth, and Ministry of Plenty. In the Ministry of Love, torture is taken place. The Ministry of Plenty often announces shortages of food and supplies. The Ministry of Truth, where Winston works at, deals with the putting out of lies via news or entertainment. And in the Ministry of Peace, they deal with the issues of war.
ReplyDeleteOrwell’s fictional world of Oceania also has parallels to the society in which we live in today. We use propaganda and entertainment to influence people, for political elections or even item advertisements. We have a governing body, just as Oceania has the Party. In addition, we have the black market much like the market in Oceania where Julia managed to get real sugar, oil, etc.
I have a question for others: How do you think Winston managed to be fully brainwashed? The novel did not completely say how it happened, and I was wondering what you guys thought happened.
Although Oceania seems to be a far-fetched world, it has parallels to our society. We use televisions to get information, just as Oceania uses telescreens to broadcast bulletins. In Oceania, posters and propaganda are used to influence people to think a certain way, as we have advertisements, entertainment, and campaign videos. Winston and Julia found the room above the junk shop quiet and relaxing because they could get away from all constant pressure and technology of their everyday lives. Many people in our society have a cabin in the woods or a quiet retreat for the same purpose.
ReplyDeleteA paradox is a statement that contradicts itself. Orwell's whole society is based on what is called "doublethink" in Newspeak. To be able to see four fingers being held up, but saying there are five because that's what you are told. Every time a situation in the present changes and the records of the past are altered, the people of Oceania hold two contradicting statements, their memories and the words on paper. To be able to let go of memories and accept what is said is the objective of the Party.
To Alexis: I was wondering about how he was brainwashed as well. In Room 101, he betrayed Julia. I think the only thing he had left to hang onto before that was his love for Julia and how he wouldn't betray her by not loving her anymore. When he meets Julia again, she tells him that after betraying someone that way, you don't feel the same about them anymore. I think that by betraying her like he did, he gave up resisting because he had no real reason to hold on to his sanity. He didn't feel the same way about Julia anymore and his suffering would stop. That's the best guess I have on why his attitude changed so suddenly.
Alexis and Melissa, here are my thoughts on your question...
ReplyDeleteIn "the place where there is no darkness", the Party strips everything from Winston, including thought. When O'Brien told Winston that he had been "watching over" him, that he had put himself in Winston's dreams and wasn't actually part of the Brotherhood, one can sense Winston's embarrassment for believing those dreams. This embarrassment created a loneliness in Winston. The forced shock treatments made him helpless, and that helplessness furthered his isolation. Finally, in Room 101, Winston begs O'Brien to sick the rats on Julia, eliminating all emotional ties between the two of them. At this point, Winston is just in need of hope, and the only place to turn was Big Brother. For that reason he loved.
The Party had used isolation even before "the place where there is no darkness". A not-so-obvious example I found was the Junior Anti-Sex league, where young people are taught not to have physical or strong emotion relations with the opposite sex, to only do things for the sake of having children. This, along with using the word "comrade" instead of "friend", are simple tactics to mentally separate a person from other people so he/she focuses solely on the Party and its goals. Long story short, they used isolation to bring unity to the Party (Oh, hi, paradox).
Oceania, though at first glance looks like some utopia gone awry, is more familiar than we might like to believe. For example, there is an extreme disconnect between the different social levels: the inner party members, the outer party members, and the proles. The powerful few live in luxury, and the rest live in squalor. Our world today is a similar case, though it is not quite as pronounced. Also, the novel raised the question of why Oceania was at war with Eurasia or Eastasia, depending on the day. Goldstein mentioned in his book that the goal of war was to fight a war, not necessarily to win it and put an end to it. Some people today might argue that many of the wars being fought are also gratuitous. Finally, Orwell tackles censorship. Winston’s whole job is to ‘fix history’ by editing various documents to the Party’s likings. The propaganda on the telescreens are exaggerated efforts to stir up support for the Party, too. Likewise, today’s media is censored, though to a much lesser extent.
ReplyDeleteTo Alexis: I think Winston was finally able to be brainwashed because he had nothing left to fight for. They tortured him, physically and mentally, for hours at a time. He finally denounced his love for Julia, which is the only real thing he tried to keep alive. After he lost that, nothing really mattered. His mind turned into an impressionable wasteland (why bother stopping it?) and it stood no chance against the Ministry of Love.
The world in which we live in today is not that far off from Orwell's Oceania. For instance, Oceania displays alot of patriotism, while we display national flags, sing songs about our country, as well as dress in the national colours. While the country is at war, we support our troops as well as Oceania supported hating Eurasia and Eastasia.
ReplyDeleteAn instance of irony, or paradox, that I had found is Julia. She is a member of the Anti-Sex league, but she goes back and sleeps with Winston and another man before Winston. She displays a little hipocricy within the novel, or her words contradict her actions, which leads to her and Winston's ultimate downfall.
I found this book extremely interesting, especially with all of the paradoxical situations it presents. In agreement with Alexis, the three statements, "War is Peace," "Freedom is Slavery," and "Ignorance is Strength," are all paradoxes within themselves. They are obviously all contradicting themselves, yet the Party is able to use these slogans to their advantage, so that when explained they make sense in that they are somewhat true. War always is going on in Oceania, even with the enemy changing periodically throughout the book, yet individuals can deny the fact that anything has ever changed. The Party is always right. It controls the past and the present, changing history by replacing facts with falsehoods, and people are able to accept this using "doublethink." Life in general, is just one big paradox in the sense of it, just one big contradiction after another, lies and more lies... yet life moves on.
ReplyDeleteAs for room 101, I think Winston became so alone- so isolated in his own mind something snapped inside of him. Little by little The ministry Love tore into him, and slowly until he was almost dead, Winston eventually gave in after a long, mentally exhausting fight. The rats are what finally did it, severing his last emotional tie- his relationship with Julia. He was alone in his head, and he could not beat the system. After being so isolated who else could he love but Big Brother. He saved him in the end.
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ReplyDeleteThis book was my favorite. It was so different than any other book I've read, and I just couldn't put it down. Some parallels between Winston's Oceania and the world today dictator-life, corrupt politicians, and patriotism. There are still countries today that are under a dictatorship. Some of those countries laws are just as strict as the so called "laws" presented in this novel. Today's politicians many people believe are corrupt. Many have affairs, some are traitors, and so on so forth. Just like O'Brien in the novel. He pretended to be Winston’s friend but in the end, he is the one who broke his spirit. On a lighter note, I agree with Jill Brinker about the patriotism. Just like Oceania, we hang our flags, dress in our nations colors, and have respect for our nation. And just like they support their troops, we support ours.
ReplyDeleteThis whole book is filled with paradoxical situations. In agreement with Alexis, all the different Ministries are one big paradox. They have these almost uplifting titles such as Ministry of Love, Ministry of Truth, but in reality they are places of torture, punishment and hurt. Julia is also a paradox herself. She is a member of the Anti-sex League but goes and sleeps with Winston.
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ReplyDeleteok, sorry, I have no clue how to do this. here is my post...
ReplyDeleteThe dystopia depicted in 1984 displays the terror and isolation of George Orwell’s nightmarish worst case scenario for the future, and even though it served as a warning in 1949, there are still striking parallels to our society today, such as language manipulation and propaganda.
I find interesting familiarity with the way that language is manipulated in Oceania, as they destroy and combine words for a more basic vocabulary. This can be seen in our own lives, especially now with the rise of social networking, texting, online instant messaging and little “ttyl”, “idk”, “omg” blurbs popping up in every day conversation. Also, mostly everyone so far has touched upon the fact that the dystopia’s society runs on propaganda, technology and brainwashing. Doesn’t our culture today revolve around media, entertainment and advertisement? Although in America Big Brother is not necessarily watching us, we are always watching- TV, that is. As for paradoxes seen in 1984, doublethink, in itself contradicts yet is understood. Many of the doublethink devices used, such as the names of the Ministries (Peace, Truth, Plenty and Love) oppose their true purpose, as well as the maxims of the party “War is Peace”, “Freedom is Slavery” and “Ignorance is Strength”. These mottos are thoroughly paradoxes because, for example, war is the opposite of peace, however, in a Utopian point of view, being in a constant state of fighting a war is peace, like it is stated in Goldstein’s book.
I found it disturbing that there was actually no need for the war between nations, which is true for our world today. Winston says "It was curious to think that the sky was the same for everybody in Eurasia or Eastasia as well as here. And the people under the sky were also much the same..."(181). We are all people, and I do not see why anyone would try to disturb the peace that could ensue if we did not seek power. Why can't people just be happy with what they have? Why do countries have to waste time, materials, and energy by fighting? It is so depressing and stressful to think of all the lives that have been lost due to the greed for power.
ReplyDeleteOne paradox that I found truly interesting was that intelligence was not valued by the Party. Syme was executed even though he was very smart. I guess that is because the Party knows that the simple-minded are easier to control, but they could have used Syme to their advantage. Why do you guys think Syme was killed instead of taken into the Inner Party?
I also wonder who was in charge of Oceania. Was there a group of evil people from each nation? Did they get together and plan out this horrible world? There must be an extreme caste system that goes beyond what is shown in 1984. Even O'Brien must use a telescreen, and he is in the Inner Party. Understanding the inner workings of the Party would be fascinating, but also unsettling.
I think that a large part of why it's so hard to rebel against Big Brother is that the people do not know of the outside world. They are kept in a bubble. I might be jaded, but I find it troubling that we only know what we are told by our government. How can we be sure that what they say is true? I love my country, but a little more openness would be appreciated.
A paradox is a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. One paradox I found is the character of Julia. Though she wears the sash of the Junior Anti-Sex League, Julia tells Winston that she hates the party and wishes to rebel against them by breaking the rules. In actuality, Julia is not much interested in rebelling or joining the causes of the Brotherhood but merely sleeps with Winston for the pleasure of it and for the enjoyment of breaking the rules.
ReplyDeleteThere are numerous similarities between Oceania and our world today. One is that the government hides or alters the facts and truth. Hopefully the government in America is not telling us outright lies, but I do believe they often modify the facts. In addition, many politicians lie through their teeth. Another similarity between Oceania and our world is the use of a shortened language. In Oceania, the new language with shortened words and fewer verbs and adjectives is called Newspeak. Our equivalent is the shorthand often used in text messages and instant messaging. For example, night has been shortened to nite and ttyl stands for talk to you later.
Though there are many similarities between Oceania and the world today, I hope we are not too near the horrible society in which Winston lives. I believe we can resist such a world only if everyone takes an active role and continues to speak their minds, protest injustice, and stand up for their rights. Also, I hope the language of texting does not become too prevalent because then the beauty of words, songs, and poetry would be lost.
Even though Oceania seems like this world that would never be possible, there are a few parallels to our society today. One parallel I saw was that in Oceania facts and history are often just erased or altered and are lied about. Our government today is not to that extent but I found when I was working on a Debate last spring, politicians often times tweak the actual fact to make it more agreeable to their argument. Also, our society today sadly seems to revolve around the media, magazines, television, and propaganda. Likewise, Oceania is strongly influenced by telescrenes and posters.
ReplyDeleteSimilar to what Alexis already said a major paradox that I saw was the titles of the ministries: The ministries of Love, Peace, Truth, and Plenty. The true definitions of these ministries seem to contradict their titles.
One of the scariest parallels between Orwell's dystopia and modern society is the idea of how a stagnant war affects the standard of living. In "1984," war is practiced constantly as a way to prevent the common people from becoming educated enough to rise against the government. While this is not happening to that particular degree today, it is present. In an effort to contain our own fear of being attacked, America rushed into middle eastern countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan that it had no business rushing into. In the years that have followed this initial action, billions of dollars that could have been spent on things like education have been spent on war. Thus, the American standard of living and education has decreased as a result of a seemingly stagnant war.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most important concepts in "1984" is the paradoxical idea of "doublethink." Orwell's idea of knowing something, but not knowing it at the same time is confusing to say the least. However, this concept drives the novel. Without it, how could O'Brien pretend to belong to both the Brotherhood and the Party? How could the laborers in the Ministry of Truth not conciously realize they were creating lies? How could the members of the members of the Inner Party not realize that they were somehow above the Outer Party members, though in theory, all are equal? These are just a few examples of patadoxical references to "doublethink" found in "1984" that allow Orwell's dystopia to function. Without "doublethink," all Party members would begin to question the Party beliefs and even Big Brother himself, however, they do not because even though they know they should, at they same time, they convince themselves they should not. This concept is really a stroke of Orwellian genius.
Though Orwell's Oceania is quite a horrible place, many parallels can be seen to our current government, and our current world today. In our society, people who are successful do what is expected. They act according to what is considered acceptable, and generally there is no hesitation in their movements. In Oceania, breaking free from the norm is a death wish, but the pressure of others makes us avid to do what they want. Nobody wants to feel disliked. A second parallel is the use of propaganda and media to influence public opinion. They go a bit overkill in Oceania with Hate Week, but the idea is the same. Get the public on your side as the government, and do whatever you want. A third one is the war Big Brother is fighting, nobody seems to know what is really happening. Our recent wars have been rather spotty in terms of reasons, and details, and things seem to keep changing.
ReplyDeleteParadox was abundant in the book, the most major being the ministries. Another one that might be overlooked has to do with the Proles. It may not be a paradox in the Oceanic society, but for us, it may seem a bit strange. The Proles are disregarded as stupid and uncivilized. They are poor outcasts, but to us, they seem almost normal in the crazy future dystopia called Oceania. It is a Paradox that the most normal to us, is seen as the least normal to them.
Although at first glance Oceania seems very different from the world we live in today, the issues Orwell addresses within it are still relevent. One of the main parallelisms has to do with the amount of government. How much is enougth? We still fight today over how much control the government should have on an individual. Many people are still worried that one day like in Oceania privacy will not exist and a sort of utopian society will form controlled by the government. Another parallelism has to do with technology. In Oceania the technology is very advanced just like today. In today's society technology is viewed as a useful thing, but in Oceania it is evil. Technology is used to control people's lives instead of aide them and make their lives easier.
ReplyDeleteParadox was found often in the book. Paradox is defined as a "statement that contradicts itself". One example of this is "War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength"(7). This was the parties slogan. This is an example of paradox because we know that war is surely not peace, freedom is definatly not slavery, and ignorance is the opposite of strength. Another paradox is the government itself. A role of government is to organize and protect the people. The party is doing the opposite, their hurting and controlling the people. Instead of allowing different opinions to be heard their forcing ideas upon the people and giving them no option but to comply, or be forced to comply.
1984 is filled with many different paradoxes. A paradox is a statement that contradicts itself. As many other people have mentioned the names of the ministries are paradoxes. In the Ministry of Truth they make up lies and in the Ministry of Plenty they deal with shortages. In the Ministry of Love they torture people and in the Ministry of Peace they deal with war. The whole concept of doublethink is basically a paradox. The point of double think is to truly believe something the party tells you when they know it is not true. An example of this is when Winston finally believes that 2+2=5.
ReplyDeleteA parallel between the book and our world is that many governments are corrupt. Many governments treat their people unfairly and lie to them. People are controlled by the government and punished if they step out of line. The government of the United States has gone through periods of corruption and lies although it is too a much smaller extent. Propaganda is used very frequently in our world today. Posters, cartoons, television shows, and many other things are used to support or discourage an idea. In 1984, posters of the Big Brother are everywhere. These posters warn the people that Big Brother is always watching and tell them to love and support him.
Katelyn Scott
The society in "1984" is built on paradoxical situations. One of the main themes of the book is doublethink, which has the same meaning as a paradox: to simultaneously hold two contradictory opinions at the same time and believe in both. The citizens of Oceania had to use doublethink often, such as when they were revising information and changing who Oceania was fighting against. Paradoxes are also evident in the Ministries of Oceania. The Ministry of Love was used to torture people, the Ministry of Plenty kept the country in an economic shortage, the Ministry of Peace waged war, and the Ministry of Truth revised history. The concept of doublethink caused the citizens of Oceania to believe anything the party told them, and thus took away their individuality.
ReplyDeleteA not-so-modern parallel between Oceania and the world today is the arms race that occurred in the Cold War. Oceania was constantly at war with one of the two other super-powers and constantly built up its weapon supply. The United States and the Soviet Union were locked in a similar arms race, in which the two nations built up their nuclear weapon supply but did not use them. This event was a paradoxical situation because the two countries prepared for fighting, but never did fight since they only wanted to scare the other from fighting against them.
to me this book really addressed the fact that by giving the government the freedom to do what it wants we are in turn giving up our own personal privacy and freedom, the government today has a big brother program, the Patriot act, letting the government tap wires, read mail, check email and scan people's computers if they have reasonable cause that the subject being watched is a threat towards national security. literally saying to the government that we the people have completely given away our privacy and there fore our freedom. such is the case made by george orwell in 1983 by having the tele-screens in every building, watching your every move and recording everything you say out loud and supposedly even the very things you are thinking. unfortunately to say it but the world we live in is almost exactly like Oceania, without of course the rounding up and killing of people, but, the government has been exposed to torturing people, in Guantanamo bay and the government has also been caught lying for personal gain, for example, the iraq war, the government launched a full scale invasion of Iraq on the basis that Sadam had started to make WMD's but in reality, no program had ever existed in the first place, and instead of finding weapons, what was one of the first things we secured? the oil refineries and factories of course, as in Afghanistan, we have stayed their trying to fight terrorists, or is the government really after the Trillions of dollars in un-mined gemstones and other such natural resources located beneath the desert mountains. unfortunately, as soon as we gave the government the power to do what it believed was right for us, it got greedy, like the party, they both want power for the sake of having power. Not to mention modern day politicians, who receive thousands of dollars to help run their campaigns to win re-election, and in return they promise the oil companies and pharmaceutical companies that are so graciously piling money at their feet, that they wont let bills pass that lower their already outrageous profits, and in return, they will pass tax cuts for them and their rich friends, creating an even larger gap between the middle class and the upper classes. it gets even better when you start to follow the money trail through our supposed "white" house.
ReplyDeleteA paradox is a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality that expresses a possible truth. one paradox that i found was Winston, because throughout the book he worked for the party, making their lies become truths, even though he knew the entire time that it was all wrong, and in the very end, he comes full circle and ends up believing the very lies that he helped put in place.
The key paradox is listed in the very first pages of the 1984, WAR IS PEACE. As described in the end of the boook, the constant state of psuedo artificial warfare is what keeps the hierarchal system in place, and allows for the destruction of excess goods. Clearly, the use of this strategem to the same extent is totally impossible in todays world. But that is not to say that its total unworkable.
ReplyDeleteOne clear example that comes to mind are the 'wars' on drugs and terror. Due to the nature of the enemy in question, neither war can ever be won by military strength. The war on drugs will never be won until the source of narcotics, (the plants or chemicals the come from) are entirely eliminated, which is impossible. Terrorism cannot be eliminated, because people will always be disgruntled, and man will always try and take power through violence. The wars on drugs and terror are akin to the constant battle over never shifting areas of Africa and Middle East between Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia. The government is sponsored by corporations via Lobbyists, and especially with the recent supreme court law that grants unlimited corporate sponsorhip of presedential candidates. In essence, we are using the same WAR IS PEACE strategy, but to a less extreme degree.
I was thinking about 1984, and I had a question that maybe someone can answer. So, in the book, Big Brother is always watching. We know that Big Brother is most likely not omniscient, because no single person can be constantly watching the millions of people in Oceania. Do you think Big Brother is a league of Inner Party members who are actually watching,an actual individual who controls the dystopia, a made up figure to centralize the power, fear and "love" of Big Brother into one understandable individual or something else entirely? Please let me know :)
ReplyDeleteA paradox is an idea that contradicts itself. A major paradox in this novel was the four ministries. The ministries names are Ministry of Love, Ministry of Truth, Ministry of Plenty, and Ministry of Peace. Love tortures citizens to change their minds, Plenty deals with the fact that there is never enough to go around, Truth produces lies, and Peace deals with the war efforts. All of the ministries work on ideas that are opposite of their name, creating a paradox.
ReplyDeleteThere are parallels between Oceania and our society today. For one, the media and propaganda influence public opinion. In the novel, it is more of a brainwash, as the people don not think for themselves, and just listen to whatever the government says. In our society, the media can present things that are biased or favor a particular side, and that can change people's opinion on current events. Hate Week fired people up in the novel from telescreen influence. In real life, something of equal passion can fire people up in on way or another, like the mosque at Ground Zero has done on the news. Also, as Troy mentioned, I thought of the Patriot Act while reading this novel, and that has a loose resemblance to the telescreens. The Patriot Act is only looking for hints to terrorism, and not as in-depth as the telescreens, but it is still a form of government spying. If we allow our government to gain into our privacy, we could be looking at a serious issue. That would be overstepping the boundary, and giving the government too much control, which might lead to a future like that depicted in 1984, just maybe not as harsh.
I don't know about anybody else, but I kept imagining the proles as prawns, like the ones from the movie District 9. I wonder if the director of District 9 was influenced at all from the book 1984, or if he was just using the word prawn for the definition.
To answer Lauren's question, I believe that Big Brother is a fictional figure, created by the Inner Party to resemble the leader. I think there are many leaders, a whole group of people, who make up the fictional figure Big Brother.
ReplyDeleteTo answer Lauren’s question, I think that Big Brother doesn’t exist. He may have at one point, but even that is in question. In the same way Che Guevera’s face symbolizes a revolution, Big Brother’s face is the iconic image of fear. I personally think that he is a fictional character created by Inner Party members to intimidate everyone. I don’t think anyone really needs to be watching to keep the society in order. However, that being said, somebody obviously is watching.
ReplyDeleteI think my favorite paradox in 1984 is “the place where there is no darkness”. Indeed Winston and O’Brien do meet in such a place, but in a literal sense. In the room where Winston is tortured there is no literal darkness under the fluorescent bulbs, but figuratively the room is sinister and dark. The reader spends most of the novel thinking that “the place where there is no darkness” is happy place, but the idea is completely turned upside down once Winston arrives there.
Question: Which do you think is worse? Winston's psychological torture or the physical?
There are many parallels between our society and the society of Oceania. In Oceania, citizens are constantly watched by telescreens and members of the Thought Police. While our society does offer more privacy than Oceania, it is still very open because of all of the different media outlets. It is very easy to find out what someone sent in a text message or wrote in an email, and wiretapping has also been used. There are also similarities between our wars and Oceania’s wars. Our society seems to be at wars with other countries constantly, just like Oceania is. Our society declares war on things we really cannot beat, like Terror or Poverty, just like Oceania will never beat Eastasia or Eurasia. It is also chilling that Orwell said that the powerful countries would all be fighting over the Middle East and Africa, which is just what is happening. There is also a parallel between Winston’s belief that the Party can only be overthrown by the proles, and historically it has always been the lower classes that rise up against the government.
ReplyDeleteMany people have already mentioned the Ministries, the slogans, and Julia as paradoxes. I think, however, you could also include Winston and O’Brien as paradoxes. Winston goes through his life acting like he loves the Party, when in reality it is the thing he most despises. O’Brien is seen as a friend to Winston, and even says he hates the Party, but he is actually one of the Party’s main leaders. He also tells Winston that two plus two is five and that he didn’t see certain pictures of people, but I think O’Brien knows those ideas are both wrong.
I believe that there are many parallels between our society and Oceania. In the novel Orwell depicts Oceania as this massive city controlled and watched by the all powerful Big Brother. However, people wonder if he really ever does anything because they never actually see him. I feel that in our society I can relate to that factor with Barrack Obama. He is constantly on talk shows and guest starring on ESPN and it makes me wonder if he is really doing what he promised so many Americans. Also, Our societies are alike in the fact of the excessive use of technology and the need to know what everyone is doing 24-7. In the novel, the characters are watched constantly by these large telescreens, every move they make is watched unwillingly. In our society, the only difference is that we let people watch and know what we are doing willingly. Exhibit number one being facebook. People have a constant need for sharing information and letting everyone know what they are doing, so much that people do not meet organically anymore. They turn to dating websites or skype to talk to their friends and meet new people. All of which has a major impact on our intellectual freedom, whether we realize it or not.
ReplyDeleteA paradox is a statement or group of statements that leads to a contradiction or a situation which disregards intuition. One of the main paradox's in the novel is the government. The government pretends that it is benign and is looking to improve the goodness of all people. In reality, they are looking to brain washing people to accept there system and believe that they are good for the society. When Winston is brain washed, they question his beliefs and make false statements to confuse Winston and wipe out his intuition. In the end of the novel, the government wins and Winston's intuition is gone, and he realizes his "love" for Big Brother.
First of all, I would just like to say how much I absolutely loved and hated this book. (Yes, this is a paradoxical statement in itself.)The book was full of tragedy, fear, and hatred, and it ended terribly, but at the same time, I have come to truly cherish it because of its brilliantly terrifying message to society. Anyhow... getting to the question...
ReplyDeleteThere are definitely many parallels between Orwell's 1984 and our world today.
First of all, in some countries today, rockets and bombs are constantly falling and exploding in the streets of innocent civilians, just like what nearly continuously happened in the prole (and Party) quarters of London. In some countries today, it happens daily, and it is a regular occurance to see blood in the streets.
I also found it disturbing that Oceania was continuously at war with the two other countries, Eurasia and Eastasia. This reminds me of the U.S. today. Throughout the past 100+ years, we have been almost continuously at war (even if it was not declared by Congress, we have still been at war through covert affairs.) This is very scary to think that our country (and other countries) have such difficulty staying out of wars. This is another parallel.
Another parallel between our world and the pretend 1984 is the issue of unconcerned, uninformed citizens. This is extremely scary to me. Winston realized that the citizens in Ociania did not remember or realize that the government of Oceania constantly changed who the country was at war with (either Eurasia or Eastasia). The Party easily controlled what had happened in the past. This also happens in our world and our country today. Many citizens are not concerned with being informed about current events. However, I think it's very important to be informed about what goes on in government, so the citizens have control of what go on in the government, instead of just a few select representatives and congressmen.
One major paradox in 1984 is Big Brother himself. Most of the people see him as loving, caring, and hey, "big-brotherly" because he "watches out" for them. In a way, this is true, he does watch out for the people, but in a negative way. Instead of doing it in a loving, kindly way, Big Brother (or whoever is behind him) does this for selfish reasons. By stifling human dignity, fundamental rights, love, respect, and peace, Big Brother (or the Party leaders) stifles opposition to the Party.
Considering Orwell construed his novel 1984 shortly after the end of World War II, he is eerily close to accurate in his portrayal of the world to come. The first parallel I notice between his fictional Oceania and our modern world is the willingness of the majority of the population to just accept information provided to them. Similar to today, people tend to believe whatever they see on TV or the news without considering the source or double checking what they may see or hear. It is possible that the Party members simply accepted the spoon fed information, but I look to the proles as a better example of today’s population in terms of their ability to be convinced of nearly anything.
ReplyDeleteA paradox is a statement that seems to contradict itself, but possibly could hold some truth. There are several of these present in the novel 1984. The most obvious one is the group of slogans supported by the Party: War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength. Upon first glance, all three pairings are complete and utter opposites. However, later on in the novel the explanation behind their meaning is given and at that moment it is debatable whether or not they hold true. Another paradox found within the framework of Orwell’s work comes as a result of the omnipotent Party. In an attempt to provide a positive connotation associated with their ministries, the Party names them the Ministry of Plenty, Ministry of Love, Ministry of Peace, and Ministry of Truth. The contradiction lies in the fact that the Ministry of Plenty rarely, if ever provides enough for the people of Oceania. The Ministry of Love is in reality a place fostering torturous activities. The Ministry of Peace basically is the headquarters for the on-going, global war waged on all fronts. The Ministry of Truth is constantly altering the past’s records to change history. All of these ministries actually have names that are paradoxes themselves, but then again I guess calling them Ministry of Shortage, Ministry of Hate, Ministry of War, and Ministry of Deception would not have quite the same ring to it, would it?
I happen to agree with Carly's comment about how partly through isolation, O'Brien was able to brainwash Winston. I did some research and found that there was a man named Abraham Maslow who through research developed the theory called "Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs". It depicts a pyramid with five sections, the bottom represents the absolute essential needs. Maslow calls the top section "self-actualization", which humans use to show creativity and innovativeness. The party completely strips any chance for creativity or individualism from the society that Winston lives in. The second box is entitled "ego" or "esteem", of course meaning that people want recognition for their achievements as well as prestige and status. In Oceania there is no such thing as the individual, the closest thing they have to prestige is being an inner-party member. The third box is "social" or "belonging" because people always need to feel like they are accepted. In the book, the party uses this very much to their advantage, because they set up "the party" as well as the "inner-party" and if you are not an active member of them then you are an outcast and you are arrested. The fourth box is "safety" and "security" such as economic security and physical safety. The citizens are threatened with a loss of security and safety if they refuse to live by the rules of Oceania. And finally, the most basic box, "physiological". Every human needs food, water, sleep, warmth, exercise, etc. When Winston is arrested he is deprived of all of these necessities and more. That is why he was able to be brainwashed.
ReplyDeleteA paradox is a statement that seems contrary to common sense and yet is perhaps true. In Orwell's book, 1984, the delicate structure of Oceania's society is based on "doublethink". Many people of Oceania know that at one time they were at war with Eastasia and at peace with Eurasia. However, there is no proof of this. The Ministry of Truth, which is also a paradox since it spins a web of lies, destroys all the evidence. Their government, the Party, is telling them that they were always at war with Eurasia, but their memory disagrees. If they want to survive, they listen to the government even though their memory contradicts the Party. The three slogans of the party, WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, and IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH, are all paradoxes. The other ministries are also paradoxes. The Ministry of Peace deals with war, the Ministry of Love tortures people, and the Ministry of Plenty tells people about shortages.
ReplyDeleteThere are many parallels between Winston's Oceania and the world in which we live today. We are at war, just like Oceania. Even though we have not been at war as long as Oceania, we seem to be making no headway, same as them. Oceania's government lies to their people just like our government. Both of our governments use propaganda, too. In Oceania, the telescreens keep people informed and entertained, just like our televisions. In our society, there is a black market where people can obtain illegal items. There is also a black market in Oceania. It is scary how many similarities there are between Oceania's world and our world.
Katelynn Corbett
Winston’s Oceania has parallels to the society that we live in today. We have government body, Winston’s Oceania had a Party in charge. We use televisions to get information, they used telescreens to broadcast bulletions. Advertisements and campaign videos are used today to sway people’s opinions, similar to the way propaganda and posters were used in Oceania.
ReplyDeleteA paradox is a statements that contradicts itself. A very obvious paradox is the saying used in the novel: WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, and IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH. Another paradox, is how Julia is a member of the Anti-Sex League, but goes and has sex with Winston. A paradox that I am sure has been several times said in this blog, is how all of the four Ministries contradict themselves. For example the Ministry of Love is a place where torture takes place.
To answer Lauren L's question about Big Brother, I think that Big Brother is a completely fictional character created by the party. Throughout the entire book Big Brother is used to intimidate the citizens of Oceania from rebelling against the party. Since there are no official laws in Oceania the way order is maintained is through example by public hangings, and through the telescreens and Big Brother. I doubt each telescreen is watched continuously, just more as a mechanism to deter people from acting out. In addition I also think Julia is right in saying that the bombing of the proles are indeed from the party itself. This is another way the party maintains their power. People in peril will cling to structure just as the mindless proles know nothing to rebel when the party is supposedly protecting them.
ReplyDeleteMy question would be then why do all people have to love Big Brother, couldn't one as easily fake love for him? I never understood why Winston seems incapable of telling a lie.
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ReplyDeleteOne parallel I can find between today’s society and Winston’s society is the fact that people are very easily brainwashed by political figures. Many people listen as politicians promise the moon; tax cuts, lowered war involvement in some country, benefits to the middle class, ect; vote for them, and then nothing happens. If anything, there are increased taxes, there is increased war involvement in another enemy country, and many of the middle class citizens don’t experience change. Big Brother uses three year plans and makes brainwashing speeches so that people, even those of Winston’s intelligence, reluctantly accept that the situation is better and that Big Brother is going to continue helping them with their priorities.
ReplyDeleteA paradox is a phrase which contains philosophical meaning, yet seems to contradict itself. In 1984, one paradox would be that as time goes on, the number of words decreases. This doesn’t make sense because words are used to communicate knowledge, and the more of them there are, the closer you can come to communicating the truth. Therefore, it would be logical to say that as known knowledge increases over time, so should the number of words. However, it also makes sense for the Party’s purposes in the way it limits the necessary words to learn, and it curbs the possible knowledge of the citizens so they are less likely to rebel.
To Tim Ries:
You, Alexis Pierce, Maddy Cusick, Kristen Emmorey, and Heather pointed out that the names of the ministries are paradoxes. The Ministry of Love is really a place where people are tortured, but the torture is to enforce love for the Party leaders. The Ministry of Plenty starves people, but it provides plenty for these same leaders. The Ministry of Peace declares war, but this is to make the citizens have a foreign enemy and maintain a non-rebellious population; therefore, it makes peace for the leaders. The Ministry of Truth inscribes lies in the archives of Oceania to make “true” the necessary lies of the Party leaders. Therefore, even though the names of the ministries may not make sense to citizens, they seem completely appropriate to the Party leaders who named them.
The parallels between Oceania and the world we live in today is the impact on authority figures and large groups of people on the thoughts of the citizens who occupy the land. The people of Oceania listen to and believe whatever the people of the Party tell them to even if it’s ridiculous. Their past is taken away and their whole minds are occupied of the thoughts of others (most which are untrue.) Page 121. –“And the people’s under the sky were also very much the same-everywhere, all over the world, hundreds, or thousands or millions of people just like these people, ignorant of one another’s existence, held apart by walls of hatred and lies, yet almost exactly the same- people who had never learned to think, but were stirring up in their hearts and bellies and muscles the power that would overturn the world.” This quote shows the parallelism because all people are separated by the thoughts of others.
ReplyDeleteA paradox is simply a self-contradiction or a statement that at first seems true, but turns out to be illogical. In this novel, there are several examples of paradoxical situations. First, the separate ministries have very ironic names. The ministry of love is used for torture, the ministry of truth is used to alter history into lies, and the ministry of peace is used for issues involving the ever-present wars. Another example is the idea of “doublethink.” This concept is quite complex and confusing because it allows the citizens of Oceania to think and believe two different things at once. They believe when the party says, but at the same time they know the truth deep down. However, nobody knows the “truth” because they do not know what is actually the truth anymore due to the constant changing of history. One last example of a paradox is that all things and people are equal in society, yet there are defined groups (party members, proles) and standards of those groups.
ReplyDeleteThe world of Orwell’s creation has some interesting parallels with our world today. I think that the government (or antigovernment) or Oceania best compares with that of a communistic society. All things are rationed and divided equally among members of society. Also, weapons and war materials are in constant production, which is similar to behavior of the former Soviet Union. In a more modern sense, the telescreens and use of war propaganda is much like the widespread use of computers, TVs, and cell phones today. It is difficult to live in our world without being influenced by the media, whether it be a catchy jingle for cereal or an ad encouraging us to support the troops.
A paradox is something that contradicts itself or common sense. The best example of this is the party slogan, “WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH”(7). Having the party slogan be a bunch of contradictions makes it easy for it to be a paradoxical world. Another example of this is how the party is always having an overabundance of goods like shoe laces, yet Winston didn’t have shoelaces on his shoes, that seems odd. Oceania is a lot like any communist nation in our world today. Cuba and North Korea are both run very much like Winston’s world.
ReplyDeleteTo start off, we don’t have telescreens but we do have computers, televisions, and telephones. All of which can be used to communicate and have the ability to be tapped or bugged. We also have mass stockpiles of bombs that could destroy entire cities, if our wonderful government chose to do so. We also have appetite-curbing pills, drinks filled with unnatural chemicals, and we have people that form anti-sex, sorry, abstinence groups.
ReplyDeleteOne of the paradoxes that caught my attention was how the Party rationed everything constantly, yet people still received more. The people of the Party are another paradox. People are a passionate, emotional, and creative species, and the Party has turned them into screaming lunatics who follow a nonexistent leader.
This book is full of Paradoxes . Forgery is committed in the Ministry of Truth, war is planned in the Ministry of Peace , and rations are scaled back in the Ministry of Plenty. Slogans that people live by seem to be the definition of a paradox.
ReplyDelete"WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH"
That practically screams paradox but there is another paradox that gained my attention. The Party claims that they liberated the proles yet the proles are still the lowest class and are forced to a similar back breaking labor in coal mines that they did before. The party slogan says it all "Proles and Animals are free" and since we all know that freedom is slavery that also means that they are slaves. In his journal Winston wrote about the proles," Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious."(61) Winston also says that if there is any hope it lies with the proles but how can the proles provide any hope if they are incapable of becoming conscious or rebelling?
The parallel today is that we allow the media to influence so much of what we think about our world especially the people who run it. Most of our population doesn't live anywhere near Washington DC so we have to rely on our media to tell us what's going on there. But how do we know if what they are saying is true or if they have a hidden agenda? In our day and age people don't even have to work for any sort of media outlet to get their point of view across. Just go to youtube and there will be dozens of political videos with even more bias. In order not to be brainwashed the people must be careful with where they get their info and how much bias comes with it.
There are too many parallels between our world today and George Orwell's world in 1984. Today we focus on war more than other important things such as education or poverty just as the world of 1984 did and look where they ended up. Also, the use of propaganda is prominent in Oceania and in our world. In both instances we use it to rally people and to gain support; not always in a positive way. Lastly, one of the most terrifying similarities is the push for less intellectual freedom in order to 'protect' people from themselves. Unfortunately, the restraint on intellectual freedom will not help people learn from mistakes and it only makes people angry that they don’t have a choice. This is one of the most abundant flaws in 1984 and we do not wish to end up like the people did in Oceania.
ReplyDeleteA paradox is a statement or idea that seems in itself self-contradictory or a lie when in reality it could possibly be true. An example of a paradoxical statement would be “War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength” (4). This is what Oceania is built upon, these three statements which are contradicting each other, but once they are thought about they may seem actually true in this situation. Another example would be when Winston Smith is writing about the proles and believing completely that they’re the answer and that “until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious” (70). One may believe that then if each goes hand in hand that these proles will never become conscious and will never therefore rebel or vice versa. This whole world is wrapped up in paradoxes, so much that if one was untangled and made true or false, it wouldn’t even make a difference.
To Alexis: I believe that based on his weak character and lack of strong faith in anything except for hopes that were terminated by a quick statement on O’Brien’s part, he merely gave in. Winston hadn’t deeply believed in anything and after he had given up Julia, everything followed, his belief tapered and he felt all alone again. Plus, I do believe that the rats in Room 101 was more than he could bear along with the shocks he received. The degradation of Winston’s mind on O’Brien’s part was what truly broke him down and since O’Brien had been doing it a long time, it was only a matter of time before Winston broke down and was brainwashed as well. A very sad ending, but unfortunately necessary in Orwell’s forlorn world.
By the way, sorry this is hard to read, I had some problems getting it to post.
ReplyDeleteOne major parallel is that both societies have different social groups. In the Oceania society, there are the Inner Party members, the Outer Party members, and the Proles. The Inner Party are the highest leaders with the most power. They have nice apartments and get better food. The Outer Party is more like middle class who don’t have all the privileges as the Inner Party but are not free like the Proles. The Proles are the lowest party and they are the ones who live in poverty. These groups are very similar to the groups in our society today. We have the rich class, the middle class, and the poor. The rich class lives in nice houses and drive expensive cars. The middle class lives a pretty average life. The poor struggle to get by. Another parallel would be the corruption in the government. In Oceania, many members of the Inner Party are corrupt while in our society today, we have politicians and government officials who are corrupt.
ReplyDeleteA paradox is a statement that contradicts itself but could be somewhat truthful. The party slogans and the ministries seem to be the most pronounced paradoxes in this story. I really liked Matt’s comment to Tim Ries and the others about the ministries and how they seem like very obvious contradictions but they could have truth behind it, which I think shows the true definition of a paradox.
Kelsey Wisser
ReplyDeleteFirst off, a paradox a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. One paradox in this novel is the saying: “WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, and IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.” The four Ministries are another example of a paradox. The Ministry of Love, is not a place of love at all, that is where Winston is taken and endlessly tortured for loving Julia, the Ministry of Truth focuses on changing history, the Ministry of Peace, just like the saying, “WAR IS PEACE,” deals with war, and lastly the Ministry of Plenty informs the public when there are shortages of food and or supplies. The fact that Julia is a member of the Anti-sex League yet is very promiscuous and has had sex with multiple men.
I think one major parallel between our society and Oceania is the monitoring of what the government tells us. While they don’t tell us flat out lies and altar history, they do leave of pieces of information. Also, like Lauren said, the rise of social networking has led to people shortening and combining words, similar to Newspeak.
The three paradox's that were the most apparent in the book were the one's on page 17:
ReplyDeleteWar is Peace
Freedom is Slavery
and
Ignorance is Strength (which reminds me of the saying "ignorance is bliss")
These were the three slogans of the Party and the three things that the Party stood most for, they believed that if the people thought they were in a war they would have peace amoungst their people, they believed that to keep their people "free" and safe they had to make them slaves, and the Party believed that if they kept the people ignorant of the things going on they will have a stronger nation as a whole.
In our society today you can see the propaganda from our nations wars (none stick out as much as Vietnam) and that the "Big Brother" government now has access to our phone records and security cameras. Also, even though our government might not alter our history, it is always told from our nations perspective painting our nation as the "good guy".
A paradox is something that appears to be contradictory. In our minds the slogan “WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH” is obviously contradictory. In their communist world, however, war is the only way to maintain the slightest form of peace in their country. Giving the proles “freedom” is their way to use them as slaves for the party. By having all the proles and members of the outer party being ignorant, the party remains strong.
ReplyDeleteThere can be several parallels between this world and our world today. First of all, technology controls our life. We communicate through it, become entertained through it, work through it, and spend much free time using it. Imagine going a week with no phone, computer, TV, iPod, or anything of the sort. Yet, all technology can be controlled, monitored, and censored. People can see what webpages we visit, what shows we watch, who we email and what we say. The government and other agencies control our media so that we are one sided and completely blind to what is really happening in the world. All this is happening right now, today, so who’s to say that our society isn’t living by the slogan that ignorance is strength when we allow ourselves to be ignorant of the truth?
In 1984, Orwell describes a society consisting of easily molded minds and individuals that are essentially controlled by the government. This parallels our day, where many people are too quick to conform to the popular opinion. Unaware of the truth behind the issue they cling to the opinion with the greatest publicity, or that seems most plausible from the surface. In the book, the citizens of Oceania have completely submitted to the Party, accepting their words as absolute truth. In addition, the machine-like characteristic of the Oceania society parallel current day worries for too much government interference. As we continue to sacrifice privacy for protection, concern is growing as to where the line should be drawn. Oceania represents the worst case scenario where government manages every aspect of life, going so far as to limit consciousness via alterations in the language.
ReplyDeleteA paradox is a statement that represents an possible truth, though it may appear contradictory. The title “Big Brother” given to the Party leader seems as though it should symbolize a protective older sibling who cares for the people under his wing. However, the violent authority which “Big Brother” exercises conveys anything but good intentions.
According to Webster’s Dictionary, a paradox is “a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.” In George Orwell’s novel 1984, there are several instances of paradoxes. As some of my highly intelligent peers above have also noticed, one of the statements that stuck in my head was, “WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH” (7). In reality, we know that war is violent, slaves are captives, and ignorance tears people apart. Another paradox found in this novel are the four ministries. The Ministry of Truth deals with the media, which is often misleading, trying to put the political party in a positive light. The Ministry of Peace deals with war, which as I stated above, is violent. The Ministry of Love deals with law, and those who do not obey the laws are tortured. Lastly, the Ministry of Plenty deals with economic affairs, yet there is not enough to go around.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it may not be entirely obvious, there are several parallels between Winston’s Oceania and the world in which we live today. For example, technology and the media are used against the people of Oceania. In today’s society, we use technology every day. I am doing this assignment on my laptop, while text messaging a friend on my cell phone. Even though technology has not yet turned against us, there is the fear that one day our world will be taken over by new advancements. In addition, the media in Oceania and our world today is often slanted and bias, which does not allow people to form their own opinions. At the moment, we are not living under as much governmental scrutiny as the people of Oceania, but as time progresses and our knowledge of science and technology unravels, there is no way to predict what can happen.
Side note: I'm thrilled we read this book. It is easily one of my favorites now. I loved it!
ReplyDelete1984 is a novel that forces its reader to consider several questions that are debated daily between our political leaders. One concerns government control. In 1984, it is obvious that the government controls every aspect of its citizen's lives, down to their thoughts. Today, government run programs are often criticized for putting too much control into the hands of the government, such as public healthcare. I personally believe that the point of a government is to provide programs and protection in exchange for giving up some personal freedoms. 1984 is an excellent book that shows an extreme view of this idea.
A paradox is a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. The most obvious paradoxes in the book are WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY and IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH. Freedom is slavery is one that I believe best represents the lives of the citizens of Oceania. The Party wants to make the appearance that your personal freedom is something that makes you a slave; that the power of it could weigh you down with responsibility. I think we could all agree that this is not the case. The citizens of Oceania demonstrate ignorance at its best. They live day to day in a never ending routine in which you do what you're told, ignorant of why they are doing so. In Oceania, you supposedly gain strength by this ignorant lifestyle; in not knowing what your actions or lives mean. War is peace is perhaps the strongest paradox. The words themselves are total opposites. Oceania gains peace within itself by creating war outside. The war unites the country in something, which creates peace among its people.
The novel 1984 and the world today, do in fact have parallels that connect them. For instance, the fictious Oceania and our world both share corrupt politicians. In the novel, O'Brien tricked Winston into thinking he was a member of the Brotherhood, when he was actually part of the "The Party". In recent years we have seen more and more headlines about politicians making horrible choices and similar actions. Technology is another parallel. As many of my peers have already stated, technology plays a huge role in our society. Almost everything we do uses some type of technology and it makes what we do so much easier. In 1984, however, technology is used to keep an eye on people and monitor them. Finally, the feeling of not wanting to be different is common in both. In the novel, it is a crime to be different and today no one really wants to "go against the grain". People just want to fit in and not do anything wrong.
ReplyDeleteA paradox is a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. 1984 is filled with paradoxical situations. The Four Ministries are a great example of this. The Ministry of Love is actually the place where Winston was tortured. The Ministry of Truth is where employees erase history and try to cover it up. THe other two Ministries also each represent a paradox. Julia is another wonderful example of a paradox. She is a member of the Anti-Sex League, yet has slept with countless men.
A paradox is a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. There are many examples of paradoxical situations present in 1984. There are lies in the Ministry of Truth, and civilians are tortured in the Ministry of Lies.
ReplyDeleteThe novel 1984 can teach us about our world today. The party's slogan, "WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, and IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH" shockingly seems like a motto that some societies chose to live by today. For example, war is often fought for peace or to end conflicts, but in reality war is expensive and costly in more ways than one with many innocent people lose their lives.
In his novel, George Orwell creates the extremely exaggerated dystopian society called Oceania that may seem totally unconnected to our world today. Although the society is quite out there, we still are able to find parallels in our world today. One parallel I noticed is the great influence that the media and government has on the people. In Oceania, the Party brainwashes all of their ideas into the citizens, which many of them accept and believe. In our society today, the television, radio, and internet all greatly influence our beliefs and the way we perceive things. Also, our political figures have a heavy influence on our thoughts, just as they do in "1984." Another parallel between the two worlds is the concept of war. Today, we are constantly at war and using the peoples money to fund for materials for our forces overseas. We see this similarly in Oceania, seeing they are constantly at war with different countries.
ReplyDeleteWe also see many paradoxes in 1984. One of the main paradoxes seen is the Party's slogan, "WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, AND IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH." Big Brother uses this slogan and the doublethink technique to successfully convince many people that this saying is true. Another popular paradox in the novel is the actual government in Oceania. The concept of government is an organization made to protect the people, serve the people, and help strengthen the people. Instead, the government is threatening, harmful, and intimidating to the citizens, installing fear inside the people rather than faith.
The world that George Orwell creates in 1984 has many parallels to parts of our world today. The governments of our world and the one he creates are corrupt and have too much influence on the minds of the people that they serve. There are also different forms of class and styles of living. There are the Inner Party, Outer Party, and Prole members. This is similar to our upper, middle, and lower class system.
ReplyDeleteA paradox is a situation, person, or thing that combines contradictory features or qualities. One paradox in the story has to do with Julia. She's a member of the Anti-Sex League, however she has sex with Winston. Another paradox evident in the novel is the sayings of the people, War is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength. These statements all seem the opposite of what should seem true. War is not peace, but peace is achieved by not having war, and so on.
A paradox is a statement or proposition that, despite sound reasoning from acceptable premises, leads to a conclusion that seems senseless, logically unacceptable, or self-contradictory. In the novel 1984, by George Orwell an obvious paradox are the parties slogans, "WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, and IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH." Clearly life is not peaceful when war is going on, slaves are not free to do whatever they would like to do, and ignorance is considered a weakness in most societies. Another example of a paradox is Julia. She sleeps with Winston, yet she is a member of the Anti-Sex League.
ReplyDeleteThere are numerous similarities between Oceania and our world today. One is that our leaders in the world lie to the greater population. There have been many incidents in which politicians have been caught with holding the truth from the citizens in their country. Another example that parallels the world today is the Inner, Outter, and Prole members. They could be considered to be like our upper, middle and lower class.
Also, there is a parallel to the governments control over people by doing things such as nationalizing health care, taxing, etc.
Mary Wojtala
ReplyDeleteA paradox is something that is contradictory, or contradicts itself. As many people have said, the sayings WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH are definitely paradoxical statements. How on earth is war peaceful? And how can we be free if we are slaves?
Although Orwell’s dystopia seems very farfetched, I think some of the warnings he is hinting at should be taken seriously. For example, many government officials want to make wire tapping legal so they can monitor what we are saying on the phone. Another frightening thing is how advanced the satellites are that orbit earth. They say soon they will even be able to see us in our houses. This is exactly like Big Brother, and that is just scary.
People in our world are also ruled by advertising. Honestly, who didn’t want a Snuggie after see the commercial? I know I did! I went out and bought one right away! People are so good at manipulating us into thinking a certain way, and they do it through advertising and ads. It’s scary how alike our world and Orwell’s dystopia really are.
I was able to find numerous parallels between Winston's Oceania and the world in which we live in today. One parallel is that in their world and ours we use technology to send information and communicate with others. The government is also another parallel in both societies. They both influence us greatly and we look up to them to do the right things. There is corruption in both our world and Oceania within both forms of government and the people.
ReplyDeleteA paradox is a contradictory statement or comment that may be true. One situation of paradox are The Ministry of Love, Ministry of Peace, Ministry of Truth, and Ministry of Plenty. In each of the ministries they are completely opposite than what their title states. For example, in the Ministry of Love people get tortured and in the Ministry of Peace the people talk about war and do not mind that it is going on.
There are certainly some parallels between Oceania and the world in which we live today. For one thing, government is taking an ever-increasing role in the lives of the citizens of our country. However, it is not nearly to the extreme presented in 1984. Also, technology is becoming a more prominent part of people’s lives. Cell phones and iPods are no longer rare things and computers have become a necessity in many aspects of the world today. Though technology in 1984 is more enslaving to the human race, parallels can still be drawn.
ReplyDeleteA paradox is a statement that contradicts itself, according to the Google definition. In the novel, the most evident paradoxes are the three slogans of the Party: “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength.” As we all know, war is the complete opposite of peace, to be free is to be a slave to nothing and ignorance tears things apart.
As I read 1984, my first thought was that this government is NOTHING, like our current form of government here in the United States. However, the more I thought about the differences, and discussed them with my family, the more I also started to see some similarities.
ReplyDeleteOne similarity my Dad pointed out was the censuring of the history. Although in the U.S. it has not reached the height it had in the novel, we do edit text books and other material to make the material more 'political correct'. The example my dad used when we talked about it was that Thomas Jefferson was a bad man because he owned slaves. If they can decide what history we should and should not learn, isn't that limiting our intelligence to make the government look better?
I also thought about how our government can listen in on our phone calls, or read our personal e-mails, if for some reason they think that it might be a 'national threat'. What got me thinking though, is who gets to decide what is a national threat? Someone who is worried about losing their position in the next election?
Our national economy has been in the slumps for the past many years, much like the economy in 1984 wasn't doing well either, which was another similarity I saw.
I can't believe that I almost forgot this post! My heart just stopped but I'm glad i remembered now. It's Krista Kruszewski.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest parallel between Oceania and the world we live in today is the use of technology. Big Brother and The Party used their increasing knowledge of technology to watch over their comrades and control the situation. In our society, we use technology to learn things about our opponents in war. We want to control the situations and find traitors just like in 1984.
Also, the Inner group, Outer group, and prole members are much like our own high class, middle class, and lower class. The politicians and government lie in the upper class, the well off families lie in the middle class, and the people in the lower class are generally paid less attention to.
A paradox is defined on dictionary.com as a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. Some of the more obvious paradox's in 1984 are WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, and IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH. They each seem crazy to us, but for instance ignorance could be looked at as strength in 1984. The comrades who didn't ask questions and didn't break the rules would never really know what situation they lived in like Winston learned from O'Brien while being tortured.
There are many parallels between Oceania and the world in which we live in today. For instance, having sex with prostitutes is very illegal in both worlds. Another example f a parallel is the way of communication. Oceania uses a telescreen and our society uses a television. They also use the same way to advertise.
ReplyDeleteA paradox is a statement or proposition that seems self- contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. There are many examples of this in 1984. 2+2=5 is one of the major paradox in the book. Another example is the WAR IS PEACE FREEDOM IS SLAVERY and IGNORANCE IS STREGTH statement. All of these statements are contradictory, yet have a possible truth which is thoroughly explained in book 2 chapter 9.
A paradox is a statement that contradicts itself. At first, the statements WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH seem to be paradoxes but when they are explained at a deeper level. A better example of paradoxes would be the names of the four ministries, The Ministry of Truth where the truth is rewritten, The Ministry of Love where torture is committed, The Ministry of Plenty where the only plenty is the amount of shortages, and The Ministry of Peace where war is planned and waged.
ReplyDeleteA major parallel between 1984 and the world we live today is the eagerness of the population to believe anything the government says. People today believe anything said by politicians and the news. Rarely, if ever, do these reports give the whole truth at an unbiased level. They are always trying to sway you to believe certain things.
The one parallel between modern society and the society of 1984 that is most important, is the influence that government can have on its society. In Oceania, The Party and Big Brother manipulate their members into thinking that they can be trusted and everything that they say is the absolute truth, when in reality it is all lies. Many political figures in today's government have the ability to, so to speak, brainwash and manipulate their followers into thinking that their ways are the BEST. Also, the parallel in social structure is apparent in both societies. We live in a world divided by three classes: high, middle, and low, and so did Oceania. Propaganda and technology can also be seen as parallels as many of the other A.P. English students above me have mentioned.
ReplyDeleteParadox has always been a hard concept for me to understand and while I was reading 1984, it was obvious when I came across one because I immediately felt confused. WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH. That paradox had me especially confused, but as I looked closer I realized how these contradictions contained possible truths. In Oceania being at war was something that had been happening for as long as could be remembered. Without war, the society feared that the peace they now had would be disturbed. Also, in order to make their people feel free they needed them to become slaves to the government (thank you Lia for helping me understand this one). Last but not least the ignorance of the people of Oceania was immensely important because it made the society stronger. If the people of Oceania knew what was going on inside the Party, there would be chaos and the strength would be demolished.
A paradox is a seemingly contradictory statement that turns out to be true. There are many paradoxes in the novel 1984. The most blatant ones are the party slogans WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, and IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH. Since war and peace are two very separate things it seems like saying they’re the same thing is impossible. However the citizens of Oceania are kept together by hatred of a common enemy, keeping them from realizing that the true reason for their suffering is The Party. Furthermore each ministry, in and of its self, is a paradox. The Ministry of Plenty always seems to be announcing food shortages, The Ministry of Truth deals with the falsification of history documents and other reports, The Ministry of Peace is in charge of the war effort, and the Ministry of Love concerns its self with the detainment and torture of political prisoners.
ReplyDeleteOceania is a society that has many parallels to the one we live in today. Our media is just as influential as the direct control of the telescreens used to monitor all the citizens of Oceania. Every time you turn the television on you get bombarded with advertisements telling you where to shop, what to eat, even who to vote for. We have a governing body, like The Party in Oceania.
While the novel proves itself to be about a dystopia, we can still find many similarities to our society today. Oceania's technology is frighteningly advanced, being able to monitor each individual almost 24/7. While our technology may not have reached this point yet, we definitely are advancing this way at a rapid pace. Ten years ago we were not able to do half of the things that we are able to today, and who knows, we may have telescreens stalking us wherever we go in twenty years! Not only is our science similar, but our government seems to be as well. While "1984" is an extreme case of governmental control, we still experience the same lies, corruption, and power within the political system. Another parallel seen between Oceania and our society is the social classes. People like O'Brien and other political figures make up the upper class, while the proles are seen as the lower class. Then, in-between both of these, we see Winston, your typical, average middle class citizen. These class system parallels with our own way of grouping people today.
ReplyDeleteAnother important aspect of this novel is Orwell's use of paradoxes. One of the main paradoxes seen throughout the story is the Party's slogan "War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, and Ignorance is Strength." Although all of these phrases seem to be opposites, the Party uses their doublethink technique to convince the people to see truth in these statements. The other popular paradox in the novel was the main character, Winston. We see Winston on the outside as a heartfelt, patriotic lover of the Party. He is precise with his work, passionate during Hate Week, and strict with his routine. Truly, though, we discover Winston's deep hatred for the party, and his disbelief in all of the values that they stand by.
This was my 2nd favorite read over the summer. Conspiracy novels are welcome in my house.
ReplyDeleteSome things in common with today's world also in this novel are TV, censors, near-constant war, and ever-decreasing personal privacy (sanctioned by wiretaps). But I don't think the world will ever be as bad as in this novel because people will not be suppressed for long.
I'll just do the obvious paradoxes, if you don't mind. The party slogan: WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.
The Ministries all carry misnomers (i.e. Ministry of love tortures people).
In George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984, the main character, Winston lives in the dark, twisted nation of Oceania, which, warped as it is, bears some resemblance to the real world. Much like the countries of the real world, in Oceania, there is a government, albeit one with unlimited powers, there is a functioning economy, even if it is completely controlled by the government, and the people have access to news of the world, even if it is forced upon them through telescreens and is only the news allowed or fabricated by the government. In fact, the majority of things found in the real world still exist in Oceania, only in an altered form.
ReplyDeleteA paradox is defined as a statement which at first seems absurd or contradictory, but actually contains a hidden truth. Some examples of paradoxes in 1984 are the party slogans WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, and IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH. Additionally, the names of the Party Ministries are paradoxes: The Ministry of Truth, the Ministry of Plenty, the Ministry of Love, and the Ministry of Peace. As befits the definition of a paradox, the purpose of each of these ministries appears contrary to its name, but is actually rather fitting. For example, in the Ministry of Truth, lies and propaganda are created, but the true accounts of the past are destroyed, so the falsified version becomes, in effect, truth.
One of the parallels i found in 1984 and in today's world is the influence that government can have over the world. In Oceania Big Brother controls the minds of people and everything that they say and do. Their totalarian government is corrupt just like our government can be corrupt too.
ReplyDeleteThere are many paradoxical situations in 1984. For instance, the four ministries. In the Ministry of Truth they erase the past as if it never existed. Winston was tortured in the Ministry of Love. Also, Julia is an example of a paradox. She is a member of the Anti-Sex League but she is sleeping with Winston and has slept with many men in the past.
Can you find parallels between Winston's Oceania and the world in which we live today?
ReplyDeleteThe Thought Police have many similarities with today’s police. Today’s police often abuse their power; they arrest people now and ask questions later. For example, air port security takes aside certain people for extra questioning based on no actual reason, just like the thought police arrest innocent people all the time.
What is a paradox and can you identify several paradoxical situations present in novel?
A paradox is a true statement or group of statements that leads to a contradiction. Some paradoxes in this novel are the thought police, because it’s almost impossible to control your thoughts, and the statement “2 + 2 = 5”, we know that this is not a true statement yet the Party makes it true
The thing that really bugs mean that is the same in the book and the real world is the pollitics and how the higher up in goverment you are, the better off most people are. Take a look at the vice president of the United States. For what they do, they get paid an deccent amount of money plus all the benefits too. Next take the congress people, they get paid resonable but the benefits they recieve are off the charts. The higher up you were in big brothers party the better off you were also, with much less restrictions than other people.
ReplyDeleteWhen comparing 1984 with our present day there are similarities in technology and in political issues. It is impressive to know that George Orwell was thinking ahead of his time. He created machines that not have existed back then such as "speakwrite" which could be a tape recorder or a computer and a "telescreen" which today is a tv. There is also the fact that Oceania is at was with eurasia simiar with today and us being at war.
ReplyDeleteThe frightening distopia of George Orwell's "1984" parallels our society. It is said that "the winners write history". The same is true in "1984" when Winston's job was to rewrite past articles to make Big Brother seem friendlier and extrodinarily accurate. A paradox that i found somewhat humorous was about Mr. Parsons. He was very proud of his obnoxious children because they were adament about finding thought criminals. ironically, his children turned himin for thought crime.
ReplyDeleteParadox. Wow. So much paradox in 1984. War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength, Julia and the Anti-Sex League, the Ministry of Truth, the Ministry of Love, the Ministry of Peace, and the Ministry of Plenty are all examples of paradox. The few that really stood out to me while reading were War is Peace, the Ministry of Truth, the Ministry of Love, and the Ministry of Peace. The people of Oceania believe War is Peace because when they're in constant war, their nation is brought together through patriotism. However, obviously, war is not peace. The Ministry of Truth concerns itself with news, entertainment, education, and the fine arts. One would think by the title of the ministry that they tell the truth about all these things. However, their job at the Ministry of Truth is to change "facts" basically into fiction. They falsify almost everything to satisfy the Party and make them look better, as well as to help the Party control the people's minds. The Ministry of Love is said to have "maintained law and order." In reality, grotesque things happen at the Ministry of Love. Intense brainwashing and torturing are two of the main tactics the Party uses to "maintain law and order" at the Ministry of Love. The last paradox that really stood out to me was the Ministry of Peace. The Ministry of Peace "concerned itself with war." The Ministry of Peace coincides very much with the "War is Peace" slogan. Again, obviously war is not peace. When a nation is at war there is generally a lot of turmoil and very little peace. So a Ministry of Peace should be concerning itself with keeping peace, but it concerns itself with war. Paradox, paradox, paradox. One more thing... 2 + 2 does not = 5! Paradox.
ReplyDeleteThere are some things that we can find in todays society that are parallel to that of 1984. 1984 deals with political and technological issues, which are things that we face in todays society. there is always that question of how advance should we let technology go? If to advance, it could cause harm. In 1984, they were very technologically advanced, using microphones and telescreens to watch over everyone in Oceania. This could be seen as similar to bugging in on phone calls and what not. Also, Oceania was at war, like we are today. The government of Oceania also reminded me of what a communist government to the extreme would be like!
ReplyDeleteA paradox is a contradictory statement, which is pretty noticeable in 1984! The inner party's slogan reads, "WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, and IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH." These are pretty obvious contradictory statements, and yet most people of Oceania believe them. That just shows how much the inner party can manipulate peoples' thoughts into believing whatever they want them to!
This book made me crazy! So frustrating!!! And one of those reasons was from the countless paradoxal situations (statements that contradict themselves but may be otherwise true) inclugind the three slogans of, "war is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength" I also thought it was pradoxal that they were always at unnecessary war. There was never any (clear) reason for them to be, and yet, either they were in alliance with other countries, or at war.
ReplyDeleteParallels between us today and oceania include the use of tv for communication. They use telescreens, while we use televisions. I also found that they kind of have what are similar to our unions. For instance, after talking with my mom about her work place (a hospital) I noticed that the unions there were kind of along the lines of the Miniluv, Minipax, Minitruth adn Miniplenty. At the hospital, they have unions of cleaners who clean basically everything... except the floors. That's a different union, and the other cleaners can't even touch anything on the floor, because it's not their union job. With the "Mini" unions, they have certain things that each person does. For instance, Winston ONLY dealt with old newspapers and such, (I think. I couldn't find the quote I wanted to use to support this....) while others only worked on, for instance, dictionaries.
A paradox is statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. An obvious paradoxical situation lies in the inner party's slogan which reads "WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, and IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH." Another paradoxical situation is the four names of the ministries: The Ministry of Love, Ministry of Peace, Ministry of Truth, and Ministry of Plenty. The names of these political institutions absolutely contradict their true purpose.
ReplyDeleteThere are definitely parallels between Winston's Oceania and the world in which we live today. The media influence was vital to the success of the control over the citizens of Oceania. The whole purpose of the Ministry of Truth was publish or broadcast the exact information the inner party wished. Today millions of citizens are attached to televisions, believing every word that they speak. Stuck in newspapers or books, subscribing to popular opinions or theories. Another parallel can be seen in their widespread use of propaganda. As November elections approach we can clearly see propaganda in today's world.
George Orwell's 1984 is a perfectly rendered dystopian society, that shows the terror of totallitarianism. The most terrifying part about this novel is that it isn't much different than some societys in the real world. A rather infamous example is Nazi Germany. In Nazi Germany, the goverment would do such things as edit documents to make it appear as if a certain person or event had never existed or hapened. The Big Lie is another example, in which a government tells a lie so big, that people believe it can't possibly be a lie, and believe it. This only works on people who allow themselves to conform, and one can stop this easily, by speaking up before it was too late. In Nazi Germany, just like 1984, if someone had spoken up, the living hell that was created may never have been.
ReplyDeleteThe main paradoxical situation in 1984 is that peace and freedom cannot coexist equally. The world of 1984 has peace, but only in the fact that nobody has enough freedom for there to be a lack of peace. People are not attacked in their homes, except by the government, and therefore believe the facade of peace set up by the government. The people don't realize that thier freedom is more important, that if they knew what they were missing out on, that it would be something worth fighting, and even dying for.
The life of Winston Smith is so extreme the parallels made shall be faint lines, but here it goes...
ReplyDeleteThe country in which he lives in, lives in fear. I cannot help but associate it with the lives of Americans during the Red Scare. Only, the people of Oceania are afraid of those who are against the party in anyway. Neighbors are sold to the jailers in a way to secure themselves in both situations, for if someone tells another's faults than his own turn invisable with the distraction.
I see the sitiation a bit too severe for today, but for that time, a perfect match.
Although 1984 depicts a nightmarish society in which George Orwell attempts to dismiss any resemblance to the freedoms of our society today, there are still several notable parallels to present day. The most relevant parallel is our constant fear of the potential dangers of technology. The Party utilizes invasive technology for diabolical purposes, this knowledge being perceived to do more harm than good, a concern that may be even more prevalent today. Another parallel is the use of propaganda to influence peoples’ thoughts, opinions, and decisions.
ReplyDeleteOrwell frequently uses paradoxes, a contradictory statement that may in fact be true, to illustrate the use of “doublethink” in the novel. The four Ministries of Love, Peace, Truth, and Plenty, are all quite the opposite. They should be renamed Torture, War, Lies, and Scarcity. The most notable paradox however can be seen in the Party’s slogan: “WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.”
This was deffinatally my faviote read over the summer, I love books about dystopian socities and learning the grim futures they portray.
ReplyDeleteA paradox is a statement that seems contradictory and aburd but however when look at carefully are a possible statement. When the party says FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, the statement appears to contradict itself however the deeper meaning of the statement is that the party wants people to belive that if you had freedom to make your own choice, you would become a slave of those choices insted of just doing exactally what your told which is easy and therefore (according to the party) freedom. Another example is the Ministry of Love which deals with the arrest and torture of people in order to make them do as the party asks them to do. In sort Disiplines them as your parant does when they punish you however they always say "I'm only doing this because i love you". The party is taking the same concept and puts loving and caring for the people the same as there disipline. Therfore it is known as the Ministry of Love. This goes the same for the Ministry of truth, although they deal with creating lies by rewriting history, history itself is just the written recourd on what humans have done. So if the party has rewritten history then it becomes truth and therefore the have earned the name the Ministry of Truth.
A great similarity between Oceania and our own world is strickingly simlier. For example in the book, the goverment of Ocenia uses the war as a means of stimulating its economy, which is exactally what the United States did during world war two and that's exactally what Hitler intended to do, he just lost the war.
Also to answer your question Alexis I do think that Winston was truly brainwased, however the party had taken everything from him, everything he ever cared about even his love for Julia, so even if he did think the thoughts he had befo the ministry of love, he would have just pushed them out of his mind with a bottle of gin and do what the party said, hate who the party said and of course love big brother.
According to dictionary.reference.com, a paradox is a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. The party, known as Big Brother, has many contradictions throughout its government. The party’s slogans are complete contradictions, WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, and IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH. Also the divisions of the party are also contradictions. The Ministry of Love is where citizens are tortured. The Ministry of Truth is where the past is rewritten to suit the party and what is being said today. The Ministry of Peace is control of the constant waging wars. Finally the Ministry of Plenty never allows enough rations of the disgusting food, clothing, shoes, razors, and all other essential items. This game of contradictions is what keeps the party in control and the people of Air Strip One in constant panic, thus the ability to brain wash them is much greater.
ReplyDeleteAnd I never noticed that Julia is a contradiction as well as Maddy C pointed out. Good point!
Okay this might just be me, or maybe someone can explain this, but based on the definitions of paradox, are the names of the ministries really paradoxes? Or are they just ironic? Or are all ironic things also paradoxical? I don't know maybe someone can explain that to me.
ReplyDeleteWell, everyone basically stated the paradoxes, but the one that got me thinking the most was the "War is Peace" paradoxical statement. The way their society's peace is based on constant war just blew my mind. Mostly because I could see it working! I suppose it could also be tied into our society. Look at how much of our federal budget is pumped into military resources each year. We did this in Econ and wasn't it like 1/3? It was some RIDICULOUS amount. Is it really that necessary? Maybe it provides more economic stability than thought possible. Although at this point it's more because it provides jobs for people, but maybe it is more. Look at how war helped bring us out of recession before. In a time of Liberty Bonds and such our nation was in it's most patriotic and united state. Maybe there's something there. Maybe the only complete stability a large body of people can have is in a time surrounded by chaos. As I said, it was extermely thought provoking. Maybe, even, human nature does not allow peace, therefore we can never find stability there. Perhaps the only way truly is constant war. There may not be happiness, but hey at least everything's completely under control.
To Jocelyn M.: I have to agree with you I find them much more ironic then paradoxes.
ReplyDeleteIn history, Oceania's views are very much similar to that of Hitler. Hitler used propaganda and would trick people into thinking that killing the Jewish, gypsies, mentally and physically impaired, and homosexuals, was the right thing to do. Hitler created "Hitler Youth" much like the Party created "Junior Spies".
Propaganda and extremist groups are everywhere in today's society. Unknowingly we listen to these types of brainwash; rather a person believes them or not varies with each individual.
What I find most scary about 1984 is that we see things like Hitler and other dictators control people like that in our own history. It's actually eye-opening that in reality, something very similar to the dystopia of Oceania is possible.
A paradox is simply a statement that contradicts itself. An example of such a statement would be a "loud silence." Now we find many paradoxes in George Orwell's 1984. As many have already stated, the Party's slogan "WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH" is a very obvious example of a paradox. Another such paradox lies within the idea of doublethink, with which the Party uses to control the people. Doublethink consists of holding two contradicting ideas in your mind at once. This is seen when Winston is at the Ministry of Love (the names of the ministries are also a paradox for obvious reasons) and O'Brian shows the same photograph Winston held that would've proved the Party lied. But O'Brian is able to throw into the memory hole and forget it ever existed. The paradox lies within knowing the photo did exist at one point but also knowing that the Party wants you to forget about it. So you must. The practice of double think can also be seen in our own world today. Take, for example, America's "war on drugs." Similar to Prohibition in the 1920's, some people argue that this war has only worsened the drug trade in America. But for someone to say so out loud is socially unacceptable, and this someone must also agree that the authorities are doing the right thing.
ReplyDeleteOf course, there are many other similarities in our world today, especially America. We try to convince others that we are the best in what we do, and we do everything. The Party of Oceania has convinced its people that it created the airplane, the atomic bomb, trains, and other such technological advances. Also, in our world, the people are constantly influenced through the media to think, act, or talk in a certain way and to purchase certain products. This is similar to Winston's world where everyone is controlled via propaganda and the infamous telescreens.
Though I hate being repetitive, the main paradoxes were stated in the very beginning of Orwell's novel- War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, and Ignorance is Strength- skillfully placed to create a deep feeling of desolation setting the tone of the events that follow. "Freedom is Slavery" stood out to me because the Party is really telling Oceania's citizens that, given the chance, making their own decisions in their lives would only lead them to be enslaved with thinking and choices. Therefore the Party will kindly control your mind so that you can be free to do exactly what they want you to do, you will be liberated from such petty things as independent, uninterrupted, and unmonitored thoughts. To throw the cherry on top, the Party even creates a simplified language, Newspeak, aiming to minimize the range of thought humans were even capable of, eventually eliminating their ability to disagree.
ReplyDeleteThe society as a whole barely passes for a humanity. The Inner Party are numb, soulless tools who will go to any lengths to torture everyone who appears to still maintain free thought. The Outer Party are a group of zombies, denied nutritional food and even intimate relations. I guess that's probably where "Ignorance is Strength" fits in; if people are never allowed to enjoy the feeling of love or happiness, they will be far more accepting to a future of pain and humiliation.
The parallelism I saw between today's world and the dystopia Orwell formed was slightly chilling. The proles, and even the Outer Party, were all sedated into oblivion forcing a careless and compliant attitude, and supporting their empty minds with constant propaganda, leaving no down time. The media has grown into a monster we cannot escape, telling us we need this and that. Doctors are far to willing to write script after script, creating a pill-popping country, altering countless minds. We are far too willing to complain of depression than actually put the effort in. It's just easier to pop a pill, and voila! Instant gratification. America is turning into a similar sedated state of numbness and carelessness and still we want more pills and booze and horrifying stories on the news and excuses to not think for ourselves. All because of an epidemic of laziness we are willing to simply give up.
A paradox is something that contradicts itself,like a Scotch Korean. There are tons of examples of this in 1984, but I think the most prominent one is doublethink. Doublethink in itself is a paradox because you have to train yourself to instantly forget anything and accept whatever your told.
ReplyDeleteThere are many parrallels between the world we live in today and the world that Orwell predicted. My favorite is how dangerously close the Soviet Union was to teetering into a state exactly like this. They dumped their whole economy into their military, became a super state, and definitly tried to control peoples lives. There is also evidence that Stalin had manipulated photographs to try and control the past. He had several people killed that were in a photogragh with him, and had them all photoshopped out. This really happened, Google it!So, yeah, it's scary how close our world was to becoming as it was predicted in 1984.
A paradox is something that is self-contradictory or a false proposition, but can also possibly be true. There are many paradoxes in this book, most or all of which have all ready been thought of. This biggest one to me was doublethink. Doublethink is purely a paradox. It means to know something but at the same time to erase what you just learned or know, and then to erase the memory of erasing what you just learned. Also i thought that Syme's thoughts on Newspeak was a paradox. They were deleting words left and right trying to make the dictionary have basically just a few basic words that can describe anything. Syme thought that this was wonderful and beautiful, while it was actually destruction and horrible. Though i do see how making the language simpler can be helpful in discussions; everybody would be able to understand each other. The other paradoxes in the story are the party's slogans, and the name of the ministries. Although the party's slogans are the opposite of what they deal with they are believed to be true. The citizens thought that their rations were being increased, that they were being told the truth, that in the ministry of love, even though they are being tortured, they are also loved, and that the government is keeping peace in the cities. The slogans are also true as we learn in the book that Winston has to read. The thought that the countries were at war, they built weapons and hired soldiers, really made it so that there was actually very little fighting.By keeping the citizens ignorant of what is really going on the government has complete control, or strength.
ReplyDeleteThere are many parallels between our world and 1984. The biggest parallel is that there were totalitarian countries in the world that are almost exactly like Oceania. Soviet Russia was totalitarian. Nazi germany was totalitarian. When i was reading 1984 i actually thought it was a lot like Nazi Germany because people couldn't trust one another. Left and right people were condeming each other. The more power a country gets the more it starts looking totalitarian. The government needs to help its citizens not control them.
While reading 1984 I noticed around the time that the book was published was near the end of world war two in which a dictator (Hitler) was able to make many people think that the Jewish community were at blame for the downfall of Germany. This relates to the book because the party was the one who were controlling in what direction people think. Also I wanted to point out that back in world war two soldiers would take personal belongings of Jewish people before going into the concentration camps. In the book they mentioned that personal belongings like photographs and etc. would be confiscated. Ways in which Oceania is related in today’s world is in Oceania there were posters of "Big Brother" everywhere and in today’s world there are campaigning and advertising posters everywhere.
ReplyDeleteA paradox is a statement or group of statements that leads to a contradiction or a situation which defies intuition. There were many paradoxes’ throughout the book, but the one that stuck out the most to me was, “WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, and IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.” It was repeated throughout the book many times and was pretty bold. Another paradox I notice is when they talked about the different ministries names. They talked about the Ministry of Love, Ministry of Peace, Ministry of Truth, and Ministry of Plenty. In the Ministry of Love, torture is taken place. The Ministry of Plenty announces food and supply shortages. The Ministry of Truth, deals with the putting out of lies on news or entertainment. Finally, in the Ministry of Peace, they deal with the issues on war.
The reason why I think I enjoyed this book was because of all the connections you could make to what occured during world war two when Germany was in control.
The dystopic society of 1984 is a crazy one, but strangely relates to our world today. One extremely obvious connection between the two worlds is surveillance. In 1984, the telescreens are everywhere and constantly watch and monitor everybody. Although that is extreme, we as a society are becoming way more dependent on our technology particularly our surveillance cameras. Putting them on street corners, traffic lights, throughout stores, and even on ATM machines. Now that is a way scaled down version of what happens in Oceania, but one day we may go that far, and so we have to start watching what we do in regards to technology. Another connection made between the dystopic society of Oceania and the society that we live in is the idea of propoganda. Way long ago we used it to ratify the constitution and we still use it today to advertise services and products. This is similar to how the government in 1984 uses propoganda to influence people's thoughts about topics concerning Oceania. For example, the Party advertises the buildings where they control rations, torture people, lie and change the past, and deal with items of war as the Ministry of Plenty, the Ministry of Love, the Ministry of Truth and the Ministry of Peace to avoid people opposing the buildings crucial to the Party.
ReplyDeleteA paradox is a statement that is self-contradictory and there are many examples in George Orwell's novel. One would be on page 61 in the novel, in regard to the proles Winston says, "Until they become concious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become concious." They cannot do one without the other so it is a pardox. Another example would be the names of the Ministries that make up the Party which I know has already been said by pretty much everyone here, but it is an obvious one.
In regard to Jocelyn's question I'm pretty sure that a paradox and irony are very similar to each other which makes it hard to define the differences between the two.
a paradox is a contradiction that is actually true. One parallel is that many people in todays society are easily influenced by celebrities or politcal figures the way the people are influenced by big brother in 1984.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the society created in 1984 is fictional, there are several parallels between that society and today's society. An example is the influence that the media has on people. Another parallel that I notcied is that no matter what form of government (or rules or anything else) exists, there will always be people who do not want to obey or conform. In 1984, Winston and Julia are just two people who were not going to willingly conform to the system of government. There were definitely a lot more people who also did not want to conform, just as people don't like to conform to things in our society.
ReplyDeleteA paradox is a statement that contradicts itself, but is also true. Some paradoxical situations in 1984 include the four ministries (for example, Winston was tortured in the Ministry of Love) and the sayings- war is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength which were listed in the beginning of the novel.
For Winston the telescreens know all; in our world today Google is an all knowing source. Similar to telescreens, Google knows what you are doing, what you are looking at, and what you are thinking about all by what you type. This parallel is an interesting one because not many people really think about the way their actions are documented in this day. Maybe Orwell’s ideas weren’t so far fetched, rather exaggerated or dramatic.
ReplyDeleteA paradox is a contradictory statement that is sometimes used to defy commonly held beliefs. The concept of Newspeak is a paradox because from the word you would expect numerous words to be continuously added to the language, when in fact Newspeak is all about simplifying the language by deliberately cutting the amount of words in the dictionary in half. So in the end people are going back to the basics rather than learning new words to use. Big Brother is another paradox because when you hear those words you think of an older sibling that is there to protect you and look out for what is in your best interest. However in Oceania Big Brothers role is to have complete and total control over each individual, not just guide them along the way.
One idea that comes to mind about Winston's world and today's society is Newspeak and text message shorthand. Both reduce language so that only a point is made while destroying the beauty of the English language.
ReplyDeleteThere are also a bunch of paradoxes in the story,including the slogans of the Party like WAR IS PEACE, the Ministries' names are paradoxes as well. Winston works at the Ministry of Truth where he creates lies. Winston is separated from Julia and tortured at the Ministry of Love. Also, if one is caught by the thought police, their name and legacy are erased, but Winston writes false obituaries at his work. It's a bit of a paradox that the Party just erases the past and a life and goes right back and recreates it.
Ok, I probably cannot say anything that has not been said before. The world of 1984, as disturbingly messed up as it is, has parallels to our world so that we will heed Orwell's warning. The telescreens that are always on and can be found everywhere are kinda like how we are addicted to the media. We are always watching TV, or on the internet, or texting, so that the whole world is connected and is beginning to share the same opinions. The next step is controlling minds, like the Party. Another parallel to our world is the "updating" of the past. What makes you think your history book tells the truth? The victors always write history, and the losers' side is ignored and lost. And if our government decides it regrets a past decision, the focus in history classes changes until the truth is forgotten. For example, we hate slavery and are ashamed that we ever owned slaves. So, the Civil War, which wasn't really about slavery, to the average Joe on the streets, was all about abolishing an evil practice.
ReplyDeleteA paradox is "A seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true." The Party's slogan "War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength." appears to be false, but as Goldstein's book shows, it is quite true.