Thought Crimes And The Reality Of No Free Will

"Who controls the past controls the future who controls the present controls the past". In the film of George Orwell's book "1984" the country of Oceania is under total control by, who the people call, Big Brother. Big Brother is the face that they see all day everyday. He is on a screen in every room, everywhere and can be watching anyone at any time. Thought crimes are what the people fear to be charged of and are thought as a deviant act. The Party and Big Brother control everything giving the people no free will and can also change the past to something more pleasant.

A functionalist would agree with what the Party and Big Brother is doing. Cooperation and Peace are key parts in a functionalist society. Big Brother made everyone cooperate through fear, fear of being a thought criminal. He also changes the past into good things. For example, he lowers the chocolate ration from 30 grams to 20 grams and later that week he changes it so that it says he raised it from 20 grams to 25 grams with no mention of any lowering, ever. Also when the though criminal are "cured" they are executed and their past vanishes like they never existed. They are obedient to Big Brothers laws and are friendly to each other. This in turn kept peace through Oceania and the people. Thought criminals could live amongst everyone as long as they kept to themselves and acted as everyone else did. So, Oceania is under a social control and the people are obedient towards Big Brother, because they don't want to be deviants.

The children are taught at a young age how to detect thought criminals and traitors. The Spies is an organization for the children where they learn how to seek out thought criminals and also to worship Big Brother. They teach the children in a fun way with hikes and trips so that their experiences will be enjoyable to them. Children love having fun and by making the Party and Big Brother seem fun and great they are winning them over. The children wouldn't even think twice before turning in their own parents. A good example is when Mr. Parsons' son turns him into the thought police in the end. The children even have a song they sing and one line goes "we are the builders of the future". This only proves that Big Brother is brainwashing the minds of the children so in the future there won't be any thought criminals. Also that Big Brother cares more for the future of Oceania then the present and that the children will lead his cause. So, Big Brother is building his future army by teaching these children.

The main character, Winston Smith, is a thought criminal. He is a deviant, but tries to act like everyone else. In the opening of the film he is seen sitting silent as everyone is screaming during Two Minutes Hate. One quick glance from O'Brien, a Party member, and Winston snaps out of his daze and starts screaming with everyone else. He is also seen standing up to salute the flag and Big Brother, but does this almost unwillingly. Even from the beginning Winston is being closely watched, like they already know that he's a thought criminal. O'Brien seems to know what Winston is thinking and that he is a thought criminal. That is why he gives Winston the book, to give him influence towards committing more thought crime. Winston becomes very nervous when he's fixing Mrs. Parsons' sink, because her son keeps calling him a thought criminal and treating to turn him into Big Brother. He also keeps a diary hidden in his wall that he writes his thoughts into. He sits in a spot where he cannot be seen by the screen and just writes whatever's on his mind. If his diary is found he could be put into the Ministry of Love. The Ministry of Love is where the political prisoners are tortured, and is in charge on law and order. Later on Winston is caught, but there's a lot of building up towards that.

Winston is just the dependent in a controlled experiment. From day 1 they knew that Winston is a thought criminal. They just influenced him to do more. It all started when Mr. Charrington sold Winston that diary that he now uses to write his thought crimes in. Then, O'Brien finds a reason to invite Winston over his house so he can give him Goldstein's