Truth, Hate, And Rebel

Truth, Hate, and Rebel

Nineteen Eighty-Four is one of the most famous novels of the negative utopian, or dystopian, genre. Instead of portraying the perfect human society, it does the exact opposite: it shows the worst human society imaginable, in an effort to convince readers to avoid any path that might lead toward a totalitarian society. The novel was inspired by the witnessing of the danger of absolute political authority in an age of advanced technology. In 2002, the film "Equilibrium" came out and the inspiration to the motion picture was evident. Kurt Wimmer, director of "Equilibrium", had transformed the Nineteen Eighty-Four story into a film. The novel's protagonist and the film's protagonist grow up in a futuristic world where life is no longer like we know it. The Party tries to control everything, including thought and emotion. As the plot develops, the characters have their first unorthodox thoughts. Winston Smith, from the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, and John Preston, from the movie "Equilibrium", grow up in very similar societies. Since Oceania and Libria are so alike, Winston and John develop and share many of the same characteristics.

Orwell begins his novel with a character named Winston Smith. The readers immediately learn that Winston feels frustrated by the oppression and rigid control of the Party, which prohibits free thought, sex, and any expression of individuality. Although everyone living in Oceania seems to accept the Party's demands, Smith cannot because he cannot ignore the truth about his society. He knows that the Party is using psychological manipulation to overwhelm the mind's capacity for independent thought, and therefore to control people. Winston also understands that the Party is pumping the people of Oceania with fear so that even if someone does have a rebellious or independent thought, they will quickly get rid of it and/or ignore it because they are so afraid of what 'Big Brother' may do to them. The omnipresent telescreens are the book's most visible symbol of the Party's constant monitoring of its subjects, which is what triggers the fear in people. Winston realizes that the Party is abusing technology for its own ends instead of exploiting its knowledge to improve civilization. He recognizes that telescreens are constantly blaring propaganda and watching people, but in addition to that, people are surrounded by ubiquitous signs reading "BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU" (Orwell 20). Smith knows that the party is also undermining family structure by inducting children into an organization called the Junior Spies, which brainwashes and encourages them to spy on their parents and report any instance of disloyalty to the Party. Although most people in Winston Smith's society enjoys what is known as 2 minute hate, they do not understand the true meaning of this time. Winston has realized that the Party channels people's pent-up frustration and emotion into intense, ferocious displays of hatred against the Party's political enemies.

One of the biggest truth's found out about the Party by Winston is its power to control everything. The Party controls you physically and mentally. As well, the party controls all information about the past and present, and they control the language that people use. In addition to manipulating the society's mind, the Party also controls the bodies of its subjects. The Party constantly watches for any sign of disloyalty, to the point that, as Winston observes, even a tiny facial twitch could lead to an arrest. A person's owns nervous system becomes his or her greatest enemy. Winston works at the Ministry of Truth; therefore, he is the one that changes truths into lies because the Party told him to. The Party manages and rewrites the content of all newspapers and histories for its own ends. The Party does not allow individuals to keep records of their past. As a result, Winston realizes that people's memories become fuzzy and unreliable, and citizens become perfectly willing to believe whatever the Party tells them. By controlling the present, the Party is able to manipulate the past. And in controlling the past, the Party can justify all of its actions in the present. Winston Smith is told by Syme, one of his fellow workers, about a new edition of the Newspeak dictionary, which the Party has introduced to replace English. With this conversation Winston realizes that the ultimate goal of the Party is that no one will be capable of conceptualizing anything that might question the Party's absolute power. By finding out the truth about his society, Winston starts to hate the Party and it marks the beginning of his rebellious acts.

Kurt Wimmer tells us the story of a man named John Preston who is a cleric that lives in a society known as Libria. A cleric is a highly trained and lethal government law enforcer. The world as we know it has become a place of complete peace and stability, which is due to the vision of the ultimate leader. The inhabitants of this world are kept in their utopian state through the continuous dosage of a drug called Prozium. The drug inhibits the user's ability to feel emotions but once dosage is ceased these feelings quickly return. After a series of events, Preston misses a dosage of Prozium and thus he starts to 'feel'. Preston continues to stop taking these drugs and soon realizes that all the leader wants is a totalitarian government. John always believed that Prozium was meant to keep balance in his society but once he can think clearly Preston realizes that its only purpose is to prevent anyone from having the will or thought to go against the leader.

John quickly realizes that the government of Libria controls its citizens through fear with telescreens, junior spies, and guards. The telescreens surround the society and are constantly blasting streams of propaganda. They are also used to watch the citizens.