1984 Essay

B7 English 10 H
10-30-12
1984 Essay 1984 concluded with Winston fully submitting to the will of Big Brother, having no second thoughts about it and surrendered truly loving Big Brother. This ending is not what anyone wanted, but it was what was needed. It was most definitely effective because brought together all of the themes and philosophical notions that were woven into the novel. It left the reader pondering not just the book’s relevance to today’s world, but tomorrow’s as well. The most important theme that the ending surmised was rebellion. 1984 holds a rarified perspective on oppression, for it proposed the idea of a society where rebellion isn’t oppressed or even crushed, it is entirely eliminated. Opposition is not forced into the mold of Big Brother; Big Brother convinces the opposition to conform themselves to it instead. This demonstrates the heightened dangers of totalitarian governments in our ever advancing species. All of the oppressive regimes so far have failed, and failed because of one thing: thought. They conducted brain washings and attempted to induce mindless fervor, but they fell apart sooner or later because eventually someone will dare to think differently, and with this opposition will always arise sooner or later. This means that no totalitarian government will last for long, but 1984 presents a scenario where such a government could last—and last forever. Big Brother controls the thoughts and minds of the people, using pain and time to convince all of their opponents to ultimately join them. Orwell’s purpose in all of this was to educate us of the new dangers of oppression and how it must be prevented at all costs because oppression will be able to last forever. It will only take one government like Big Brother taking over for a short time to establish such roots and mind control, from which we would never be able to free ourselves. The ending also showcases the power of fear and pain. When being tortured, O’Brien tells Winston that the tortures and persecutions will not end, but rather become more frequent as time goes on. Big Brother will restrict and restrict to consolidate more and more power until the end of time. The tortures and inquisitions shatter ones traditional views of reality and beliefs. We perceive both as permanent (and at some core level, unalterable), but are actually far more transient than we could ever have dreamed. Reality is based on perception, so what we think reality is becomes our reality, with no quantifiable “reality” existing separate from us and incapable of undergoing altercations by us. In essence, reality is completely relative—there technically is no such thing. Beliefs are viewed in a similar unalterable way; that when an opinion is felt strongly enough, no external source can change our internal ideas, at least not forever. But beliefs are alterable, when ones thoughts are no longer private. Big Brother uses pain and fear to warp our ideas and thoughts, reality itself, to make all of its subjects of one accord. (Insert 2+2=5 quote here) As shown by Winston’s torture, enough pain not only breaks one’s will, but genuinely alters one’s reality as well. Enough agony creates insanity, and insanity opens up infinite possibilities through the inability to perceive any constant form of reality and makes rebellion not only unappealing but completely and truly impossible.