1984 by George Orwell

1984 by George Orwell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This past week I finished reading the book 1984 by George Orwell. The first publication of the novel was in 1949 The summary of the book can be found on Wikipedia if you're interested; as with my other reviews, I am just going to call attention to the point that I find interesting and relevant to science fiction. I read this book when I was younger and I believe I saw the movie, believe it or not in the 1980s. I saw other movies that were similar, Clockwork Orange, Farenheight 451 and Brazil. (yes I do have a dark sense of humor)

1984 should not be compared to a more modern novel from Japan titled 1Q84 pr 1q84. The book from Japan was supposed to be written in the same dystopian environment as in the British book. But the plot and subject matter is totally different. Technology is different. I really couldn't see any plot tie-in or many similarities between both books with the exception of mind control in regards to religion and government organizations. Now back to 1984.

In 1984, the divergence occur after World War II. Most European countries after World War 1 we're abandoning the monarchy in adopting different sorts of new government systems. England was adopting parliamentary socialism, Russia was moving into communism. The time of royal families was coming to an end as was the remnants of the Roman Empire. I would like to say like most authors, Orwell could only imagine what the future would be based on the present timeline that he was seeing at that moment, and his alternate world of airstrip one(England) comes from that thought process.

What I have come to appreciate about 1984 is that I have a personal viewpoint that differs from my original viewpoint. When I read the book The first time and I saw the movie in my youth, I saw it as unrealistic and a parody of governments it didn't make much sense. I am older now about to reach 60's and my viewpoint has changed, most aspects of the book it's extremely accurate and realistic. If you are a science fiction buff you will notice that many subjects of the book come out and different shows and literature. For example, in one episode of Star Trek, the Next Generation Captain Picard is captured by Cardassians, and he was tortured by the Obsidian Order and they were trying to break his mind by telling him that they were five lights instead of four... Sounds familiar?

In the book "The Minority Report" by Philip K. Dick you have a more technological version of "Big Brother" and "Thought Police". You have human creatures that are called "precogs". They are supposed to be able to read people's criminal or homicidal thoughts, before the actual act of killing somebody occurs, and people were arrested before committing a crime. In the real world, for example, you have the British CCTV system to fight crime. In some commercial corporations, you have a supposed "security camera" system. Being under surveillance does modify people's behavior. But can it control your thoughts? according to 1984 and others, you need more, now comes, (drum roll please) -Mind Control-

In Minority Report everyone who lived in the test area had to really make an effort to control their thoughts that has to do with homicide because they will get arrested just by thinking about killing somebody. While the precogs can pick up any thoughts, their main focus was those thoughts dealing with futures homicides. In 1984 the method used was supreme surveillance and political propaganda using technology. There are other methods in the book and I may mention some of them. There is also a Brazilian sci-fi series called Omniscient( You can see it on Netflix) That employ drones as a version of 'Big Brother' The drones report back to a central computer and can detect intent by monitoring biological vitals.

It is a known fact that people do not have perfect memories and their memories will change over time; sometimes groups of people's memories can alter a fact that would affect the whole group.
This is called the Mandela effect. It is interesting, look it up when you get the chance. Apparently, Orwell knew this, and I am sure that many people do. In his book, he wrote The following phrase: “Those who control the present, control the past and those who control the past control the future.” The herd mentality(Group-think) of people have a tendency to blindly believe those who are in authority and simulate some sort of intellect, it is very easy to fall victim to cognitive fallacies. Therefore those that possess some sort of authority can actually manipulate a person's memories, emotions which in the end may change one's thoughts, once that occurs one might change their behavior. The quote still reminds us that it is important to identify the sources of the information we receive.

As I wrote earlier, the technology used is an apparatus called the telescreen. They are in everybody's homes, bars, restaurants in certain public areas, and they are always supposed to be on. You cannot turn them off, you can dim the volume. But you cannot shut it off. I guess the analogy of today is the internet with your PC camera always on watching you as the media plays 24/7 no matter what you do, like those annoying pop-up ads. I digress -It is a tool used by the thought police, unlike the precog of The Minority Report the thought police use technology to observe a person's behavior (similar to Omniscient), and demeanor. Anything out of the ordinary would make a person suspect worthy of an in-depth investigation by the state.

The truth is, this occurs in many high control groups, whether they are political, religious, or commercial. The main character and narrator belong to a superstate called Oceania. They use these techniques that I have described. The media propaganda, surveillance, intimidation, mind control, and if all else doesn't work then... torture (pain, drugs, and mind games or psychological torture [in that order]) They seem to have success, but if they don't their subjects or prisoners gets vaporized, and their past gets erased. Pretty effective. In the real world, these tools seem to be effective as well, not as open as the novel, but they are there. Just look closely at the 2020 politics and presidential campaigns.

In the Childe Cycle -unfinished series-, one of my favorite books of the series is "Soldier ask not" Where the Media and high control religious groups have elements of 1984. In short, the book is about the battle of the mind of a large majority, manipulated by an individual who is the anti-hero with the intent of destroying a High control religious culture, he almost succeeded, he was the media.

En fin, The breaking of the Human will or the breaking of an individual that is attached to the most important thing in his/her life as what to happened to Winston and Julia of 1984 denotes the power of the human mind. No doubt (George Orwell) had a good insight into the human mind, Due to his personal life experiences. I suspect that Orwellian themes will continue in science fiction and the real world.


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