The will of the common man rising against the power majority strikes a patriotic chord in the hearts of all Westerners. Thus, it is no surprise that this theme has transcended into the field of literature, in particular 1984 by George Orwell. In 1984, Orwell creates a character, Winston Smith, who fights the Big Brother government by breaking moral codes and attempting to destroy ethical barriers resulting in a novel that criticizes a centralized government.
Winston Smith's first signs of protest can be seen in his moral disobedience in standards of the Big Brother government. For instance, Winston's first "sin" is obtaining a diary, knowing full well that the punishment for owning such is death. Why choose this detail in the novel? Why a diary? George Orwell wants to not only show rebellion in Winston's heart, but also describe the Big Brother regime. The Big Brother government is a centralized power that through the use of the media chooses to propagate and manipulate its upper class into supporting the regime. Therefore Orwell chose a diary to illustrate Winston's desires to become an individual in a society of groups. Instantly, Orwell makes a connection to Winston's diary and democracy, rule of the individuals.
The next big moral "sin" Winston partakes in is sex, which is an attempt by Winston to completely detach himself from ethical barriers of the Big Brother regime. Sex is biologically natural. However in the Big Brother government, it is banned. Again, you see that Orwell is, through Winston's rebellion, trying to paint a picture of how unnatural the big brother regime is. Orwell, like the English philosopher John Locke, is arguing that a government is built for the people and must promote individuality, not conformity.Why is this such an important point? Though the novel's title is 1984, it was written in the late 40's right after the devastating world wars. Thus the idea of "unnatural" government held a lot more weight because it alluded to regimes like Hitler's Third Reich and Mussolini's Italy, as well as the upcoming Soviet Union.
The final "sin" Winston is guilty for is love, which in itself describes the foreignness of the Big Brother Regime because love is seen as an innocent treasure in Western society. Winston falls in love with Julia and finally he is able to experience life outside the Big brother regime. He experiences true freedom for the first time and craves it. Never does Winston fully recover from this drug of wanting to be free. Thus by breaking moral codes, he grows to crave a free government, not a centralized regime.
By defining the protagonist as a good and regular guy who breaks all the moral codes in this overbearing centralized society, George Orwell is implicitly criticizing all centralized government, primarily relating to the centralized Soviet Union, which was the main centralized regime of the 1950's.
Everything is really good yet again. You got the meaning down and use really good evidence for it. One suggestion might be to find things other than details to support your argument. What you have works well and supports everything you say, but it could be even stronger with some examples of diction or language. One other small comment is maybe lead into your last paragraph about meaning a little better. I feel like it is left out on its own here and doesn't connect to everything else as well as it could. Other than that though, excellent job especially with your writing style. The way you write your responses makes them very easy to read and gets your point across very well.
ReplyDeleteGood good good thesis! Also, the rest of your open prompt flows very nicely as well. I really have little suggestions to make. The only thing I could see, is add a little bit more to your meaning paragraph at the end. Also, be careful of your rhetorical questions. Other than that though this is really well done!
ReplyDeleteYour thesis doesn't fully answer the prompt, because, although it analyzes the conflict, it doesn't "discuss the moral and ethical implications for both the individual and the society." You don't really get to this in your support, either--discussing Winston's struggle to decide whether to commit these actions in each paragraph would cover this aspect.
ReplyDeleteAlso, your thesis implies that Orwell is advocating either communism or libertarianism, as these are systems that specifically critique "centralized" government. Is this what you think he is doing? Orwell himself said that he was trying to warn against totalitarianism and unaccountable state power--he was cool with democracy, socialism, capitalism, whatever, as long as it was responsive to the wishes of the governed. "Centralized government" means having a capital and administration in one centralized place running things--like we do in the US (Washington DC). You have to be careful with words--they mean stuff =) And when you don't say what you mean, it confuses your readers.