Theme of 1984: Loyalty and Betrayal

One of the themes in the novel Nineteen Eighty Four is Loyalty and Betrayal. In order to remain all-powerful, the Party destroys loyalty between people: co-workers, friends, even family members. Children are encouraged to betray their parents to the state if they suspect them of Thought-crimes, as seen by the suspicious and ill-mannered brats of children who betrayed their own father, Mr. Parsons, and turned him in.

The Party has outlawed sex for pleasure and reduced marriage to an arrangement between a man and woman that exists only for reproduction purposes. Sexual urges must be repressed for fear they will lead to love, human connection, and personal loyalty, all of which threaten the Party. Winston believes that love like the love he and Julia share will eventually destroy the Party, but he underestimates the Party’s ability to destroy that love and loyalty. Winston and Julia both give in to torture and betray each other. When they are released, their love and loyalty to each other has been destroyed.

Because the Party can easily detect Thought-crimes, people always act as if they are completely loyal to the Party. No one trusts anyone else completely. Winston makes fatal mistakes when he trusts O’Brien and Charrington, both of whom betray him. His misjudgment is almost understandable, given the subtle cues both give him to indicate that they are fellow rebels. But as it turns out, they are deliberately setting a trap for him and Julia. In the end, no one can be trusted.

Are There Heroes In The Face of FEAR?

In the novel 1984, Winston was forced to face his biggest fear, rats. O'Brien sent him into Room 101 and also put a cage full of rats in there with him. O'Brien then threatened to release the rats and let them eat his face. Winston could not withstand the thought of this because it was his biggest fear and soon gave in to what The Party wanted him to do, blame everything on Julia, and admit his love for Big Brother. When someone is dealing with their fears, it is almost impossible for them to be brave.

Just as Winston I have a fear of not having freedom. My biggest fear is of not being able to express myself. This is the thing I am most afraid of in life. If someone were to strip me of my freedom one day and not allow me to express myself, I honestly think I would have a severe panic attack, and believe me, I have. If I was in Winston’s situation except with I think I would do the same thing he did. I don’t think I am capable yet of not being able to express myself, let alone, be eating by rats. Most human beings would betray anyone if they were faced with their worst fear.

This blog helped me better understand what Winston’s state of mind was while he was in Room 101. It helped me realize that it was not that he wanted to betray Julia, but that he was forced to by his worst fear. A poor reader of this book would most likely think Winston should not have betrayed Julia, but it is almost impossible to think about the welfare of others when you’re in the face of fear.

What Would I Do To Rebel Against Big Brother?

If I were to rebel against Big Brother, I would most likely covertly think out a solution to overthrow the inner party’s rule. I would probably gather as many followers as possible and try to arrange secret meeting with them. However, arranging a secret meeting may be near impossible due to the setting of Nineteen Eighty Four, so I would probably have to come up with some secret language or way of writing with which my fellow rebels and I could communicate. I would also try to infiltrate my enemy (The Inner Party) by getting a person on the inside. Once I get a person of mine on the inside, they would act like a spy and slowly bring me the enemy’s plans and information. I would have multiple spies in the Inner party which would allow the rebels greater power against them.

After obtaining knowledge on our enemy, it would then be time to launch a full scale intricately organized plot to thwart Big Brother once and for all. I would somehow organize thousands of people to turn off and/or block their telescreens at the same time. We would also charge into charge into the ministries, with some well needed violence, and disband guards, taking their weapons for ourselves. Along with the massive crowd of rebels charging the ministries, I would organize four person teams of specialized members who would covertly and stealthily destroy the enemy’s headquarters and eliminate important figures of the enemy.

I do not know if this plan would work, but I know that if I had the power to do so and I lived in the type of environment that the characters in Nineteen Eighty Four live in, that I would at least try, because with enough people behind you, anything is possible.

Is Equality Possible Among Humans?

In my opinion, equality among a vast amount of humans is impossible because of our human nature. If we were all equal, there would be no room for individuality. Human nature dictates that we always strive to be better than someone else, whether it's in the caveman days of being the best hunter or the best mate, or it's in today's times of having the best job, best salary, or the best house. People will always strive to be better than those around them. That is in our nature and just like the swiftest lion gets the food first, the best male mate gets the girl first. It's in our genes to survive and continue.

Unfortunately there will never be equality in a society where people have individual freedoms and choices. And even if we took those freedoms and choices away, people are still not equal. There still have to be levels of jobs and levels of production. Even in a pure socialist society, where everyone has the same income, the same amount of food, the same houses, there is still a leader and a government and one guy may be taking out trash while another is assigned to cooking and another is assigned to play guitar for the "king". There will never be complete equality - as humans we always strive for more and always want what the other's have. Even when we have "enough" and have what we need - we still want more.

That alone keeps us from allowing everyone to be the same. 

Life in 2084

This is not an accurate description of what life will hold for us in the year two thousand eighty-four. I am not a biology or technology major. In fact, I hold no major, but I must answer this question that was given to me. I am sure that there will be several hundred technological advances in the year two thousand eighty-four. There will be holographs, electric jet-airliners, and railroads that cross large bodies of water. Thinking positively, people will most likely have longer life spans and there will be vaccines for several of the extremely common and deadly diseases and viruses that people fall victim to every year. Technological and medical advances aside, what exactly do our personal lives in the future hold for us?

In my opinion, I feel that it is humanely impossible for the world to come even remotely close to what it was like in Nineteen Eighty-Four. I simply cannot consider one human putting another through that kind of pain, suffering, and/or depression. I believe that by the year of two thousand eighty-four, people will resolve many of the social issues that are currently plaguing the human race, such as the petty, ever repeating, quarrels that go on between many nations today. This theory came to my mind after I thought about the holocaust and how someone can be so cruel as to try to wipe out entire races of people. After pondering this, I realized that, as humans, we tend to learn from our mistakes and that we rarely see anyone today repeating Adolf Hitler’s actions. 

I think that in the year two thousand eighty-four, we will have learned from our mistakes and thus, will have reached a higher, clearer and more united way of thinking and living.

For those of you who have never read or seen Nineteen Eighty-Four, here is a short video summary of it by sparknotes.

Who is ThePunjabiKid1984 and what are his motives?

Hey everyone! My name's Sunjay and I have made this blog as an assignment for my English 2 class. As stated in the title of this blog, I am a fifteen year-old Punjabi-Indian from Illinois. My motives, however, are to express my feelings, thoughts, and ideals that are current with today's society.  As part of my assignment, I must publish ten total blogs. Four of these ten blogs may be about whatever I choose, one will be an introduction to my blog, and five will be assigned to me by my AMAZING teacher, Mrs. Davis. The five blog-posts that I will be assigned will be related to the book that we are currently reading in my class. This novel was set in 1984 and is about a dystopian London, now called Oceania where the people are always aware of Big Brother who supposedly represents their government and must be careful not to commit "thought-crime" or negative thoughts about the government. Winston, the protagonist, hates Big Brother and wants to overthrow the government but is tricked into trusting a member of the "Inner Party" or someone a part of the government. He is then brainwashed and tortured into "loving" or conforming to Big Brother again. This scary, though somewhat realistic, literary depiction of what the future may hold for the human race was started in nineteen forty-four, finished in nineteen forty-eight, and published around the world in 1949.  

Here are the questions that I will be required to answer (I will post the questions as I receive them daily from the teacher):

·         What will life be like in 2084?

·         Is it possible for everyone to be equal?

·         If I were to rebel against big brother, I would use/need...

·         In the face of fear, there are no heroes. True/False? Explain.

I really do hope that those of you that have scoured the Internet Linked Globe in search of my blog enjoy reading it. Thank you!