Our Orwellian Society

George Orwell's 1984 has been dubbed "the masterpiece that killed George Orwell," (The Observer). The novel encapsulates Orwell’s predictions of a future based on how he saw his society. Written in 1948, a time in which the world was attempting to recover from the second World War, Orwell expresses his opinions on prevalent themes he noticed emerging in society. The novel is now considered a classic as, to an extent, his predictions for the way in which the west would evolve were accurate.

I admire Orwell for is intellect. He is the most beautiful thinker I have ever thought about. His deep analysis of his contemporary world, and the way in which he sees the future based on it, is spot-on, and it fascinates and frightens me. And his brilliance went far beyond the prediction of the advancing technology. He saw our society today and the way it has turned on itself.

Per George Orwell’s 1984, “doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.” (1984, p.270) such examples in the novel include Big Brother’s popular slogans, “War is Peace,” and “Freedom is Slavery.” The purpose of doublethink is to ensure that people stay in the classes in which they were born so that the government remains stable.

Subsequently, when a person holds completely opposite beliefs in their minds, they do not question or contemplate which is their own opinion. The specific example of doublethink that I find particularly prevalent in contemporary society is the notion set forth by various political rights activist groups, who claim that “all lives matter,” yet some lives still matter more than others. When black men and women were subjected to police brutality, the #BlackLivesMatter movement rose (The Ring of Fire). Republicans were quick to jump on social media and claim “all lives matter,” and furthermore, accusing the #BlackLivesMatter movement of being racist. Thus, the movement #AllLivesMatter rose. However, this new movement is incredibly ironic as they do not act as though all lives matter. The movement was silent after Trump announced his refugee ban, thereby proving that the movement does not preach equality, but rather that the most important lives are the ones that suit their agenda.

Moreover, Orwell's Newspeak is a language that simplifies complex sentences into mere words. This goes as far as a single word representing an entire concept, and evolves as far as having "good" and "evil" representing the same thing. The psychology behind this is that with fewer words in existence, less can be articulated. And if a person cannot articulate, they cannot form ideas. Essentially, limiting a person's range of thought keeps them ignorant (1984, p.67).

My initial thought when comparing newspeak to modern English was the use of abbreviations in social media. However, after reading Orwell’s essay Politics and the English Language, I came to realise that the extent to which language has corrupt thought is much more intense than I had initially thought. Orwell claims that "English … is in a bad way." Just as newspeak is used in the novel to limit the range of thought, so too has modern English has become ugly and inaccurate because thoughts are foolish. Using this low standard of articulation, our thoughts become more moronic. An effect becomes a cause, which then reinforces the original cause and produces an intensified effect. Such can be seen in modern writers’ and politicians’ use of stale imagery (clichés that are over-used), a lack of precision – either meaning cannot be expressed or having a lack of meaning altogether, and an indifference as to whether their words mean anything at all. Furthermore, words are not chosen because of what they mean, but because they sound pretentious. The specific example used by Orwell:

‘While freely conceding that the Soviet regime exhibits certain features which the humanitarian may be inclined to deplore, we must, I think, agree that a certain curtailment of the right to political opposition is an unavoidable concomitant of transitional periods, and that the rigors which the Russian people have been called upon to undergo have been amply justified in the sphere of concrete achievement.’

In such a case such as this, it is evident than rather just getting to point, the speaker has dressed up - what should have been - a simple statement with ostentatious words that have little relevance, and are ultimately redundant.

George Orwell’s Oceania is a world heavily surveyed by the watchful eye of Big Brother. Any step out of place can cause a person to be erased from existence entirely. Out of fear, Winston Smith and others living under the dictatorial rule of The Party have learnt that the only way to ensure safety is through a process of self-surveillance. Orwell states, “reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else,” (1984, p.314) as the question as to whether The Party’s efficient enforcement of self-surveillance reappears throughout the novel. Winston initially believes that the mind is the last place they have no control over, and states that “to die hating them, that was freedom.” (1984, p.354). However, by the end of the novel, Winston “… had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.” (1984, p.376)

This effectively shows how The Party’s process of ‘brainwashing’ works. In contemporary society, self-surveillance comes in the form of trigger warnings. Trigger warnings are described as cautionary notes to students so that they may be wary of explicit content yet to be seen (Halberstam). They have become a standard fare in universities in America, and have therefore sparked mass debates about censorship. An example as to how this qualifies Thoughtcrime comes from the case of Bailey Loverin, who attends a college in Santa Barbara. Loverin called for entire campus to use trigger warnings after graphic imagery was displayed in class involving sexual assault. Halberstam Trigger Happy: From Content Warning to Censorship states that “[Loverin] identifies herself as a victim of sexual assault.” However, the article then goes on to explain how Loverin personally did not feel triggered by the material, but was afraid others would be. Such an example suggests trigger warnings conform to a normative structure of surveillance and implies people cannot decide for themselves what they can and cannot watch. Furthermore, per the history of film ratings, audiences do not want extensive censorship. Relating this back to self-surveillance: trigger-warnings produce viewers who want to be warned of content so they can avoid it, thus self-censoring, and complies with the belief in a viewer who is unstable and could collapse at any moment.

Control is another quintessential theme in 1984. Our present-day media is a powerful way to send information and communicate. Any organization that controls mainstream media has power over what people do and how they think (Symons). There is a constant bombardment of messages, both conscious and subliminal, and each time we are exposed to some form of media our brains register it. If we are exposed to something often enough, we will begin to believe it. Messages can be anything from a public service announcement to an advert, such as Big Brother’s poster or Hate Week in the novel. The media decides the agenda of the content they produce, and have the ability to frame events in a specific light regardless of their validity. In doing so, they are able to convince the public that a lie is the truth. The media is typically controlled by those that are in power, and it is up to the consumer to determine how valid an article is. Furthermore, Consumerist Culture's basic form is the omnipresence of media and advertising, shoving promotional content down consumers' throats until they can no longer breathe. Its final and most grotesque form is its perpetuating ideals that claim that a person can only truly be happy if we live in a certain way. Profit and marketing is driven to keep consumers hypnotized by the media.

Big Brother is an enigmatic character whose watchful eye follows Winston wherever he goes. Algorithmic culture is our Big Brother. Internet algorithms store our search results and designs our social media newsfeed so that we are exposed to content we want to see, but not what we need to see (Striphas). This causes us to be blinded by a system that holds an infinite amount of knowledge. Ads are run in commercial breaks during TV shows that makes us want to run to the shops and buy the newest products. We cannot escape from social media, as the moment we go offline or delete an account we instantly feel left out – it is like there is no life without the media. Are we really free?

(Disclaimer: I do not own any of the images used in this post)

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