Once an LSD consumer, Ken Kesey, defines the importance of freedom throughout his world renowned Post-Modern novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. One element of Postmodernism in the novel, is the effect of society against the individual. Society and government power systems become the machine and our postmodern anti-hero rages against that machine (Bendingfield). In the story, Chief, the narrator, in the book is a damaged ex-soldier who sees the machine enemy all around him. The reader takes it as metaphor, but Chief who is a paranoid schizophrenic, sees it as reality.
I especially enjoyed his analysis on the vigilantes and in particular the American Protective League (APL) which is a fairly significant picture of the state of affairs within our country and moreover, the lack of control the government had against the people. The “conspiracy theorist” inside of me has always believed in false flag terror, citizen spies and inside jobs and the existence of the APL was complete confirmation for me. While most would argue that these types of organizations couldn’t exist today, Kennedy opens the door to this type of behavior, which seems illegal in its very fibers. As discussed last week, this time period was rich with reform and political parties were eager to trump the other in any way possible. In Over Here, Kennedy touches on the elites pulling the strings behind the scenes spreading political influence and propaganda along the way.
The first slogan we shall discuss is ‘Freedom is slavery.’ Ingle (1993: 105) stresses how Orwell places importance on individual privacy by portraying a society which has sacrificed its privacy and individualism to the state in return for security. Telescreen surveillance is an intrusion of citizens’ private lives as it instils a sense of paranoia of being watched. Facial gestures that suggest abnormality is a punishable offense, which in Newspeak is called facecrime. As found in the novel; “It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen.” (Part 1, Chapter 5). The issue of surveillance seems more relevant in today’s world then it was during Orwell’s time.
Such terror and horror brought fear and unity. Prior to both acts, each race was fighting within each other. Now the fighting would become mutual among them and focused on a common enemy. In a way, fear of the unknown and unpredictable helped both culture mature and mole into one united force. Peter Silver stated best “the rhetoric of a suffering people all bound into one body and forming a single interest, free of religious or national bigotry, was trumpeted as never before.” As times continue and the unities continue to strengthen, the mourning transitioned to hate and anger.
Even people who have high positions within the government are under surveillance, and when “Sutler no longer trust you, it is the reason why your being watched right now, why there [are] eyes and ears in every room of [your] house and a tap on every phone” (McTeigue). Plainly, People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people”. But sadly in these articles this is not the case. All in all V for Vendetta and the chrysalides are perfect examples of an imagined universe in which
In the literature review, “1984: Enigmas of Power,” by Irving Howe, an American literary and social critic, claims that the Oceania had some pretty keen resemblances to the immediate past of England, WWII, and he also argues that the patrols have more freedom than they should. He supports this claim by first describing the commonalities between the ways authorities treated the citizens, he says that the cruel way Winston was tortured, “the alternation between physical beatings and sympathetic conversations, and the appearance of O’Brian” with all that power, were methods used in the Soviet secret police. For example the “Two Minutes’ Hate,” was based on Stalinism’s routine demonization for his enemies, and Big Brother physically resembles Stalin.
Democracy: Useful or repetitive as through the eyes of Big Brother The novel 1984, written in 1949, is a fictional story of a ruthless and all controlling totalitarian government and how one man challenges the ways of life and the ideas of the government he is strictly bound by. This story is famous for its ideas on government and what humanity truly is. One notices that despite being written many years ago, the setting could essentially take place in any modern time period. Readers also find themselves questioning their own beliefs on government due to the questions and reasoning that the book raises. Questions such as- Is democracy actually stable?
This belief system affects all of us in various ways and degrees, a very simple and obvious way to discern how deeply someone is influenced by such thoughts is to identify how much emotionally healthy he is. Now, let’s look how these thoughts blindfolds people from seeing the good in the world: - Limited
This quote sums up the general objective of Big Brother’s regime, ultimate control and unfaltering devotion. If citizens had their own memories, or disagreed with what they were told, they would realize how corrupt a society they were living in was and rebel against it. This is the case in Winston’s situation, he recognizes how corrupt the government is and can no longer stand to live monotonously in his society. The Party frequently changed the past to see who would
George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four is a dystopian novel published in 1949 which highlights the main characteristics of a dystopia which include the illusion given to the people of the society that they live in a Utopia and the society being under constant surveillance and many more. Totalitarianism is a running theme throughout Nineteen Eighty-Four which is a form of political system where the state recognises no limits to its authority and tried to regulate all aspects of public and private life. Many see Orwell’s novel as a well-crafted one it has remained a powerful warning against the dangers of totalitarian society, due to the fact that he had arguably based it upon the dangers he had witnessed in Spain, Germany and the Soviet Union where absolute political authority existed in an age of advanced technology. The main political party of power throughout the novel, simply known as The Party, is introduced as one which holds absolute power of the society, organising daily routines, living standards and how people were to dress and conduct themselves. They have a slogan which is written on most things written as: “War is peace.