Thinking Activity: 1984

 Hello Monks,

I am Riddhi Bhatt. You know...what is today's blog ?This blog is about Thinking Activity on 1984(Nineteen Eighty-Four Novel by George Orwell) This task is assigned by Prof. Dr. Dilip Barad sir, Head of the English Department of Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavsinhji Bhavnagar University (MKBU). As a part of the syllabus, students of English department are learning the paper The Twentieth Century Literature: 1900 to World War II (paper-107). So, let’s start making this wonderful blog task. But before we start I want to give short information about what kind of things we see here…

So first we see brief introduction of George Orwell.George Orwell, pseudonym of Eric Arthur Blair, (born June 25, 1903, Motihari, Bengal, India—died January 21, 1950, London, England), English novelist, essayist, and critic famous for his novels Animal Farm (1945) and Nineteen Eighty-four (1949), the latter a profound anti-utopian novel that examines the dangers of totalitarian rule.His work is characterized by lucid prose, biting social criticism, opposition to totalitarianism, and outspoken support of democratic socialism.

According to his biographer Bernard Crick, Orwell used a pseudonym ‘partly to avoid embarrassing his parents, partly as a hedge against failure, and partly because he disliked the name Eric, which reminded him of a prig in a Victorian boys’ story’.One of the interesting things about his pen name is that he took both the names from different types. 

• George- King George the 5th 
• Orwell-  River Orwell 

Orwell’s  Famous works 

1.  Animal Farm (1945)

2.  Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). 

3.  The Road to Wigan Pier (1937)

4.  Spanish Civil War (1936–1939)

1) What is dystopian fiction? Is '1984' dystopian fiction?

Dystopian Fiction :

Dystopia is the opposite of utopia: a state in which the conditions of human life are extremely bad as from deprivation or oppression or terror (or all three). A dystopian society is characterized by human misery in the form of squalor, oppression, disease, overcrowding, environmental destruction, or war. Below is an example of a real dystopia in present-day Syria.

Other real life dystopias include the massive fire destruction in the Western United States due to climate change; and the pandemic raging through authoritarian countries such as India and Brazil.

DYSTOPIAN FICTION DEFINITION :

The dystopian genre imagines worlds or societies where life is extremely bad because of deprivation or oppression or terror, and human society is characterized by human misery, such as squalor, oppression, disease, overcrowding, environmental destruction, or war.

Characteristics of Dystopian Fiction :

Dystopian authors represent social control as wielded by any number of powerful entities, including:

• Corporate
• Religious/Philosophical
• Technological
• Bureaucratic
• Reproductive
• Totalitarianism — defined as total social control over a given population through techniques such as thought police and surveillance — is also a feature of dystopian fiction. It figures prominently in famous dystopian novels such as George Orwell’s 1984, which we investigate further below.

'1984' dystopian fiction:

In 1949, British author and essayist George Orwell wrote of a future where a global despotic power controlled the people of Oceania with surveillance and propaganda. This was "1984.It depicted a dark future where technology exists in the public realm only as a tool for the elite to control society.But while the book is a work of dystopian fiction, some of the technological innovations that it predicted have come true in the 70 years since it was published.

• The Telescreen:

In 1984, telescreens — large TVs which can see into all corners of your house — are located in homes and public spaces of Oceania, and are used to transmit messages from the party and monitor civilian activity.Telescreens can identify people, notice when their facial expressions change, or whether their heart or breathing gets faster.

• Speakwrite :

Winston Smith, 1984's protagonist, uses Speakwrite in his job as a copy-writer in the Records section of the Ministry of Truth, part of the dark ruling party INGSOC.It's a kind of recording device which, when spoken into, coverts speech into text on the telescreen.

2) your learning about the novel from online screening of the film.

The novel 1984 by George Orwell is one of the interesting novel and we also did a screening of this novel. Screening helps us to understand lots of things.In this work screening helps to understand such a situation of dystopian society. How people were brainwashed and how everyone obeyed particular parties it’s clear to mind. It throws light on so many things. Whatever we see is more memorable than we watch.

3) What according to you is the central theme of this novel?

Totalitarianism :

Totalitarianism is one of the major themes of the novel, 1984. It presents the type of government where even the head of the government is unknown to the public. This theme serves as a warning to the people because such regime unleashes propaganda to make people believe in the lies presented by the government. Throughout the novel, there is no proof of Big Brother’s existence in Oceania. The Party exercises complete control not only on the sexual lives of their citizens such as Julia’s and Winston Smith but also on their thoughts, feelings and even writing a diary. The overall monitoring and surveillance of the people through telescreens and subversion of history through the Ministry of Truth are some of the common casualties of such regimes. The third casualty of the totalitarianism is the truth through language. This happens in the shape of mottos such as “War is Peace.”

Loss of Identity and Independence :

Totalitarian governments often adopt strategies that make people lose identities and independence so that the citizen will not question the supremacy of the governing class. Thus, proving that totalitarianism, which is one of its major themes in the novel has ripped people of their own personality. The uniformity in food, clothes and what the people hear and absorb in 1984 shows that the Party and its supposed head, Big Brother, are engaged in erasing the individualities and identities. Winston Smith’s feeling of criminality in writing his dairy is a dangerous act. The final torture scene when O’Brien confronts Winston to erase his integrity and his significant resistance brings out response from O’Brien. He explains Winston Smith that he is the last man on earth if he is harboring rebellious thoughts. This is an example of how individuality and identity are not tolerated in totalitarian regimes.

4) What do you understand about the term 'Orwellian'?

In this video I clearly understand many things.So let’s star..

The term was named after British author Eric Blair known by his pen name George Orwell. Because his most famous work, the novel "1984," depicts an oppressive society under a totalitarian government, "Orwellian" is often used simply to mean authoritarian. But using the term in this way not only fails to fully convey Orwell's message, it actually risks doing precisely what he tried to warn against.n his essay, "Politics and the English Language," he described techniques like using pretentious words to project authority, or making atrocities sound acceptable by burying them in euphemisms and convoluted sentence structures. But even more mundane abuses of language can affect the way we think about things. The words you see and hear in everyday advertising have been crafted to appeal to you and affect your behavior, as have the soundbites and talking points of political campaigns which rarely present the most nuanced perspective on the issues. And the way that we use ready-made phrases and responses gleaned from media reports or copied from the Internet makes it easy to get away with not thinking too deeply or questioning your assumptions.

So the next time you hear someone use the word Orwellian, pay close attention. If they're talking about the deceptive and manipulative use of language, they're on the right track. If they're talking about mass surveillance and intrusive government, they're describing something authoritarian but not necessarily Orwellian. And if they use it as an all-purpose word for any ideas they dislike, it's possible their statements are more Orwellian than whatever it is they're criticizing. 

Words have the power to shape thought. Language is the currency of politics, forming the basis of society from the most common, everyday interactions to the highest ideals. Orwell urged us to protect our language because ultimately our ability to think and communicate clearly is what stands between us and a world where war is peace and freedom is slavery.

THANK YOU...