As we see in the novel 1984, Winston feels trapped in a life that, even if it looks comfortable and free, it really isn't so.
As we see in 1984, daily life is controlled by the Big Brother Party and even though people seem to be happy and free, they actually are not. This was a very controversial plot, as to suggest the government controls our life might seem risky.
However, are we really free today?
The plot of 1984 can be easily related to the famous Terry Gilliam film Brazil, from 1985. In the film, we find Sam Lowry trying to find a woman that appears on his dreams, while living on a bureaucratic consumerist depressive society, not very far from what we live today. Even though the film lacks of the Big Brother Party factor, it does depicts a totalitarian government, similar to Orwell's novel.
So, are we living on a free society or a we trapped in a consumerism roller coaster? We are made to believe we need certain things to be happy, to be better, to make our lives easier. However, all those things makes us more and more prisoners of a system created to make us need more things.
Just like Winston or Mr. Lowry, we need to free ourselves from that system, as much as we can. sometimes, like in Orwell's novel, we feel like Winston, living like soldiers, without any individuality. Media makes us be a part of that mass, that purchases the same things, that goes to the same places, that wear the same clothes, have the same interests, that no longer needs to think about anything. Everything is ready, you just have to live it. Don't think! Don't feel!
Do you think that is possible to have real individuality?
Do you feel free or you think you depend on too many things to be happy?
Is freedom real? Or is it just an utopia?
References:
- Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-four. London: Penguin Books, 1954.
- http://www.gradesaver.com/1984/study-guide/themes
- Brazil (1985 film), by terry Gilliam
References:
- Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-four. London: Penguin Books, 1954.
- http://www.gradesaver.com/1984/study-guide/themes
- Brazil (1985 film), by terry Gilliam
As you said, in the novel the Big Brother Party dominated everything and people seems to be free but they are not. Therefore, regarding your question, I strongly believe that unfortunately freedom is an utopian because even if we live in a democratic society we always will have to fulfill with the rules imposed by society, and from that point of view we are not totally free , however, what is possible is an inner freedom inside our minds since nobody can dominate our minds.
ResponderEliminarDo I feel free? I have asked myself the same question my entire life. Well, after a lot of reading and life experiences I would say that there is no way in which I can feel really free, because rules already exist, I don’t live “alone” and even if I don’t want to respect some rules, in the end, there is always someone or something that limits us. Think of your daily routine, or even before that, think of yourself being a 7 or 8 year-old kid. I assure you, more than once, you might have desired to stay at home playing outside, watching TV or just staying in bed for the day. Guess what? RULES! Rules, rules that come to our lives from day 1… “Don’t behave like that”, “Don’t do that…” I reckon that we cannot call FREEDOM to live through somebody else’s expectations as we are expected to behave, do things and sometimes be dressed in a certain way, from our parents, friends and society in general.
ResponderEliminarI could try to feel good with myself and the way I am, but through media, for example, I have almost always been influenced with superficial concepts of beauty, that’s why it is so difficult to accept how I look without thinking of the “perfect” model I have been imposed I need to be to be good enough for other people.
I believe that trying to be different might be scary, because you are shun or given “negative” labels and for some people that is what life is about- being good enough for some else, but for yourself. Finally, if we depend on the “likes” somebody gives us, in the way we look, in the money we have, or the things we possess, it is very likely that we might never experience “real freedom” IF IT EXISTS.
I completely agree with my classmates, due to the fact that if we do not stop to think about our current situation, we might feel that we are free, and that's what our leaders want us to do. In this sense, what happens in the novel 1984, where the citizens of London do not have time to think about their situation is the same that happens in our real world: we think we can chose a career, but the truth is that we are forced by the system to choose something we do not want, and we still think in a blind way that we are free to choose what we want, when we do not have many options.
ResponderEliminarEste comentario ha sido eliminado por el autor.
ResponderEliminarNowadays, when society looks back on History and discovers that many years ago people lived in a context where the freedom of thinking, acting and even speaking was very limited (e.g. the years of the Inquisition in the Middle Ages, or the persecution on the years of Fascism and Nazism), they tend to believe that on the current times freedom is on everyone’s hands. However, this concept of freedom is nothing but an illusion created by the minority that controls the decisions around the world (the most powerful investors, politicians and leaders) whose “faces” are not visible for the society due to the curtain placed by this minority. What really happens is that this curtain is dressed and named as “freedom”, set with a violent rhetoric, and developed with a discourse in order to crush and reestablish the ethos, pathos and logos of the social order. They have change the way we behave, feel and reason regarding everything that happens in the world.
ResponderEliminarI sincerely believe nowadays' people have the necessity of consumming or getting things in order to feel better, but the truth is that once you get what you wanted you feel empty again and need to get something else, the way I see it is more like a vicious circle from which is extremely hard to get out or break.
ResponderEliminarI have always wondered if we are truly free in this world, I know we are born free in theory but, are we really owner of our lives? Personally I do not think there is a proper answer for the question or perhaps there is and we do not know it. However, we can still get through and get a new and more fashionable cellphone.