Materialization of Orwell's world vision

Materialization of Orwell's world vision

George Orwell was a visionary. Although he was born in 1903, his work has had a huge impact until present days. His highly political-charged novels might have their roots in Orwell’s experience from his attendance to high social class schools to his staying in the Spain during the civil war, etc. Although Orwell’s 1984 was never meant to predict the future but to portrait the present instead, there have been many coincidences that match the novel and real world. Even before 1949, when Orwell published 1984, there were people representing the role of “thoughpolice”. For example, we know about the inquisition in Rome, the stasis or the SS in Germany, etc. Mr. Charrington represented this organization and will finally seize Winston for thinking against the Party and Big Brother himself (if he ever existed). “Thoughtcrime does not entail death, thoughtcrime IS death” (Orwell). Orwell’s vision didn’t exactly replicate in London by 1984. As a matter of fact, democracy was winning. After the Cold War, totalitarian regimes fell in Europe and it seemed that regular people wouldn’t be oppressed by power-thirsty rulers. But what about the third world (South America, specifically)? We seem to be one chapter behind from developed countries.

This is the center of this post. By 1984, Argentina was overcoming a dictatorship while Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay were undergoing totalitarian regimes. Like in 1984, these countries had their own “Big Brothers”: Bordaberry (Uruguay), Stroessner (Paraguay) and Pinochet (Chile). Specifically in Chile, DINA and CNI played the role of “thoughtpolice”. Everyone who dared to DEMONSTRATE that they differed with our Big Brother Pinochet would face their end in our own rooms 101. Some of them vanished with those rooms and were never found. Winston Smith worked in the Ministry of Truth. He was well aware that their only mission was to poison and alter reality. However, he only had the courage of writing these thoughts in his diary. He knew that the proles could outnumber the Inner Party and overthrow Big Brother. However, such daring thoughts were severely punished, therefore he never uttered them, he knew room 101 could be waiting for him. “If there is hope, it lies in the proles” (Orwell). Unlike in 1984, proles in our country were more daring. They even managed to overthrow (democratically) the dictatorship. This was something that Winston only could dream of, since fear was something that was installed in every corner Oceania. However, the most alike feature in 1984 that was not only present in Chile’s dictatorship but it’s still operational nowadays is the rule under premises of ignorance of proles and impoverishment. This was the main reason why the proles didn’t rebel. They didn’t question anything, just as in our country until nowadays. “In the long run, a hierarchical society was only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance”.

As a way of wrapping this post up, Orwell might have missed his 1984 depiction of London’s reality because Europe was already undergoing such processes, but he did a fine job in regards to the Third World. As I said at the beginning, we’re one chapter behind from more developed countries. It can be a good guess that we might foresee our own future by looking at their reality.

References

Orwell, George. «1984.» 1949.