Love in 1984
| Winston’s love for O’Brien stems from a single look, which Winston imagines to be one of solidarity. It’s almost like “love at first sight.” Winston is confused about his feelings of dislike toward Big Brother and his subsequent feelings of aloneness as a result of them. His thoughts go against society’s teachings. Therefore, he questions his own sanity. He wonders if there is anyone else out there who is thinking the same thing as him. He needs a likeminded person to confirm his own beliefs. Therefore, when he thinks O’Brien shares these same beliefs, the connection brings about feelings of love for this man. For Winston, this is not just any connection. It is a connection at the core of his being. It is a connection that confirms his fragile sense of self and identity. It serves the purpose Winston’s own sense of self cannot seem to serve. It tells Winston he’s OK for thinking the way he does, that he’s not insane, that his thoughts and feelings are justifiable. This need, however, makes Winston vulnerable. It is his Achilles heel. O’Brien senses this and preys on it. That is the real tragedy of the betrayal. I actually didn’t like the depiction of the scenes between O’Brien and Winston in the film, particularly in the torture scenes. Both of the actors were much too subdued for my taste. I wanted to see Winston more desperate and pained and I wanted to see O’Brien much more manic and fanatical. That would have created more emotion and more interest for me. As it was, the scenes felt a little flat. As for the article Turning to Orwell to Understand Orwell’s Problem: A Sociolinguistic View, I thought it was very interesting how it delved in depth into the uses and purposes of Newspeak. The most disturbing thing to me about Newspeak in the novel 1984 is the idea of “denial of objective reality” (102) because it goes beyond making people doubt their own perceptions to actually making them abandon perception altogether. They no longer think for themselves. They simply believe whatever the Party tells them “…tricking one’s mind into believing that reality naturally consisted of whatever was dictated, and not of whatever was evidenced or perceived” (102). Also, I thought the comparisons to Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini’s regimes were very interesting, especially the idea that these three dictators were eventually overthrown because they did not guard against public hatred and rebellion and force people to love them as the Party does for Big Brother. Big Brother has no need to fear rebellion because his citizens worship him. “Needless to say, people are not likely to ever revolt against a ‘perfect’ being whom they earnestly love” (103). |
|
