Utopias & Dystopias

  Part of the reason the world of 1984 is so messed up, is because someone tried to create a utopia. We started the semester by defining utopia and dystopia, and discussing whether utopias are even possible. Most of the class agreed that no, a utopia in the way we normally picture it, is not possible, because everyone’s idea of a utopia is unique and involves the people around them. The world of 1984 is so messed up and different from our society because the original creators of the party wanted to create their utopia, which included total power and control, and it ruined the lives of everyone around them. I think we as a society tend to always look for ways to improve the world we live in, which is a good and necessary thing, because our world could definitely be improved upon, but I think sometimes we get caught up in that improval and don’t always think through how a decision that might make my life better, could hurt someone else. I have found that when I make an active effort ...

  What defines power?  In the last few chapters of 1984 we learn more about The Party and its motivations, the biggest being power. The Party defines power as control, the ability to do anything they want, and the respect of every single person in “the world” (Oceania). To them, power isn’t power unless it is over everything. As O’Brien puts it, this is the type of power that people like Hitler were trying to achieve, but they failed to achieve it because they retained some amount of humanness that “held them back”. I think our current world values power, but also values balance, so O’Brien would argue we don’t truly want power at all, because “power” can only be defined as total control. The reason Winston, Julia, and other thought criminals put this society at risk is because they fight for some small amount of power for themselves. Julia seeks power over her own life, the kind of power that we tend to define as “freedom”. The freedom to say what we want, believe what we wan...

  Why torture the thought criminals? While reading these chapters, I was very disturbed and confused by the methods of torture used on Winston and the other criminals. The cycle of beating, questioning, and just enough recovery to make the criminals conscious again, is insanely manipulative, but creates zombies of people who will do whatever is asked of them. In Dr. Wilson’s psychology class we are talking about learning this week, and how the brain reacts to rewards and punishments. Knowing some of the science behind why and how this torture is so effective, added an entirely different layer. The inner party of 1984 must have put a lot of work into creating such a functional system where they can effectively build people from scratch after removing all the human parts of them. From what I’ve read, it seems like the end goal for Winston might be a labor camp. If that is the case, his torture, while awful and inhumane, at least has some purpose. But if he will eventually be killed, ...