The following quote from 1984 is rather intriguing: "Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present, controls the past." (pg 37, Orwell) After first reading it, it left me under the impression that it was the type of quote that leads one in circles, and does not have a definite answer. But now, after examining it and looking beyond those words, so that the meaning of it would be less ambiguous, its significance is far more clear.
Winston Smith was referring to the world that he is living in when he said that. That's because Big Brother controls the past through the workers at the 'Ministry of Truth.' He does so by asking them to "correct" certain minor or major events from newspapers, or books. Events that supposedly never occurred, or articles that mention people which never existed. By doing so, the residents will be far more gullible, since they will always be under the control of the government because of believing that the leaders have always kept the promises. And the leaders will be able to lead the country or "control the future" however they wish. That's because every promise that is broken, is "corrected" soon afterwards, or in other words "re-phrased", in the old article that holds proof of the promise being made, and not carried out as it was declared.
In addition to that, the "who controls the present, controls the past" part, makes a reference to the fact that the Oceania's current leaders which "control the present" have the ability to rewrite the past, which of course, leads into their ability of shaping the future however they wish.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
The quotation exemplifies paradox.
You're right. It is solely about total control. That is after all what totalitarianism is all about!
Very insightful! Keep up the good work!
Ah. I wasn't sure what the name of the literary device that was used in that quote was. Thank you :)
That's really indepth. I probably would've run in circles on that quote as well for ages, but then again, you're reading the book. Still, it's insane to see how totalitarianism works. =/
I know :)Now imagine what it would actually be like if our government was a totalitarianist one. It would be so far from pleasant.
I'm reading 1984 next, so I'm going to be paying extra attention to your blog - it's been very helpful so far!
I'm glad it has :)It's an incredibly well written novel, so you'll enjoy it. I haven't come across any parts that were not intriguing.
This discussion amongst you is almost as valuable as the blogs themselves. Well done ladies!
Post a Comment