1984 Thoughts

I’m almost finished reading 1984 by George Orwell and one thought that I’ve constantly been thinking about throughout the entirety of the novel is are we complicating life?

The human race has established everything that we know of today, from a money system, to various languages, to our own entitled opinions.  In 1984, the totalitarian government system denies people the right to their own opinions and to ensure this, they have ThoughtPolice.  People in Oceania have their own language called Newspeak, whose goal is to cut out as many words from the language as possible.  People of the Party argue that it’s too complicated having too many words.  Why say “bad” when you could just say “ungood”?  History has also stopped its own tracks. Every historic record, article, newspaper and magazine is updated to fit was actually happens.  For example, there are three states: Eastasia, Eurasia, and Oceania.  Per sey that Oceania [which is where the story takes place] was in a war with Eurasia and were allied with Eastasia. News articles and magazines are obviously all glorifying the war and writing about how hard Oceania is fighting.  But suddenly one day, Oceania declares war on its ally, Eastasia and becomes allied with Eurasia.  Then, there is a special group of people, the Ministry of Truth, who comes along and erases Oceania’s history of being allied with Eastasia by changing every single article in the past that contains information of the sort.  Now, every single article about the Eastasia/Oceania alliance has been changed to the Eurasia/Oceania alliance.  History is erasing itself in 1984, to the extent where what happened in the past is completely untraceable.  

Everything in Oceania has been predesignated and everything has been set in stone.  People lead monotonous and clueless lives.  If people follow the rules of Oceania then they will be able to live.  Otherwise, they will be punished.  

What intrigues me is how simple life in Oceania is illustrated to be.  People are constantly monitored by telescreens which can see and hear everything you say.  As long as you abide by the principles of Oceania, everything else remains fairly simple.  There is no need to worry about finances, as everyone in the whole state is poor; there is no where poor financial management could cause you to drop.  There is no need to worry about traveling, since you can’t travel anywhere.  Education is not an issue to worry about, since everyone receives the same education and most of the time, children report their parents to the ThoughtPolice.  Oceania is simple.  I can’t help but notice how much more sophistication there is in my life.  I can’t help but wonder how much more culture and freedom there is in the life I live.  I’m grateful for human establishment and progression.  I’ve been given the gift of freedom, space to grow as a result.  But sometimes, I can’t help but muse how life would be different if society were run upon a simpler system.