1984 Journal #2

Now, so far in 1984, the inevitable has happened. Goldstein’s secret revolt that the Party may or may not have made up is actually real, and Winston is on board. But is it really inevitable? Last week, when we argued either for or against Huxley’s argument (that technology controls us) my group came up with the argument that whether it controlled you or not didn’t matter, how you handled the oppression did. Since people generally enjoy and benefits of technology, society chooses to ignore its domination. However, if we had an oppressive government that we disliked, we would all notice the oppression and choose to revolt. The distinction between whether the oppression is “good” or “bad” comes with the passing of time. Winston feels that the oppression is bad, because he can vaguely remember a time when there was no oppression, whereas children in 1984 who don’t know anything different don’t see the oppression as a bad thing. As the book states, “… so long as they are not permitted to have standards of comparison, they never become aware that they are oppressed” (Orwell 207). Since a revolt can never be successful if the people don’t understand the cause of revolt, I believe the Brotherhood’s methods of revolt are illogical. The measures it has taken to avoid getting caught by the Party/Thought Police make it so that no member of the Brotherhood will ever even know the name of more than five other members. This method prevents the Brotherhood from ever uniting as a whole, from ever extending their message to all generations, and from ever having success in eliminating the regime.

Julia’s tactics, however, might just be the answer. She doesn’t necessarily want to get rid of the Party, but she does not agree with the rules. As such, she breaks the rules, but avoids getting caught. By defying the Party, and imposing her rule-breaking on others (the men she has affairs with), Julia slowly dilutes the morality of Party members, and could ultimately destroy the Party from within… that is, had she not settled for Winston and ended her marathon of flings.