Reflections on 1984 by George Orwell

billy t

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Was thinking of starting reading threads on various books where others can share their thoughts on the same book. There are a number of books worth looking into. Between Two Ages by Brezinksi, The Impact of Science on Society by Bertrand Russell and others.

I have just started reading 1984 tonight and am around Chapter 2 at the moment.

Here are few points worth highlighting so far.

- The constant propaganda of Big Brother. Slogans that contain double speak. I.e "war is peace, slavery is freedom, ignorance is strength".
- Winston is not sure about O'Brien. Is he a friend or not? At one part in the story Winston locks eyes with O'Brien and has the feeling that they are both thinking the same thing. (i.e both skeptical of Big Brother). Many individuals are like this today. They know the truth yet are afraid to say something because they don't want to go against their peers ala 'group think'.

- Winston often scribbles down his thoughts and it seems he has nobody to share them with. Most people are idiots who go along with whatever nonsense Big Brother comes up with.

- The censorship of Big Brother of anyone who opposes the ministry of truth. Censorship by Big Brother is so intense that Winston is afraid to even be caught writing down thoughts in his diary that are critical of Big Brother.

- People in Eurasia eat a certain type of cabbage that make the houses smell putrid. Very strange.

- Knowledge can be edited at will. The party can just edit historical records to reflect whatever is in favor of the party. This is referred to as "reality control".

-The thought police come at night to take people away who are guilty of thought crime which is basically any view that is contradiction to the official narrative of "Big Brother". Not only that but they remove any evidence that the person ever existed. Orwell refers to this as 'vaporization'.

- Some stuff in this book is pretty comical. For example, Big Brother claim to have invented airplanes even though there is no evidence of it. There is basically no evidence of anything. Big Brother says so and that is it. Kind of like how Covid exists because the World Health Organization said it exists.

Yeah, will keep reading throughout the week.

PDF of 1984: https://www.planetebook.com/free-ebooks/1984.pdf

Audio book

 
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billy t

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This quote stood out.

"Even the slogans will change. How could you have a slogan like ‘freedom is slavery’ when the concept of freedom has been abolished? The whole climate of thought will be different. In fact there will be no thought, as we understand it now. Orthodoxy means not thinking—not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.’ One of these days, thought Winston with sudden deep conviction, Syme will be vaporized. He is too intelligent. He sees too clearly and speaks too plainly. The Party does not like such people. One day he will disappear. It is written in his face".
 
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