Johns
Jarret Johns
Mr. Frank Carnicom
A.P. British Literature
14 August 2014
American vs. Orwellian Society
George Orwell's novel, 1984, has recently gotten acclaim for concerning issues in current day America. Airstrip One's society is more than just slightly different than that of modern day United States. Big Brother running rampant across the walls in the form of posters and Thought Police monitoring every train of thought a person has is far from American identity or ideals. The novel speaks about a shattered and broken world in which gorgeous, glimmering, white, marble buildings tower above the lowly shops and apartments belonging to the inhabitants of London (Orwell 5). The idea does not come across as such a queer thought, with the beautiful White House and memorials in Washington, D.C. contrasting a great percentage of Americans that live below the poverty line. While the cultures are not completely similar it is important to note that the society that Orwell created to have been totally fiction has some shocking comparisons to today's American lifestyle.
Orwell would be shocked at Obama's United States and how his fear has actually come so much more closer to becoming a reality.
It is ironic that Orwell's name be associated with a society that he was railing against in his novel. The tone of the entire novel has grim and dreary outlook on Big Brother and Ingsoc, so even though Orwell chose to not give 1984 the happiest of endings he did so purposefully. "O stubborn, self-willed exile from the loving breast" (Orwell 300)! While the protagonist, Winston, may have lost the battle for his dignity and does truly love Big Brother, the message comes across to the audience as sarcastic and is a flagrant point argument the totalitarianistic regime.
Even if America could be considered...