Individual vs Society
Kimisha Peterson
Ottawa University
Introduction In the debate between the individual vs society there are many aspects to consider. In many literary works there is an emphasis put on the individual rather than the society as a whole, but even though the emphasis is on individual rights these rights are also for the common good. The line between the individual and society is very thin and can easily be crossed, but that’s why this debate is so convoluted. A balance must be maintained in order to protect the rights of the individual as well as the rights of the society. This analysis will first study the book 1984 by George Orwell how the story fits into the debate of individual vs society. Then, the position …show more content…
Language structures ideas as well as limits an individual’s capability to formulate ideas and express them. In the novel Orwell basically proposes that this alteration could make it virtually impossible to even be able to think rebellious thoughts, because there would be no words to help think them. The Party replaced the English language with Newspeak and they continue to refine it so that eventually no citizen would be able to even be able to question the Party’s power. In another one of his literary works, George Orwell expands on these ideas some more. Orwell argues that the English language is declining ad that this may have “political and economic causes”, but this process could be reversible where the decline in politics and economy is caused by poor language (Orwell, Politics and the english language, 1946, p. 1). Orwell says that the English language is “full of bad habits”, but ridding the language of these bad habits is the “first step toward political regeneration” (Orwell, Politics and the english language, 1946, p. 1). Orwell gave many examples of how the English language was deteriorating. His first example was dying metaphors which Orwell describes as lazy. When metaphors are repeated over and over again they lose their “evocative power” and emphasizes laziness, because no one is attempting to invent new metaphors (Orwell, Politics and the english language, 1946, p. 3). Another example that Orwell gave were meaningless words. He emphasized that not even the readers expect to read words that actually make sense within the sentences; and unfortunately, too many people use meaningless words that are assigned meaning only by the individual using the
Kimisha Peterson
Ottawa University
Introduction In the debate between the individual vs society there are many aspects to consider. In many literary works there is an emphasis put on the individual rather than the society as a whole, but even though the emphasis is on individual rights these rights are also for the common good. The line between the individual and society is very thin and can easily be crossed, but that’s why this debate is so convoluted. A balance must be maintained in order to protect the rights of the individual as well as the rights of the society. This analysis will first study the book 1984 by George Orwell how the story fits into the debate of individual vs society. Then, the position …show more content…
Language structures ideas as well as limits an individual’s capability to formulate ideas and express them. In the novel Orwell basically proposes that this alteration could make it virtually impossible to even be able to think rebellious thoughts, because there would be no words to help think them. The Party replaced the English language with Newspeak and they continue to refine it so that eventually no citizen would be able to even be able to question the Party’s power. In another one of his literary works, George Orwell expands on these ideas some more. Orwell argues that the English language is declining ad that this may have “political and economic causes”, but this process could be reversible where the decline in politics and economy is caused by poor language (Orwell, Politics and the english language, 1946, p. 1). Orwell says that the English language is “full of bad habits”, but ridding the language of these bad habits is the “first step toward political regeneration” (Orwell, Politics and the english language, 1946, p. 1). Orwell gave many examples of how the English language was deteriorating. His first example was dying metaphors which Orwell describes as lazy. When metaphors are repeated over and over again they lose their “evocative power” and emphasizes laziness, because no one is attempting to invent new metaphors (Orwell, Politics and the english language, 1946, p. 3). Another example that Orwell gave were meaningless words. He emphasized that not even the readers expect to read words that actually make sense within the sentences; and unfortunately, too many people use meaningless words that are assigned meaning only by the individual using the