Is It True In 1984 By George Orwell

“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true” (Kierkegaard). This quote by Soren Kierkegaard accurately expresses the essence of the government in most dystopian societies: It leads the people to believe that everything that they stand for is true, and the majority of people then refuse to believe what is true once they are brainwashed. In 1984 by George Orwell, the civilization of Oceania is brainwashed into believing that Big Brother and the Party are supreme and that they are trying to protect the people in any way that they can. Similarly, in Matched by Allie Condie, the people are brainwashed into believing that the Society, in particular the matching system, sets …show more content…
While the third person point of view does give the reader a lot of details about the the Party, Winston, and the society in general, it is not as helpful in deciphering how he feels about being deceived. The reader knows that Winston hates Big Brother; it is clearly shown when he writes, “Down with Big Brother” repeatedly in his journal (Orwell 18). However, since this is in third person, the reader does not know what is going on in his head and why he hates Big Brother. This limits the understanding the reader can gain as to how the deception of the government leads to suspicion. Additionally, the third person point of view restricts what the reader can learn from Winston’s conversation with O’Brien. He states, “We are here because...we are enemies of the Party” (170). The third person point of view simply states the obvious: Winston hates the Party. However, so much more could be learned from this, for Orwell could have used this to give deeper detail as to why Winston hated the Party and his reasoning behind it. Unfortunately, the third person point of view leaves much to be desired. Finally, the reader is left guessing the thoughts going on in Winston’s head when he is caught by the Thought Police and what he is truly thinking deep inside after the doubt he has gained from being deceived. For example, when he is taken to the Ministry of Love, the book states, “His memories were not continuous. There had been times when consciousness...had stopped dead and started again” (239-240). While this paints a very descriptive picture of Winston’s physical state, this once again just seems like a distant observation and not a true, deep feeling. If the story had been written in first person, the reader would be better able to feel what Winston felt when he learned he had been deceived by the government, particularly