Loss Of Power In George Orwell's 1984

The past is the time that has already occurred, which, for thousands of years, has been recorded in unalterable records. Some groups have acquired enough power to change these records. In George Orwell’s 1984, a government group called the Party uses the history altering power control the people of Oceania. A recent scandal at Penn State University caused the N.C.A.A. to decide to annul the records of the school’s football team and coach Joe Paterno from years 1998 to 2011. This is seen as a very controversial issue as to whether it should be allowed. The N.C.A.A. is very similar to the Party in their ability to change history but the N.C.A.A.’s decision to “vacate” the records of the football team and coach was clearly unjust.
The N.C.A.A. was clearly incorrect in …show more content…
reflect those of the Party in that they both have the ability to rewrite history. After speaking with the drunk old man in the bar, Orwell writes, “And when memory failed and written records were falsified—when that happened, the claim of the Party to have improved the conditions of human life had got to be accepted, because there did not exist, and never again could exist, any standard against which it could be tested” (Orwell 93). While discussing the power of the N.C.A.A., it states, “Social institutions, like the N.C.A.A., have an absolute right and a moral obligation to respond forcefully…The N.C.A.A properly recognized that Penn State should be sanctioned, but it should not create a fantasized history” (Fine 2). Both the Party and the N.C.A.A. have complete control over their records and the ability to change them. Also, both the Party and the N.C.A.A. can choose when to use this absolute power. Both groups use the power to erase crimes or the records of an alleged criminal, such as the erasing of Aaronson in 1984 and the Penn state records of Joe Paterno. The ability to change the past is used by the Party and the N.C.A.A. in unjust ways and should not be