"Who controls the past controls the future:who controls the presents controls the past."
THE GLASS PAPERWEIGHT
What has characterized man since the beginning of time is the desire to understand where they belong and who they really are. Just as a child discovers how to climb up and over a crib for the first time or as soon as one develops a sense of familiarity with their surroundings, one begins to investigate what they cannot see. It is one of the most fundamental principles that defines the human race. In George Orwell’s 1984 however, there is no self-discovery. The powerful tool of oppression through propaganda is what lures the citizens of Oceania into a stark, dull, and depressing state. This society allows for nothing other than complete conformity, representing how important living in certain societies has an effect on self-discovery and individuality.
What symbolizes one’s understanding of the world’s surroundings and discoveries, both metaphorically and symbolically is a magnifying glass. Not only does a magnifying glass focus on particular details but it also distinguishes objects and their surroundings. It is “not the fundamental clarity or size of any particular “object” which gives it its value, but rather its relationship to that which surrounds the object” (Bal 69). In fact, this universal meaning of a magnifying glass is very much similar to the symbolism of the society in Orwell’s 1984. Winston finds a glass paperweight that has “a peculiar softness, as of rainwater, in both the color and texture of the glass. Inside was embedded a tiny piece of coral, such that it was magnified by the glass” (Orwell 81). To Winston, the surface of the glass is like that of the sky. Inside there is a tiny world, like the coral where he and Julia are in eternity (Orwell 82). The paperweight however, symbolizes the past, where he seeks without any caution of the consequences in the world. It brings him solitude and comfort, self-discovery and a reconnection with the past. But ultimately it is the totalitarian regime of the Party that takes control and paralyzes him with oppressing, hidden propaganda.
In reality, the Party was watching Winston the entire time. With the use of telescreens, the Party spread fear into everyone in the presence of one for “at any rate they could plug in [the] wire whenever the wanted to. [One] had to live- did live, from habit that became instinct- in the assumption that every sound made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized” (Orwell 3). When the Thought Police broke in finding Julia and Winston together, the paperweight fell to the ground. The now broken “past” foreshadowed the breakage of Winston’s spirit that no longer remained as it was destroyed by the society. This not only reflects the destruction of Winston’s individuality but it universally represents how important society has an effect on people and their well-being.
Although this environmental psychology seen in 1984 was theorized many centuries ago, it has become increasingly prevalent in today’s society, most recently seen in the “cult of personality” in North Korea. The man not yet thirty, Kim Jong Un or also known as the “Supreme Leader”, leads “an impoverished, isolated, and paranoid country” where it is simply “impossible to separate what is genuine and what is just for show” (Grant CNN). Orwell reflects the same ambiguity, as the environment in 1984 is too a place of question and unawareness. Winston eventually becomes trapped in his own question at the end of the novel where he falls under O’Brien and acknowledges the question, “For, after all, how do we really know that two and two make four? Or that the force of gravity works…” (Orwell 265). This continuous repetition of complete conformity creates such a society that manipulates the thoughts of every individual. There is no yearning for discovery in hopes of a better future because what is right in front of them is regarded as simply the best.
Although this environmental psychology seen in 1984 was theorized many centuries ago, it has become increasingly prevalent in today’s society, most recently seen in the “cult of personality” in North Korea. The man not yet thirty, Kim Jong Un or also known as the “Supreme Leader”, leads “an impoverished, isolated, and paranoid country” where it is simply “impossible to separate what is genuine and what is just for show” (Grant CNN). Orwell reflects the same ambiguity, as the environment in 1984 is too a place of question and unawareness. Winston eventually becomes trapped in his own question at the end of the novel where he falls under O’Brien and acknowledges the question, “For, after all, how do we really know that two and two make four? Or that the force of gravity works…” (Orwell 265). This continuous repetition of complete conformity creates such a society that manipulates the thoughts of every individual. There is no yearning for discovery in hopes of a better future because what is right in front of them is regarded as simply the best.
A Georgetown University liberal arts graduate
student also addresses the effects on socially controlled environments in more universal
terms. In her Thesis she states that North Korea has been tortured with the
same information “...that consistently
reiterates the brilliance of the country, its people, and leaders since the
1950’s, and “facts” that are seemingly ridiculous and sometimes flat out wrong
to outsiders are believed as truths inside the country.” Seen at the end of 1984 with the brain-washing and physical
control in Room 101, Orwell makes it obvious that people living in such an
environment ultimately lose control and there is no turning back to question
anything, just like the citizens in North Korea as they subconsciously follow
the manipulation of their “Supreme Leader”. They do not receive any foreign
newspapers, television, or broadcasts and are stripped of any form of
communication. This propaganda and social control has shaped the attitudes,
values, and behavior, and most importantly the country in order to
transform the North Korean people “into selfless socialists who unquestionably
obey their leaders (Hassig 145). Since Reporters without Borders began
publishing the annual world index of press freedom in 2002 North Korea has been
ranked dead last almost every year. Such a threatening environment has made
opposition to the regime simply impossible and ultimately represents how the
setting an individual is placed in effects every part of their overall
well-being.