1984 Reflection

In 1984, George Orwell warns of the death of the individual that is caused by the

resulting loss of internal freedom when the individual is put under the complete

influence of centralized power. However, to truly relate this warning to our society

today, it must be taken notice that our society is not under totalitarian government.

Yet, when at the hands of the apathy and indifference within the individual, our

society becomes no different. If one doesn’t exercise their freedoms, or doesn’t

allow themselves to even be aware of them, grace to relative reality, the freedoms of

the individual will not exist. The only education and knowledge one will gain through

apathy will be of the direct influence of the ruling class, or their own “Party”. So, in

the apathy and indifference among the people, the ruling class gains the power to

completely manipulate people at large, as generally, people do not beg to differ; a

faith is put in the ruling class by the people themselves so they can quite simply

eat up what they are spoon fed.


Fortunately, humanity is not hopeless; apathy and indifference is not

human nature. In actuality, it is really the lack of passion and reason, “the two

poles of human behavior” (13, Strickland). Apathy is the lack of passion, and the

lack of passion is born of the lack of reason, for, if one has something they whole

heartedly believe in through their reason, they will have a resulting passion for it.

So, if through the growth of reason there is a growth of passion, through a diverse

education, there is an end to this apathy. However, this all proves very convenient

for the ruling class, as people become profoundly uneducated when they are spoon

fed knowledge by the very ruling class that uses the apathy among the people to

prop up their own selves.


Yet, an understanding of this strategy used by the ruling class provides that the

hope for humanity is seen in the exercising of one’s own freedom to self-educate.

One must put in the relatively small, initial effort to break from what the ruling class

is prescribing to be able to formulate their own opinions to create their own,

personal ideals and passions. In this thirst for truth, one must communicate their

ideas to others and must always be open and accepting of the better argument. If

one lets their passion for one idea eclipse their ability to reason with another, it

would be gravely hypocritical. It would be no different than the deadly ignorance of

centralized regimes, which is the very essence of what one should try to stray from.

There must be a balance kept between passion and reason through always letting

passions fuel the thirst for knowledge, and letting the growing reason fuel our

passions. In a community based on this sharing of personal freedoms, there would

be a state of true democracy through the constant challenge of the status quo,

unlike the democracy of today. Society would progressively evolve and be

continuously dynamic, paralleling the dynamic and evolving qualities of internal

human nature, and through this humanity has legitimate hope, as there would be an

environment in which the individual human being can thrive.


Today, evidence of this sort of ruling class is seen in mass media. In

mass media, there is a consistency in the ideas and philosophies explored. One

common thread within mass media revolves around the exploitation and

manipulation of sexuality, because ‘sex sells’. This is an obvious reflection of our

own ruling class’ capitalist fundamentals. Through this one concept, individuality,

self-worth, and self-expression are sacrificed for the profit of the ruling class. It is so

because people have the desire to reflect mass media’s concept of ‘sexy’.

However, there is nothing wrong with the desire to be loved; it is only human to

want to belong. The problem is that mass media influences people with a sort of

propaganda to lead people to believe that buying name brands is the path to being

loved. Unfortunately, mass media is succeeding in this. It becomes very hard to be

an individual when everyone strives for the same image. True self-expression is

made very difficult to achieve, as mass media causes confusion between true self-

expression (the expression of who one really is) and a false self-expression (the

expression of who one thinks they should be). This confusion reveals a great loss of

self-assurance within the individual because of an imposed desire for social-

assurance. Worse, any love that is received because of one’s effort put in to

become the ruling class’ imposed ideal is really love to this constructed ideal, not

the individual, so even if one is successful in their pursuit of this image, it remains

just an image. They do not become any more self-assured, as they aren’t being

assured of who they are internally. Through the effects of mass media, the

suffocating effects on the freedoms of self-expression, individuality, and self-worth of

a ruling class are seen.


While the effort of the individual is focused to achieve the unattainable image mass

media deems is proper instead of towards the gain of knowledge and personal

growth, the ruling class that controls mass media profits off this in vast proportions.

The ruling class spoon feeds the people this image in order to create whole

industries based on providing means for people to attain the unattainable image.

This is a present day demonstration of Orwell’s “War is Peace” concept, as people

will forever put their effort in to achieve society’s unattainable image of perfection,

which maintains a steady, static economy. Meanwhile, people remain drastically

uneducated when profits go only towards attaining this image, as they will only be

aware of what mass media tells them. There is a consequential apathy towards

freedoms through the uneducated’s desire to become an unattainable image, and

so there will be a relative peace through a static status quo if mass media

continues to keep its stronghold on the individual.


However, there is hope. Not all media projects the ruling class’s ideals;

there is tons of media that, if one puts in a little effort to find, gives the ability for the

individual to thrive as it extends the realm of one’s reason. The term ‘media’ is

interchangeable with the word ‘art’, as mass media is really propaganda art for the

purpose of the ruling class. If the individual triumphs their apathy and looks to art

which is beyond mass media, there is a great deal of hope for humanity. Art can be

the epitome of self-expression, and is the means in which humanity can

communicate best. If one searches out and shares the art from outside of mass

media, one’s ability to reason with truth beyond the scope of their ruling class will

increase, and so will their thirst and passion for knowledge.