Contemporary Post 9/11/2001 American Life as a Parallel to Winston's experienced in 1984

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Contemporary Post 9/11/2001 American Life as a Parallel to Winston’s experienced in 1984
Introduction
Nineteen eighty four is a novel that was written by one of the world’s renowned authors of his time in the United Kingdom, called George Orwell. George has had several titles to his name and this one, was one of those titles that made great impacts. Ideally, this name was the one he used as part of his writing career, but his real name was Eric Arthur Blair (The Daily Beast). One of his other works that made shock waves in the literal world was the Animal Farm. By the time he died at the age of 46 years, Eric had several books to his name and most of them related to the aspects of social and political science.
The 1984 novel carries a story of several characters in the continent called Oceania, which was a large collection of islands found on the southern pacific. Much of the novel takes place in London, where one of the characters called Winston works and lives. In Oceania, there is a great deal of government interference in the lives of the populace. Most of the activities of the government involve unwarranted surveillance that includes private and public spaces. This means that the citizens are watched upon from the streets, at work and inside their homes. There are televisions and microphones that are hidden in almost all places in the city of London (The Daily Beast). There is also wide spread manipulation of the public, where the government have come up with a system that prosecutes those people that have any ideas of individualism and free thoughts. Apparently, those people that are found to have individualism are prosecuted according to the thought crimes laws, which include torture and brain washing. Big brother is a party that is led by one of the society’s elite and carries out the surveillance and the torture. The population in Oceania is divided into three categories where the smallest minority is composed of the country’s elite group. There is also a smaller, population that is composed of the middle class, and the final group that is composed of the Proles, who make up the highest number. To govern the people, the government uses the ministry of love, peace, plenty and truth (Smith).
1984 Highlight
Winston lived in a small house, where he would retire after work, and would write on his dairy when he got time. In his small house there was the television from the big brother, where the party would watch all his movements and listen to his thoughts whenever he spoke. One day, he realizes that part of alcove in the house was not visible to the television. This is where he would hide his diary and he would write about the party and his thoughts about the oppression and whatever came to his mind at his work place, on the streets and at home. At one time during a lunch time break, Winston comes home takes a cigarette and some Gin and then hides in the alcove to write about the big brother in the diary, at which point he knows that his death is now inevitable (Zimbardo). At one time when he is sleeping, his mind is flooded with thoughts of his mother and how she disappeared when he was about ten years but cannot seem to remember where she went. He is then awakened by the whistle from the television which always happens to the workers every morning alerting them to go to work at around seven thirty. His varicose ulcer seemed to be worsening, and one morning through the television he gets instructions to exercise as has now become a norm in his mornings when the disease takes the better of him. During the exercises, he tries to remember his past and how his mother came to disappear, about the war but his mind fails him, all his memories have been taken away. Partly, he knows that Ingsoc is not a word that he has heard in the past before the year 1960 (Smith).
At his place work, most of the ventures include altering the past and the events that have taken place and replacing them with other superficial ones. Over the years, this has taken its toll as the reality is slowly fading away and now he cannot tell the difference between the truth about what has happened and what he has been fabricating while working for the party. At work, there is this girl who keeps looking at him in a suggestive way and since she is part of the thoughts police, he thinks that the lady is reading his mind and knows about his diary and the things that he believes and objects about the party. The party did not want the members to have any form physical contact with the opposite sex or even have feeling about other partners as it was punishable (The Daily Beast).
At one time, he even writes in his dairy about the experience he once had with a prostitute and then compares it with his previous wife experiences, but was too brainwashed by the party. According to Winston’s diary, she was too loyal to the party, such that even when they made love, she took it as an obligation to make more babies for the party instead of enjoying the moment with her husband, Winston. All Winston wanted was someone that would love him. However, most of the population has been brainwashed and at time as he walks through the streets he somehow admires their ignorance, knowing that they would never have to go through the torture in his mind and soul (Smith). His array of thought could get him into trouble at any turn of events and he could be captured and tortured. At one time, he develops the thought of overthrowing the party; however, he acknowledges that the hope of anything of the magnitude taking place will depend on the Proles who were the majority of the population in Oceania. If only the greater majority would realize the power that lies within them, then it would be so easy to overthrow the party and have a free world, which he always fantasized about.
At some point in the novel, Winston charts with Mr. Charrington a 63-year old that owned the store where he had bought his diary (Zimbardo). According to the store owner, there was a room upstairs where they used to live with his wife. In this room, Winston realizes that there is no television meaning that there is no surveillance. The thought of having a space where he is was not monitored, plays in his mind and even thinks of renting the place. On his way home, he meets with the brunette woman from the work place and he immediately thinks that she out to get him, having followed him all day. He plays with the thought of killing her but later on discovers that she had been eying him and following him because she was in love, something that was forbidden. Overtime their relationship grows and they even make love in the woods away from televisions and the microphones. These love escapades take place for some time and Winston finally decides to take Charrington’s room. Here, he would have all the alone time that he wanted with Julia the brunette woman from his place of work (Smith). The two take some time to discuss about the acts of the party and the way it was brainwashing people as well as disregarding their rights to a free life. At one point Winston has a dream about his childhood life where the memories about his mother and how she disappeared all flow back. He learns that he did not kill his mother as the party had brainwashed him to think.
Towards the end, Winston and Julia meet one of the workers at the party called O’Brien, who shares in their dreams and thoughts. They discuss about the oppressive state of the party to the populace and how the party would cut the familial ties of the people through brain washing. They also discuss about the way forward especially with regard to taking action about the oppression and vow to keep it a secret. However, one morning, both Julia and Winston wake up to discover the fact that the painting that was in the place of the television was actually hiding the television and all their acts and discussions had been recorded in full. Now they face charges of violating the rule of the party and are detained. In the detention facility, Winston also discovers that O’Brien was actually the chief operator in the ministry of love. This was the branch of the party that enforced laws, by brain washing and torturing the population. In the end Winston is so brainwashed that, he feels love for the big brother and the way that the latter had victory over him. This is a revelation of what O’Brien tells Winston when he enquires about whether he was going to be executed. In his statement O’Brien says that big brother does not just kill the traitors; it first brainwashes them until they have learnt to love the ways of big brother and then kills them (The Daily Beast)...