Book Review about 1984 from view of morality and CST

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1984 by George Orwell. Excellent book. Ish.
Well, It was excellently written, and is suspenseful and interesting.

BUT I have some issues. I LOVE the anti-communist pro-civil rights- stand the book has…but i HATE the liberal, relativist, capitalist alternative it brings. What do I mean? Well, for example, Big Brother controls people with an anti-sex league for chastity. Wow. Well, that s ridiculous. It seems to be an attack on sexual ethics. However, it is also deceiving. It makes groups standing for morals, like the Church, seem totalitarian, while governments that keep the people fat, happy, and full of porn are great and free. In reality, dictatorships use a lustful culture to distract the people from their takeover. So it that sense, it was wholly unrealistic. Also, I would like to point out that the oligarchical system Orwell condemns as communism on steroids is really capitalism on steroids.
I dont know. What do you guys think of the book?
 
ialsop said:
1984 by George Orwell. Excellent book. Ish.
Well, It was excellently written, and is suspenseful and interesting.

BUT I have some issues. I LOVE the anti-communist pro-civil rights- stand the book has…but i HATE the liberal, relativist, capitalist alternative it brings. What do I mean? Well, for example, Big Brother controls people with an anti-sex league for chastity. Wow. Well, that s ridiculous. It seems to be an attack on sexual ethics. However, it is also deceiving. It makes groups standing for morals, like the Church, seem totalitarian, while governments that keep the people fat, happy, and full of porn are great and free. In reality, dictatorships use a lustful culture to distract the people from their takeover. So it that sense, it was wholly unrealistic. Also, I would like to point out that the oligarchical system Orwell condemns as communism on steroids is really capitalism on steroids.
I dont know. What do you guys think of the book?
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I liked the book too. I just re-read it about two months ago.
I didn’t necessarily take away from it that groups, like the church, that stand for morality are totalitarian. It seemed that forcing that moralistic view onto others was what was reprehensible. I wouldn’t necessarily compare the Church to the government (described in the book) since the church has no power to nor does not wish to possess the power to force people to bend to her will.
 
Hi there. Nice to know someone interested in the book.

First of, it’s a novel so you don’t have to expect everything is true. You noticed a lot of good points but I don’t agree that it suggests a relativistic point of view, for me it’s the exact opposite. The thought police and the doublethink are good examples. The state prohibiting doublethink numbs and eliminates the possibility of making distinctions and real contradictions, thus a real form of morality is impossible. It’s quite true today, we’re coming to an age where everything seems to be a matter of degree and preference. Nothing is wrong except saying something is wrong.

It was a good thing I read the book just before Osama Bin Laden “died”. I kinda felt that the US’ (all countries for that matter, US just happens to be in the media a lot) fights with Bin Laden is somewhat similar to the 2 minutes of hate towards Emmanuel Goldstein. I can’t articulate on this but it seems Bin Laden is there to force a false unity among Americans.
 
The truly frightening and prescient thing about “1984” is how accurately it foresaw the loss of privacy, the totalitarian nature of political correctness, and the emergence of “thought police” as we have them today - the variation being that today’s thought police are primarily the media, and the technology underlying the loss of privacy didn’t come along until a few years after 1984. The book’s image of the political elite stomping their boots in the face of the masses is also so true today. The book also makes the point that those who control the language can control thought – as we see so dramatically today when things like “pro-choice” and “diversity” enter the public language and cloud the ugly realities (infanticide, reverse discrimination, intolerance) that lie behind the catchwords.
 
Patty23 said:
Hi there. Nice to know someone interested in the book.

First of, it’s a novel so you don’t have to expect everything is true. You noticed a lot of good points but I don’t agree that it suggests a relativistic point of view, for me it’s the exact opposite. The thought police and the doublethink are good examples. The state prohibiting doublethink numbs and eliminates the possibility of making distinctions and real contradictions, thus a real form of morality is impossible. It’s quite true today, we’re coming to an age where everything seems to be a matter of degree and preference. Nothing is wrong except saying something is wrong.

It was a good thing I read the book just before Osama Bin Laden “died”. I kinda felt that the US’ (all countries for that matter, US just happens to be in the media a lot) fights with Bin Laden is somewhat similar to the 2 minutes of hate towards Emmanuel Goldstein. I can’t articulate on this but it seems Bin Laden is there to force a false unity among Americans.
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INDEED, I agree. Its frightening.
 
Tarpeian_Rock said:
The truly frightening and prescient thing about “1984” is how accurately it foresaw the loss of privacy, the totalitarian nature of political correctness, and the emergence of “thought police” as we have them today - the variation being that today’s thought police are primarily the media, and the technology underlying the loss of privacy didn’t come along until a few years after 1984. The book’s image of the political elite stomping their boots in the face of the masses is also so true today. The book also makes the point that those who control the language can control thought – as we see so dramatically today when things like “pro-choice” and “diversity” enter the public language and cloud the ugly realities (infanticide, reverse discrimination, intolerance) that lie behind the catchwords.
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I agree! Its quite frightening actually. Big brother is there, everybody sees him, but as a good father not a dictator. Just like today.
 
I havent read this book in awhile but I do remember liking it.

It is eerie how it got alot about the future correct too,but the difference is imo, the Govt did it in a way that the majority of people agree with all these changes and give up all privacy, I think Govt has used the ‘terrorist threat’ to go way too far…but if no one really opposes it, then it will keep going until we all have to carry our ‘papers’ everywhere we go, and nothing about our lives will be private anymore.
 
I think it’s important to consider George Orwell’s background to fully understanding the satire of 1984 and the importance of his warning against ruthless and corrupt government control by any and all “big” governments.
Orwell was raised in India, and grew to oppose both British Imperialism and Indian political movements. He became a socialist and anarchist, and emigrated first to Paris, later to London, living at first in poverty, which he described in his first books, Down and out in Paris and London and The Road to Wigan pier. He fought in the Spanish Civil War and detested the communist brutality, which is reflected in Homage to Catalonia, Animal Farm, and 1984.
I think when our socialist demonstrators are arrested they should be required to read and pass a test on these as part of their probation.
 
Re: thought control:

My workplace sent round an email informing us that in January we will have a week called “Celebration of Life!”
It looks like some kind of flowers and hearts deal to raise our spirits during winter.

I was tempted to post in reply “You can’t celebrate life, That’s politically incorrect”
but probably no one would get it.
 
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