In both George Orwell’s 1984 and Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the main characters struggle with the preconceived notions of “good” and “bad” in each of their societies and openly challenge these concepts. In 1984, Winston considers the ethics of his society and initially sees Big Brother as “bad,” but after his time spent in Room 101 and the Ministry of Love, he changes his perspective and now sees Big Brother as “good.” The ideas of good and bad are simply constructs of what the government deems “right” and “wrong,” just matters of perspective. Similarly, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck considers the morality behind helping Jim escape slavery and lying about things and decides that what his society deems “bad” doesn’t seem so bad after all, and that he must not succumb to the pressures of the racism that plagues his society. The motif …show more content…
Winston feels alone in how he remembers parts of the past and knows that the government has lied many times, but must abide by the party’s principles: “The sacred principles of Ingsoc. Newspeak, doublethink, the mutability of the past. He felt as though he were wandering in the forests of the sea bottom, lost in a monstrous world where he himself was the monster. He was alone. The past was dead,” (Orwell, 25). Winston’s unique perception of Big Brother’s regime allows him to consider the morality of this society and see that the lack of truth and reality is bad, however his view of Big Brother drastically changes after his time spent in Room 101 where he ultimately learns to love the government, as Orwell describes “But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother,” (Orwell, 245). This change in perception of Big Brother’s government shows how perspective molds morality, and when perspective changes, so do the concepts of good and
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass AND the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Comparison Essay
The book and the movie of "Huckleberry Finn" were both good, but there were many differences between the two versions. Some people think that Disney ruined the book because they added some things and cut some things out. Other people like the Disney movie better than the book. They think that it is more detailed and they like the way it is set up better, also they don't have to read they can just watch the movie. The three biggest differences between the book and the movie are that Tom Sawyer is not in the movie, Mary Jane saves Huck and Jim in the movie, and that the "N" word is not used in the movie like it is in the book.
In the books, The Adventures Huckleberry Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird, the authors demonstrate several themes: the coexistence of good and evil, the importance of moral education, the existence of social inequality, racism and slavery, intellectual and moral education, and the hypocrisy of “civilized” society. The common themes throughout the two books depict; that although the settings are nearly a century apart, society has not changed as drastically as believed.
In the novel there are many instances where it is evident that Winston shows he does not believe in Big Brother and the party. One instance is when Winston explains he works in the Ministry of Truth, and says how he changes the history to agree with Big Brother. This shows how he knows the government is manipulating the other citizens minds because he is the one changing the history. Another instance is when Winston is writing down with big brother into his journal. During this time, Winston is starting to feel a rebellious
In the beginning of the book we see that Big Brother is in charge of Oceania and at the end of the novel, Big Brother is still in charge. The beginning of the novel is important as the end, however, nothing seems to change Winston loved big brother then later he questions himself why he loves Big brother. After being torture he no longer has questions of Big Brother or where his loyalty is he loves and respect Big Brother. “But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother” (Book 3 Chapter 6). During the novel, Winston wanted to join a rebellion and fight against Big Brother but after being torture Winston hopes faded and ended up if nothing has happened. The only thing Winston change is some words that went against the Party but after losing his job and being torture he went along with whatever Big Bother said. Which made no difference to Oceania since they have still had to follow and obey the Party and their awful
Winston goes through emotional change throughout 1984 that changes his perspective and personality. At the beginning of the book, Winston is filled with hatred towards the Party. “They’ll shoot me in the back of the neck i dont care down with big brother they always shoot you in the back of the neck i dont care down with big brother-” (Orwell, 19). Winston’s fury towards the Party and Big Brother is evident. Through his diary entries, you can definitely tell that he harbors an intense anger towards them. So, it may seem that this trait will never change and make him always fight for it. The reader may at first think that he will never change views. But then, Winston completely changes perspective at the end of the book when he states, “He loved Big Brother.” (Orwell, 298). This keeps Winston from becoming another boring character who refuses to change his opinion which makes for an interesting book and a more complex character.
In “1984”, Winston is a normal staff working for the “big brother” and his job is to change the history in order to change people’s mind. For example, if the government says there will be two chocolates per a person instead of three chocolates. Then all the news and old news need to change to two chocolates per a person, like three chocolates per a person was never happend. Also, in this novel Winston gets catched by being with Julia, after they caught him they tortured him and make him admit that 2+2=5 not 4. “He wrote first in large clumsy capitals ‘FREEDOM IS SLAVERY’ Then almost without a pause he wrote beneath it: ‘TWO AND TWO MAKE FIVE’. He wrote ‘GOD IS POWER.’ He accepted everything.”(pg. 277) He tried to fight against the party after he got a book that’s against totalitarian but after all the torture and brainwash he starts to feel he could not fight the party any longer. So that shows how Big Brother
Throughout the novel, Winston is always hiding his thoughts about the Party and about Big Brother, although he is completely against it. However, in order to ensure that he does not get caught, he must act as though he loves them and agrees with their power over society. Surveillance is shaping these characters to be a perfect representation of what they are expected to be, instead of being who they are.
Big Brother desires power and complete control and gains this through repeated acts of cruelty. After Winston is captured by the Thought Police, he is held captive under government control in the Ministry of Love. After being tortured for many days, “there were times when the mere sight of a fist drawn back for a blow was enough to make him pour forth a confession of real and imaginary crimes” (254). Big Brother tortures Winston until he is conditioned to say whatever they
Winston sees Big Brother two different ways in the novel; for almost the entire novel he hates everything that Big Brother is. Then in the end, his view of Big Brother in changed completely, and then matches everyone else’s view of Big Brother. In this way the reader is able to see how there are similarities between the two sides of God and of Big Brother.
Additionally, the portrayal of this dystopian society controlled by a totalitarian government might have been understood well by contemporary audiences, mirroring the rules of totalitarian regimes such as Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy- the citizens have no influence on the government and have no freedom of choosing the rules that govern and control every part of their lives. Therefore, Winston blames the misery in his life totally and completely on the government and on Big Brother. In Winston’s case, we can see that the propaganda, deprivation, and strict rules fail to make him concur with the party and accept Big Brother- in this situation, the party has to use extreme force and torture to make Winston love the party as well as Big Brother, in order for the party to maintain complete power.
Much like the society of Denmark, corruption crept its way into Big Brother’s society in 1984. Big Brother has absolute control over every aspect of its citizens from physical to emotional. The fear that it brings upon its people emphasizes the control and constant reminder that “Big Brother is always watching you” (Orwell, 4). Winston barely survives these emotional roller coasters that the totalitarian government has put them in and straddles along in a government job, trying to piece together how he feels and what he should do with his life. The society influence can be seen in hate week, hate rallies, and the two-minute hate. Winston finds himself conforming to the crowds chants and people having no control over their own minds as they would drop there own beliefs just as an assigned speaker changes sides. To the extreme, the government is turning kids into these mindless spies, robbing them of their innocence. Madness, again, drives citizens in these rallies that “[were] not that one was
Although people disagree over what makes someone morally “good” or morally “bad,” most people can agree that caring and compassion are good qualities while intolerance and selfishness are bad qualities. Mark Twain uses satire in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to amplify the good and bad qualities of people. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn exposes Twain’s thoughts on human nature by showing undesirable qualities of people in the racist white people and showing preferable qualities in the African-American slave, who is a victim of racism. The racist white people are portrayed by Twain as prejudice and egotistic while Jim portrays compassion.
Mohandas Gandhi once said, “Morality is rooted in the purity of our hearts.” However, it may not hold true in Twain’s novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In the novel, the protagonist Huck Finn’s morality and perception of others is shaped by the society he lives in, demonstrating that an individual’s morality or the epistemological sense of right and wrong can be largely influenced by society and the living environment. Yet despite strong traditions of the 19th century south, Huck is able to live away from the “civilized” world, leaving behind his hometown and travelling down the Mississippi river with Jim, a runaway slave. Huck’s unusual experiences with Jim contrast with his predetermined notions of race and power in the midst of the Jim Crow Era, thrusting Huck into a great crisis of morality dictated by his consciousness instead of his intellect. Through Huck’s journey in the search of morality, Twain conveys the theme that that morality is dictated by society, despite the goodness of an individual’s consciousness, it is difficult for and individual to intellectually challenge societal paradigms.
“Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.” (Twain, ix) Mark Twain opens his book with a personal notice, abstract from the storyline, to discourage the reader from looking for depth in his words. This severe yet humorous personal caution is written as such almost to dissuade his readers from having any high expectations. The language in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is completely “American” beyond the need for perfect grammar. “Mark Twain’s novel, of course, is widely considered to be a definitively American literary text.” (Robert Jackson,