Orwell's "Such, Such Were the Joys....": Alienation and Other Such Joy

Can a hero still be a hero although he succumbs to his weakness? What if he becomes the very thing he was against or want to eradicate? In our modern world, we find many examples of heroes in stories, movies, and even the news that usually have a positive connotation related to them, and many of their story arcs usually have a positive resolution, similar to the classic romantic stories long ago. The author George Orwell completely flips the notion of the classic hero on its head, but does it well enough that it makes us question what is a true hero.

The victims are the burmese people and not orwell because while orwell was indeed “hated...jeered at…” and also “targeted.. as a police officer” (page1), the burmese people faced even harsher treatment than just being hated. The burmese people faced physical punishment and were even treated badly. They were “huddled in stinking cages” and even “flogged with bamboos” (page 1) which obviously shows them to be treated worse than how they treated orwell since the most they could do to him was trip him.

Political press can play such crucial role in the viewpoints of citizens; with an impact like this, it is essential to have explicit information. George Orwell’s 1946 essay “Politics and the English Language” he argues that Politicians have manipulated the English language, thus making their points euphemistic. He explains that these that, “...it is broadly true that political writing is bad writing” and results to a politician being “unconscious of what he is saying” (Orwell). Even though this essay was written in 1946, Orwell’s six basic rules are still broken. For instance, Donald Trump’s immigration speech is prime example of what Orwell would conclude as “nonsense”. The speech breaks the elementary rules by using unfamiliar phrases,

George Orwell’s theme in 1984 is that an omnipotent and all-seeing government is dangerous and will demean individuality as well as free will. He portrays this through Winston’s failure to rebel while showing totalitarian governments cannot be stopped after they have been completely established. He also depicts his message through the citizens’ total belief in government propaganda no matter how absurd or inconstant as well as through the international solidarity and seemingly permanent nuclear cold war.

The world that Orwell presents in Nineteen Eighty-four has often been called a nightmare vision of the future. Writing sixteen years into that future, we can see that not all of Orwell’s predictions have been fulfilled in their entirety! Yet,

“A life without pleasure is about fulfilling as the sun without sunshine.” – Mama Gena. If the sun gave off no sunlight then it would be considered useless. The same principle also applies to humanity. If all pleasure were taken away then life itself would be dull and pointless. What reason would there be to live if life was not being enjoyed? A government can manipulate its people if they have nothing to live for. Their minds and actions would be effortlessly controlled by propaganda and brute force. In the novel 1984, the Party has reduced the pleasure the population of Oceania can have to basically nothing. The government limiting its citizens in what they can or cannot do is unjust and inhumane. There is not much to life the citizens can enjoy except for the propaganda they are being fed. When one has a certain pleasure, they become loyal and crave the action once more. Therefore, not all of their loyalty would be devoted to the Party. If the party controls and reduces pleasure from food, materialistic items, sex, and love then the population would have no purpose to live except for Big Brother.

Philosophical issues have been debated for centuries. One of the more recent dilemmas in philosophy is the “Trolley problem” (Foot). The basic premise is, a runaway train going straight will kill five people, if it is diverted, it will kill one person, which do you choose? George “Orwell’s Shooting an Elephant” (Orwell 407) and Elie Wiesel’s “The Perils of Indifference: Lessons Learned from a Violent Century” (Wiesel 289) both examine the effect of human actions. Wiesel’s speech is the more persuasive due to the emotional element as well his plainly stated view upon indifference, whereas Orwell’s narrative leaves the reader questioning his action.

In the novel 1984 by George Orwell is about a totaltarin government attempting to destroy individuality. 1984 takes place in a oceania society driven by propaganda , that every citizen of oceania must interact with a daily intake of propaganda created by the government so that control is maintained. In this story Winston is on a mission to rebel against the people who dictate every part of his life i.e. “Big Brother”. Winston also on a quest to find someone to share is beliefs with. Today’s society has reflected on 1984 is many ways just different forms.

The dysfunctional, deranged society of George Orwell’s classic novel, 1984, is more relevant today to United States citizens than ever. In the book and in our country currently, the ruling governments both attempt to dominate their people through consistent force. The United States is constantly policing its citizens to maintain order, which is similar to the Party’s actions in 1984. As our present-day society continues to progress, certain aspects of citizens’ lives mirror those found in 1984, such as the overbearing control of the government, the limited language amongst the people, and the new security methods.

This quote relates to the ID of our human minds because the ID tends to act accordingly to our first instincts with little to none consideration beforehand. Thus, we tend to satisfy our immediate desires and wants, for example, if we are hungry, we would immediately look for food. In this quote, when it mentions how there’s “a glowing fire and meat” (p.207) it shows how Jack’s tribe is satisfying their desires through their ID, because the meat represents their hunger. To add on, the ID also acts as a human survival instinct, therefore, it fears death and any actions that can harm themselves. Thus the “comfort of safety” (p.207) can show how their ID is active at the moment. However, this quote also show how people tend to have bad intentions,

In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, the totalitarian government is adamant that all citizens not only follow its policies, but wholeheartedly agree with them. In order to maintain his individuality and avoid the Thought Police, Winston lies about his allegiance to the government and his beliefs and thoughts. He learns that his lies are weak and shallow after he is caught, and he eventually realizes the true power of his lies when he deceives himself. The totalitarian government Orwell presents encourages deception as a means of survival, increasing the government’s power when the citizens are eventually driven to lie to themselves. As the Party grows stronger and individuality crumbles, Orwell displays the loss of humanity as a result of a government built on deception.

Eric Arthur Blair, known to generations of readers as George Orwell, lived life as an observant outsider, first by circumstance and later by choice. Born in 1903 in India to British parents, his lonely childhood afforded the beginnings of a literary career before he even knew how to write: he composed poems and stories and dictated them to his mother. At 8 years of age, Orwell was sent to pursue his education in England. He attended several boarding schools before he eventually enrolled at Eton, a prestigious institution, where he remained an outsider among the other students. Surrounded by snobbishness and elitism, he began to espouse views of democratic socialism.

Many authors bring in the theme of politics into their work in order to make their creations more appealing and as a form of expressing their personal views. George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-four” is a novel that contains many political messages to the world. Orwell felt that part of his role as a writer is to serve as a voice of conscience to our society by trying to express the truth as he saw it. The novel was written in a crucial time period in modern history after the Second World War and at the beginning of the Cold War. One can see that the book was influenced by current events of its time mixed with Orwell’s standpoint. He focuses on three major political issues that effect society, which are the dangers of war, class differences

For many people, school will play a significant role in their lives. From early childhood to adolescence, school is an institution where young people are taught technical skills like reading and math, as well as a place where they learn about morals and develop an understanding of the world around them. The ultimate goal of school is to prepare students to effectively navigate society as an adult. In order to achieve this, somes schools enforce strict rules and disciplinary actions, while others emphasize creativity and free thinking. For canonical science fiction writer George Orwell, his school experience was extremely rigorous and stern. In the essay “Such, Such Were the Joys” (1952), Orwell delves into his experience as a poor boy at an elite British preparatory school called St. Cyprian 's. Between the ages of eight and thirteen, he was subjected to poor living conditions, verbal abuse, and physical abuse from teachers, all in the name of making him into a rich, smart, and successful adult. However, the essay often questions the reliability of those methods. By using pathos and irony to appeal to his audience, Orwell argues that the school system is inherently absurd because it fails to prepare children for the intricacies of life after formal education.

Days without food, nights without shelter and clothes without buttons are reality for homeless people around the world. Many are incapable of escaping their poverty and can not seem to find a way out of their bleak oppression. The few that do escape often help each other find a way to make their lives better and do not forget how to maintain friendships. George Orwell’s novel, Down and Out in Paris and London, displays the ability of those in poverty to escape their horrific lot in life through friendships and connections. The common goal of shelter and freedom from oppression bonds many of the lower class. Many in poverty work together to find the best means to achieve their common