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Similarities Between 1984 And Pygmalion

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June 8th, 2018 Comparing Societal Marxism in the Text 1984 and Play Pygmalion Through Character Karl Marx believed that every society had different economic classes, that the people are divided into, depending on their economic status; the individuals with the most economic power are usually the ones in control. This hierarchy leads to the creation of the religious ideology which in turn arises false consciousness. Those who control the power in any society are known as the bourgeoisie, and they obtain that social hierarchy by oppressing the lower-class individuals, who, in the Marxist Lens, are known as the proletariats. The two texts being compared are, the novel 1984 by George Orwell and the play, by George Bernard Shaw, known as Pygmalion. …show more content…

Near the end of the novel, 1984, Winston’s, and the way he acts, transforms due to false consciousness. The false consciousness in Winston was generated by his persecutor, using painful methods. Winston was forced to believe whatever O’Brian, the torturer, said, “And if the Party says that is not four but five then how many?” “Four” (Orwell 255) After that point, Winston eventually began to accept that ‘four plus four is five’, due to the pain and torture he was put through. Winston constantly thought and wrote the statement ‘four plus four equals five’. This could be considered as, what is called, memory amplification. “This process tends to involve the subject remembering more trauma than they actually experienced.” (strange/Takarangi 2016). Winston’s traumatized state, caused by O’Brian, led his mind falsely recreate the traumatic events, different from how it actually occurred. This rethinking of the traumatic event, cause Winston to bring about its own sense of false consciousness. The event is in his memory forever, and therefore he begins to believe the statement, even though it’s false. Winston inevitably changes; his mind and what he believes in, all because of his newly reformed state of mind, creating false

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