I now understand why George Orwell's thought provoking novel 1984 is so thoroughly discussed throughout American Literature. I find it incredible that people can still draw parallels to it so long after it was written. His predictions of the future reveal how genius of an imagination the man had. But more than that, the novel is filled with themes and symbols that are certainly open to multiple interpretations. There are certain human truths that great authors try to reveal within their work. In this case, one parallel I drew was between the classical Athenian character Socrates and Orwell’s Winston Smith. The relationship is much similar than it first might appear to be.
One of the first themes I began to investigate as soon as I began reading was the recurrence of hope throughout the novel. Winston’s thoughts early in the novel are, “Truisms are true, hold on to that. The solid world exists; its laws do not change. Stones are hard; water is wet, unsupported objects fall toward the earth's center” (Orwell 83). This passage reveals Winston’s sufficient understanding of the world he lives in despite all the control imposed upon him. This is also significant because Winston previously had questioned the meaning of life in a society like such. For him to grasp and formulate those ideas reveals that he is a truth-seeking human, a very hard characteristic to maintain in a state where thoughts are controlled by an external group, such as The Party.
His rebellious nature only grows once he meets Julia, whose attitude I believe he feeds off. Julia is a free spirit who Winston is captivated by, and precedes to fall head over heels for. During their “good” times, I feel Winston is on his way to finding happiness. Then it all goes awry. O’Brien is not the rebel who Winston perceives him to be, and Winston and Julia are separated as Winston is sentenced to The Ministry of Love. There he is tortured, and Orwell’s descriptions are gruesome. Winston is faced with a head cage of rats, his worst fear. At the last moment, he opts to pass on the punishment to his once beloved Julia and ends up surviving “Room 101”.
Furthermore, the end of the novel left me in disbelief. I had faith in Winston that he wouldn’t act in the selfish manner that he did, but I guess that is due to The Inner Party’s controlling nature. When he passed on the pain to Julia, I felt as if I was the one receiving it because of how much I thought Winston would overcome the odds of being pushed into the mindset of Ingsoc. I had faith in Winston to not give up his rebellious nature and optimistic philosophy. As I look back though, it was inevitable, and not as bad as I first thought it to be.
After analyzing the plot and reflecting upon it, I drew a parallel to the story of Socrates and “The Apology”. Socrates, like Winston is a free spirit in a bound society. Both are convicted because the majority do not approve of the way they think. Though the fates of both men differ towards the end of each story, I feel as if they resemble the same person in their respective eras.
Winston’s focus has long been to simply survive in the society he found himself in. “They can’t get inside you. If you can feel that staying human is worthwhile, even when it can’t have any result whatever, you’ve beaten them” (Orwell 170). This foreshadows the surrender of himself to Big Brother to stay alive.
It can be argued that Socrates followed a similar path in the sense that they both had to make a decision that questioned their motifs and desires. Socrates has a firm belief along the lines of any man who knows a thing knows he knows nothing. He questions all those labeled as “wise”, and finds that it is those who admit their flaws and lack of knowledge to actually be wiser. Once Socrates is convicted of corrupting the youth and not believing in a god, by a rather slim margin, he reflects on his upcoming execution:
“I think that any man, I will not say a private man, but even the great king, will not find many such days or nights, when compared with the others. Now if death is like this, I say that to die is to gain; for eternity is then only a single night. But if death is the journey to another place, and there, as men say, all the dead are, what good, O my friends and judges, can be greater than this?” (Baird 123).
As evident in the above passage, Socrates is not terrified of his sentence. He was known to be a traveler as well as an inquisitor, and it appears he is ready to continue his journey, wherever it may be. Socrates does seem timid about one thing, that being where he is actually going after death. He thinks death consists of either one night or a whole new life in which other deceased members can congregate.
Previous to his appearance in court, Socrates’ life had been full of exploration while he gained vast amounts of wisdom. It seems that he accepts death, as it will ironically further his exploration of life. Though Winston Smith lives and Socrates “dies”, they both do so in hopes of gaining something. Socrates blatantly explains that, “to die is to gain” while Orwell writes upon Winston’s submission to Big Brother:
“He gazed up at the enormous face. Forty years it had taken him to learn what kind of smile was hidden beneath the dark moustache. O cruel, needless misunderstanding! O stubborn, self-willed exile from the loving breast! Two gin-scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. 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 308).
The use of the term “the struggle was finished” confirms Wilson’s state of being content, and his willingness to proceed on in life despite the tribulations that The Party brought him. Winston’s sacrificing of his own thought process is not an act of weakness, but an act of wisdom, as was Socrates’. Socrates chose death because he had done what he wanted to do with his life, and wanted to continue exploring what comes next. Similarly, Winston gave in to Big Brother because he had done all he could, and his ignorance towards The Party had lost its strength that was once so powerful. His mindset changed from rebellion to conformity. Winston’s decision to surrender shows how cynical the society truly is, but also how smart he is to finally realize he is a prisoner of The Party as well as his own body, and that there is no other option in order to stay alive. Both figures understand what is needed in order to continue on their respective ways, that being death for Socrates and submission for Winston Smith.
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