Breaking down of social fabric

“He turned around. It was his friend Syme who worked in the Research Department. Perhaps ‘friend’ was not exactly the right word. You did not have friends nowadays, you had comrades:”

To us it seems that Winston and Syme are friends, they have a relationship where they share and express thoughts between them. However the party doesn’t want there to be friendship. They have abolished the word friend and everyone in the party has to refer to each other as “comrades”. No one has a title and this way the party doesn’t allow any individuals to express their own individuality. All comrades are meant to be the same and have one common interest, the interest for big brother.

We know life where we have relationships and connections with other citizens of the same state and even with citizens of different citizens. Orwell shows us that when a state gains control over relationships they have more control over the citizens. They are able to manipulate them and even as we see in the sate of Oceania abolish them. Friendships are a vital to us they are a huge factor in our mental wellbeing and at the same time they can tell a lot about us. Our personalities and opinions are formed from the conversations and activities we do with our friends. This is our individuality. What Orwell is warning us from is that if we let the state in on our connections we are giving them the chance to control us. They become able to form our friendships and then eventually our opinions and beliefs. This is why the citizens now believe big brother is the one and only and he is always right.

 

Join the conversation! 1 Comment

  1. The next step in this line of reasoning is to consider WHY the state is so intent on breaking down the social fabric. What is to be gained from this, and what lost?

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Christopher Waugh Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Category

Reading, Writing