Book 1 Chapters 2-6

In his book, "1984," George Orwell presents us with a situation where the children's behavior is feared by their parents: 

Nearly all children nowadays were horrible. What was worst of all was that by means of such organizations as the Spies they were systematically turned into ungovernable little savages, and yet this produced in them no tendency whatever to rebel the discipline of the Party and everything connected with it. The songs, the processions, the banners, the hiking, the drilling with dummy rifles, the yelling of slogans, the worship of Big Brother[--]it was all a sort of glorious game to them. All their ferocity was turned outwards, against the enemies of the State, against foreigners, traitors, saboteurs, thought-criminals. It was almost normal for people over thirty to be frightened of their own children (24).

Orwell depicts the children as "little savages" that appears to be very unaware of how serious the government of Big Brother actually and the cause of this could be because the children believe that this is "sort of glorious game" (24). In a sense, the parents have no control of their kids as they are "ungovernable." Orwell has also stated that it is the norm to fear your own child; in my own opinion, reading this passage paints a horrifying image of children being demons that worship Satan, this case Satan is Big Brother. This image appears in my mind because children yelling slogans and doing whatever they can to worship something that you fear can be very terrifying.

Ironically, this passage could relate to the real world; Child Protective Services (CPS) is when children in need are being protected from their parents, but in this case, the adults are the ones who need to be protected. Adult Protective Services (APS) is needed in "1984" but would probably never happen because the government is most likely already exploiting the fact that the children are ratting their parents out for every single mistake they make.

Comments

  1. LserranomiddlecollegeOctober 25, 2017 at 3:56 PM

    I think that it is an interesting thing that Orwell decided to depict the kids as little savages. I agree with you, it also depicts a horrifying picture of children being demons to the point where they cause their parents to be scared of their own children! It it like the party is the parent of the children as they adhere to the rules and activities they do.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownOctober 25, 2017 at 7:41 PM

    The statement that you brought up about the CPS is interesting; I forget to consider that the situations that occur are two-sided. It is true that the children think all of it is some "sort of glorious game," but this it still negatively affects the parents of the children negatively (24). This may seem like a game, but I believe that this "game" evolves into future careers and passions. The children growing up with this type of environment will become accustomed to this lifestyle and think of it as a natural way of living. They already live without being able to have an opinion; this creates the opportunity for the children to grow up learning to worship Big Brother with no rebellion. This type of world coming to be starting with your very own children is indeed a horrifying thought. Having to be careful of what you say, not only outside and near your telescreen, but in front of your children as well is a very uncomfortable thought and way of life.

    ReplyDelete
  3. avalencerinamiddlecollegeOctober 25, 2017 at 8:47 PM

    Hey Johnson! loved how you incorporated such a long and thoughtful quote that embodies the whole story regarding children and the way their parents treat them. Unfortunately, they can't really control them since they sort of worship Big Brother. I agree with you that I feel that this situation in Oceania is quite disturbing in the sense that the future that Orwell predicted is correlated to not the normal stereotype of children obeying their parents. The norm that their parents fear for their own children is quite shocking and a scary sight that I personally would not want to face.
    It is quite crazy how even though in modern times, we have Children Protective Services (CPS), but in Oceania they need a similar type of system, but in regards to their parents. I like how you even made a new name for the adult system, in which it is Adult Protective Services (APS). When first reading this I laughed since I thought it was funny that you created a whole new system for adults, but looking back at it, it is totally reasonable and necessary for this type of services being implemented into the society of Oceania.
    All in all, I hope that this type of world never becomes a reality, as most of the 1984 book has unfortunately become a reality. Like you said, it is quite horrifying for this to ever occur. I hope that children now and the future still respect their parents for all what they do and never turn backwards like they did in Oceania since I feel that this is extremely disrespectful towards their parents. Parents do so much for their children, but their children don't realize everything that they do for them. We as children must realize and take advantage of having parents since at any given time, they can unfortunately pass away.
    Overall, your blog was very good, but a suggestion that I have for you is to incorporate pictures into your blog since pictures reinforce that topics being said in the blog. I hope to read your blog next week.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Book 3 Chapters 1-3

His eyes had a wide-open, staring look, as though he could not prevent himself from gazing at something in the middle distance. 'What are you in for?' said Winston. 'Thoughtcrime!' said Parsons, almost blubbering. The tone of his voice implied at once a complete admission of could be applied himself (192). In book 3, Winston is in miniluv and he is shocked to see Parsons. This section reveals that Parsons, a devoted party member, had committed a thought crime; his children have turned him in for uttering the phrase "down with Big Brother" in his sleep. This shows that the children are truly messed up in terms of treating Big Brother as some sort of game. The children in 1984 are only loyal to Big Brother and no one else; they only wany to please Big Brother because essentially Big Brother is like a Big Brother to them. Big brother has a "common enemy," their parents, because 1) the children don't seem to care about their parents and 2) Big Br...
Read more

Book 2 Chapters 7-10

In the dream he (Winston)  had remembered his last glimpse of his mother, and within a few moments of waking the cluster of small events surrounding it had all come back. It was a memory that he must have deliberately pushed out of his consciousness over many years. He was not certain of the date, but he could not have been less than ten years olf, possibly twelve, when it had happened (133).  Winston used to have little to no recollection of his dream and it appears that Big Brother is controlling people minds in a sense that they are suppressing the emotions of people because if people have emotions then they are capable of thinking for themselves which is something Big Brother doesn't want. Winston does notice that people seem dull and lack of emotion; people in the party tend to have to relearn what was suppressed. Big Brother is very controlling on what people remember and on what they don't remember and they did not want Winston to remember his mother.  Wi...
Read more