If the Thought Police don’t get him, reading Emmanuel Goldstein ought to do it. This has to be the densest piece of writing you’ve ever encountered in your life. It’s Orwell’s book within the book, and if you read any of Orwell’s other writings, you’ll know this is really why he wrote 1984. He’s given you a story with characters and a plot but what he’s really doing is trying to get you to think about this world we live in and the future of human beings.
Here is the homework. Some of you did it in class. Some of you started it in class. Some of you weren’t in class.
Go on the internet and find four articles referencing anything Emmanuel Goldstein talked about in Chapter Three of his book. Put your references on your blog. Also, write a brief synopsis of what’s in the article. This is for marks. You’re looking for events or circumstances in our society that match anything he says. For example, he talks about a war that never ends. In our world, is there a particular country that has war after war? He talks about a government that keeps its people at a subsistence level so that they don’t have the energy or wherewithal to even consider a rebellion. Is there a country like that now?
Orwell wasn’t a prophet. There are a lot of things he could have never anticipated (global warming, computers, etc.) but in terms of human behaviour, he’s spot on in some places. Those are usually the places where he looks at what governments have done in the past and assumes they’ll do a variation of the same in the future. That’s what you’re looking for.
I’ve started a list of general comparisons of life now and life in Oceania on my 1984 blog. If you go there, it should help you get started.
WatsonWork 