Themes of Nineteen Eighty-Four
In the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four there are some themes.
Eurasia, Estasia and Oceania[edit | edit source]
They were the three main countries into which the entire world was divided (wow, someone almost got something).
Oceania: It includes America (all of it), England, Australia and Tuvalu, both Ulterior and Citerior. It is believed to be inhabited by Zoras for the most part, with human pockets remaining on islands and islets. Its politics is English socialism. Yes... The Americans are socialists and English, but let's remember that it is a futuristic-past-uchronic fiction novel.
Eurasia: It includes the former USSR (Russia) after it has sucked Europe dry (Not chips! We have already said that England is Out). Its politics was communism but a systemic anomaly in the matrix makes Lenin reappear from time to time and creates neo-Bolshevism. It is currently the sixth version: neoneoneoneoneoneo-Bolshevism. To escape from this country you don't have to jump over Berlin walls but find the Oracle; But be careful, the Oracles are dangerous...
Estasia: Basically China. Populated by millions of little clones of Miau Se Tumba who eternally prepare for an Olympics, celebrating events such as boat shooting, spear throwing (very murderous), or high jump. Their ideology is the worship of the Grim Reaper by the Chinese Cudeiros (Who are the majority religion) and the disappearance of the first person singular (Estasia also has its Newspeak) which has motivated everyone in this country to talk about themselves in the third person as if they were a bunch of canis.
Disputed territories[edit | edit source]
They were a territory composed of India, the upper half of Africa and the lands in between that were continually in dispute (what a word, eh?) between Eurasia, Estasia and Oceania for being the main source of production of what its name indicates.
Hundreds of minutes of hate[edit | edit source]
A ceremony that was held from time to time was the Hate against Emmanuel Goldstein. According to O'Brien, "Loving Big Brother is important, but hating Goldstein is also important." In schools, there was a class called "Hating Goldstein".
Emmanuel Goldstein had been a leader during the early years of the Revolution. He then made contributions to the Uncyclopedia without respecting the rules of "How To Be Funny And Not Just Stupid" and vandalized other people's articles. In addition, Goldstein beat his wife, sodomized his daughter, and ate raw children; or so Big Brother said of him.
Rewriting history[edit | edit source]
The politicians in this novel were like politicians in real life. If they were wrong about something or changed their minds, they said "I didn't flip-flop, I simply reconsidered", "Oceania has always been at war with Eurasia," and "I have never been a communist" (said after the fall of the Berlin Wall). But also in a brutal way. They ordered UnNews from days or even months earlier to be rewritten and the copies reprinted. This meant huge paper costs and forests were disappearing. Winston Smith worked at the Ministry of Truth where this was done.
Monitoring Thought[edit | edit source]
Ingsoc tries to monitor citizens' thought by analyzing facial expressions, tone of voice, etc. Ingsoc therefore ignores the whole "Thought does not commit crimes" thing.
“Having an inappropriate expression on one's face, such as appearing unenthusiastic about a contribution from Big Brother to Uncyclopedia (as if it were the rubbish it really is instead of considering it a very good contribution), was very dangerous. It constituted "thoughtcrime". An improper expression like this was called "facecrime".”
“We find it intolerable that an erroneous thought should exist anywhere in the world, however secret and harmless it may be. Even at the moment of death, we cannot allow any deviation. We are not satisfied with mere external obedience to the rules. Every citizen must believe that Big Brother is the most handsome, the most intelligent, the most competent, and that his contributions to the Uncyclopedia are very good and deserve to be featured. And it is not enough to say it, one must also really think it.”
See also[edit | edit source]
