Wednesday, June 23, 2010

1984: Part 1, Ch. 5-8

In Chapter 5, the discussion Winston has with his friend Syme about "Newspeak" is most profound to me. Syme is working in a department that is creating a dictionary for a new language, "Newspeak." Newspeak is an irony, though. The Party wants to create a new language by destroying language. Does that make sense? They want to limit expression to ridiculous words like "ungood" and "doubleplusgood," but humans are not robots. We cannot express ourselves with such limited words because we do not feel emotions in limited ways.

When Syme states, "It's a beautiful thing, the destruction of words," the irony of that statement made me cringe. How can destruction be beautiful? However, after I thought about it, it made perfect sense for the society that 1984 is set in. The Party believes in creating a utopian society and destroying any imperfections, even in things that had already passed. Through the process of making society "beautiful," the Party is essentially destroying the people. The people lose their individuality, independence, love, happiness, LIFE. They no longer think for themselves or express their emotions and thoughts freely. Syme also states, "Orthodoxy is unconsciousness." When one is unconscious, it is as close to death one can be without actually dying. If the society is unconscious, then it is as if it is dead---as good as destroyed.

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