Introduction to ethics & critical thinking

Assignment 3
George Orwell, 1984 (1949) Min-Yi Chen

Book Analysis: Nineteen Eighty-Four

Overview
Nineteen Eighty-Four is a worldwide anti-totalitarian fiction written by British novelist
George Orwell in 1948. With the year reversed as the title of the book, he predicted that
the world in 1984 would be a totalitarian world in which “Big Brother” controlled
everything, TV screens monitored every move of the people, “The Ministry of Truth”
falsely reported history, and “Thought Police” suppressed thoughts. Citizens in this
fictional world are required to monitor each other, report dissidents, and even adopt
illogical “doublethink”. The given excerpt can be divided into two sections: Newspeak
and Moral Conflict. Therefore, my purpose in this essay is to analyze the moral
criticism of these two concepts and their reflection in contemporary society. Further,
my final point will explore the topic of 1984 in the Post-epidemic Era in order to
examine current events and social issues.

Ignorance is strength: Newspeak

According to Nineteen Eighty-Four, the Ministry of Truth coordinates the production
and output of all media. The list includes newspapers, films, textbooks, television
programs, novels, children's books, and Newspeak dictionaries. Additionally, all
political and ideological content is updated on a daily basis. For example, Winston, the
main character in the novel, is responsible for updating the magazines whenever Big
Brother or any department announces information that contradicts or contradicts the
past. His task even included making up characters and plots to conform to Ingsoc's
political propaganda principles. As soon as the government made the changes, they
destroyed the original version. Therefore, whenever Ingsoc-related information is
presented to the public, whether it is current, past, or even future predictions, they are
always correct, demonstrating its power. It should be noted that this absurd debunking
technique represents the close relationship that exists between regimes, the media, and
fake news in real life.

Although modern society appears to be free and democratic, it is tainted by massive

monitoring, misinformation, and spam. In many cases, it is difficult to get a clear picture
of what is happening on the other end of the world. There is no way to determine
whether the news exposing fake news is legitimate news. In light of this truth, we may
no longer be so convinced that many seemingly free-willed choices are in fact the
natural consequences of unfiltered and uncontrolled choices. Just as the party slogan in
this book says, “War is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength.”, as long
Introduction to ethics & critical thinking
Assignment 3
George Orwell, 1984 (1949) Min-Yi Chen

as we do not value the ability to think independently and only passively receive
information from the outside world, we cannot claim that our thoughts are truly free.

Moral confusion and conflict

In the storyline, Winston, a forty-year-old protagonist, experiences the transition
between two eras: the capitalist era, which is marked by extreme inequality between
the rich and the poor and where justice is nowhere to be found; and the socialist era,
which is characterized by the empowerment of proletarians and equal rights for all.
Winston's family was poor when he was a child, but his quality of life did not seem to
have improved as he grew older. Having been under constant surveillance and being
forced to recall the “truth” in his department, Winston begins to evaluate the pros and
cons of the past and the present. In contrast to his comrades and neighbors who are
living in the present, Winston's rationality and sobriety bring him greater pain. In the
beginning, he is determined to defy the British community and is satisfied with his
exposure to “truth”. Nevertheless, after experiencing betrayal and suffering from fear,
he was discouraged and harmed by his fear. As a result, he developed into a person that
he could not understand before. At the end of this piece, Winston abandons his attempt
to be rational and submits to a vague sense of time. In this way, he finally feels like he
belongs with the rest of the “normal” crowd and is able to worship Big Brother with all
his heart and soul.

1984 in the Post-Epidemic Era

Under the baptism of democratization, most of the countries in the world have
transformed into democratic forms of government in the last few decades. Concerning
human rights, we are moving further and further away from the concept of “evil”.
However, a Freedom House study from 2021 suggests that the decline of global
democracy is accelerating, and only less than one-fifth of the world's population now
lives in fully free countries (Sarah, R. & Amy, S., 2021). Since democracy began to
deteriorate in 2006, the proportion of illiberal countries has reached a record high.
Political rights and civil liberties are declining in more countries than they are
increasing, which represents the most dramatic change in 15 years. In other words, the
rights of people have been gradually declining over the past 15 years and are now being
eroded as a result of the new pneumonia epidemic. To prevent epidemics and to
investigate them, surveillance equipment used to track people's movements has become
the most direct means for governments to prevent epidemics. As a matter of public
interest, it can be argued that monitoring individuals' movements have become a
necessary evil. However, we may also regard this as if we were incarcerated in a circular
Introduction to ethics & critical thinking
Assignment 3
George Orwell, 1984 (1949) Min-Yi Chen

prison1, as described by Jeremy Bentham. Consequently, we will be haunted by the

nightmare of “Big Brother is watching you”. When people are under surveillance, not
only is our privacy violated but our freedom of expression, assembly, and association
are also affected. In particular, those who have power and wish to combat their political
enemies will find that epidemic surveillance can be a powerful weapon.

In the opinion of the people, if our rights are violated for epidemic prevention, this is
acceptable. In contrast, if surveillance is being used for other purposes in the name of
epidemic prevention, then we should oppose that practice since no one wants to live in
a state like Oceania. Thus, in order to prevent the government from monitoring people
for epidemic prevention and to avoid the so-called “moral hazard”, the following two
options may be considered: First, the installation and use of surveillance devices should
be regulated by a specific law, especially for authorities exercising a high degree of
public power. For instance, police agencies need to have clear guidelines, and there
should be no room for abstract or broad authorization of ambiguity. In addition, we
should strengthen the protections for whistle-blowers who expose abuses, especially in
order to encourage whistle-blowers to disclose illegal surveillance data uses. To
conclude, in order to achieve the appropriate balance between our rights and the
necessary infringement of epidemic prevention, I believe we must provide a special law
for whistle-blowers and external control and supervision for authorities.

Reference
Sarah, R. & Amy, S. (2021). FREEDOM IN THE WORLD 2021. Democracy under
Siege. Freedom House, p. 2.

1
The circular prison has a surveillance tower in the center of the prison. This makes it unique in that
inmates cannot tell if someone is watching them. Instead, they feel someone may be spying on them at
any time, causing psychological pressure and obedience.