How far Nineteen Eighty Four still relevant today?

: Perception of Truth Science fiction dystopia could best be described as the extrapolative form of current reality; the maturation of scientific and technological ideologies; and what would become of them when put under pressure. However, when discussing dystopia, the approaches used by the authors are too simplistic, superficial and in lack of depth (Bhatnagar2001:1996). Whats missing is a realistic view of its consequences, which Orwell has clearly warns about in his masterpiece; Nineteen Eighty-Four. Orwells work is the first insight into dark dystopia, which writers in his time have failed to anticipate. The work received mixed reception, and arguments continue on how far Orwells prediction could be deemed correct in the current world. To quote Tiplidy (2003: 45), 1984 came and went; the human spirit and values triumphed over the despair about the future of man as portrayed by Orwell. The question rings: did us really? Orwells world clearly depicts the dark consequences of modernism being pushed to the limit (Donskis 2003: 119). In Nineteen Eighty-Four, the citizens of Oceania lived beneath the terror of constantly being monitored by the tele-screen, monitoring devices, thought police and worst of all being inform on by children of their own. The people are shielded from the truth by the works of Ministry of Truth; propagate to live in constant rage of hate to the opposing country in a continual war by Ministry of Peace and this depicts the same for Ministry of Love and Plenty. As the result, the people of Oceania live in the constant state of fear, poverty, despair, lack of basic necessity, and darkness. There are no links between man and man, man and woman, trust between spouse and their children, and friends (Orwell 1949: 280). Superficially, our world is nothing like Orwell. It might seem that his world is irrelevant to ours. However, I would argue that there is clear parallel and lessons that can be drawn from his novel. The most significant would be the perception of truth; an occurrence so common that the society regards it. The theory is we are not forced, but culture conditioned us to confirm to the standard of normalcy the society has to offer. It refuses the people within the society, opportunities and possibilities to think outside the norm. The conditioning of mind is done by the elements of the society, such as traditions, rumours, books, language and history.

Mind conditioning is proven possible in both real life and Orwells world. The reason behind it is human minds are easily influenced and are vulnerable to change. For instance, when strained by his deepest fear in room 101, Winston breaks down and submitted himself to O'Briens conditioning (Orwell 1949: 300). This theory proves to be accurate in the real world as well. For example, humans nowadays tend to believe anything that is feed by the media. A good example is the Kony 2012 video by Invisible Children; done by organisation heavily criticised for its reputation, practice and intention (Schomerus et. al. 2000: 1). Societys lack of understanding to serious issue, such as the lack of transparency in the organisations finance, could lead to manipulation of public donation and funding. The initial wave of support the video received after it went viral on the internet is the perfect example of mind conditioning. Society is vulnerable to openly accepting any form of input as the truth without concerns on its legitimacy. Perception of truth is evident in Orwells world when history and facts are changed in favour of the ruling figure. For instance, Winston works for the Ministry of Truth, who propagate events and altering history to suit the Big Brother needs. For instance, he is involved in changing historical records when Oceania stopped fighting Eurasia and becomes ally instead (Orwell 1949: 188). In the world we are living in today, we are also vulnerable to fabricated historical facts done to the advantage of some. For instance, we are led to believe that Christopher Columbus discover America when in fact it had been habituated hundreds of years before by the Native Americans (Nuttall 1900). Even though there are ample evidences that there are people living on the new land; history permit Columbus to claim on the land with the name of the King and Queen. Until today, this perception of truth continues to breathe freely within our society. Another important argument for the perception of truth is the degradation of language. In Orwells world, in effect of the ruling party, language became a medium of propaganda. Language is being cut to the bone, and vocabulary gets smaller (Orwell 1949:54). Ingsoc introduced a deliberately impoverished language, (Allied Chambers 1999: 921); the new speak to ensure their scandalised intention a success. This enables the party to limit thought and emotions. In comparison to the world we are living in

today, it is arguable that degradation of language is present. This is the era where language has lost its power and effectiveness (Baglow 1987: 14). However, unlike in Orwells world, we faced language degradation as the result of it being constantly abused and used in an unskilled manner such as on the social networking sites and marketing. Such constant abuse on the language is the main reason for its degradation; and as concluded by Baglow (1987: 14) this is the age of linguistic overkill. Also, the prospect of perception of truth is achieved through re-education. In Orwells world, thought criminals are re-educated before releasing them back into the society. For instance, Winston, Julia and others are threatened with their deepest fear: Room 101 for the purpose of politic and society reintegration. This helps Ingsoc to create a world based on fear, rage, triumph, and self-abasement; which is the exact opposite to the hedonistic Utopias (Orwell 1949:279). Unsurprisingly, in the current world, reeducation of human minds is also present. It can be seen through the history of mankind and in the present world. For instance, re-education camp in Vietnam, established following the end of the Vietnam War; where the government of Vietnam imprisoned thousands of people working with the previous Vietnamese regime with all intentions to repress and indoctrinate them( Denney 1990). The idea that it is very simple to torture people into believing new beliefs is the exact evidence of perception of truth. Some people think that science fiction dystopia is about the future. However, based on the above arguments, it is clear that Orwell is trying to give the generation today a fair warning; the cost of chasing the perfect utopian dreams on the fate of mankind. The development of science and technology are at alarming state that it is not possible that the world we are living in today ended up in a state of dystopia. Bloom (2004:47) argues that the Nineteen Eighty Four is to be seen as scenario, a device used to stimulate thinking about future implications of the present course of society. In accepting Orwells words as caution, it is possible that the fate befitted on Oceania be averted from mankind. Still, evidences of parallels between Orwells world and ours are alarming. Perception of truth is evident, in forms of mind conditionings, alterations of history and facts, degradation of language, re-education and many others.

In conclusion, there are lessons to be learnt, and act of cautions should be taken to bring to an end to dystopian transformation and qualities.

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