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“To what extent has the study of Nineteen Eighty-Four and your related text enhanced your understanding of inconsistencies and human experiences”

My study of 1984 and my related text has greatly enhanced my understanding of the inconsistencies of human experiences, as the experience of seeking purpose, truth and connection places individuals faced with an oppressive force in a fragile and hopeless situation. In the novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four” George Orwell explores how totalitarian regimes’ abuse of power exploits human vulnerability, whilst corrupting their human desire for meaning. Furthermore, in the poem “O What is That Sound”, W H Auden investigates how the manipulation of human relationships can leave individuals defenceless to the inconsistencies in human nature. Each of these text’s further my knowledge of vulnerability by exploring ways in which it is exploited as well as the destructive consequences that ensue.

In 1984, Orwell provokes questions regarding the abuse of power by totalitarian regimes and how their repression forces individuals into vulnerable situations where their freedom is stripped from them, as well as driving them into a state of apathetic subservience. In Stalinist Russia, the strict monitoring of the NKVD and persecution of those that exhibited behaviour that exhibited capitalist beliefs or those who spoke out against the government were used as tactics to incite fear and submission in society as an abuse of their supreme power. This oppression is reflected in 1984 with the recurring motif of telescreens to monitor citizens of Oceania, resulting in people’s freedom being compromised. This is further evident in the concept of thought crime and the thought police, with Winston stating “thought crime does not entail death; thought crime is death”. The metaphor highlights the way that the regime is controlling human behaviour and infringing upon personal privacy so that individuals cannot even entertain thoughts that question the government. Furthermore, this loss of freedom leads

to inconsistencies in the human condition, evident in Winston exclaiming “I hate purity, I hate goodness! I don't want any virtue to exist anywhere. I want everyone to be corrupt to their bones.”, the irony of his dialogue with Julia, displaying how the constant repression by the party can corrupt the individuals value for moral behaviour. This is further explored in the paradoxical slogan “Freedom is Slavery”, exhibiting how the government has forced the population to submit to their will, accepting even the most contradictory of propaganda such as the motif 2+2=5. Through the skilful representation of political devices used by totalitarian dictatorships, Orwell displays how the exploitation of a helpless collective can result in loss of freedoms and moral behaviour.

Similarly, in ‘O what is that sound’, the notion of inconsistencies in human nature is further explored through the human experiences of fear and apathy, as well as exploring the manipulation of human relationships. Auden’s poem was written in response to the tragic collective human experiences felt during WW1, and how the desensitisation of individuals left them hopeless to an apathetic mindset that lead to fatal consequences. The poem is about a married couples dialogue to each other as an army slowly approaches their house. This apathy is displayed through the quotes “Only the scarlet soldiers, dear” and “Only the sun on their weapons dear”. The repetition of ‘Only’ and dear’ as well as the casually reassuring tone implies that the speaker has been at war for a long time now, and is apathetic to the dangers that may be present. Similarly, to Orwell’s 1984 with people’s rationality is contested when faced with an oppressive force, is exhibited by the speaker’s accusations of the “farmer, so cunning, so cunning”. The use of repetition depicts the soldier’s boots thudding on the ground, marching towards the house and thus evoking the incriminating dialogue from the first speaker, selfishly reassuring that they were not the ones at fault. Furthermore, the integrity of human relationships is contested and eventually destroyed when faced with an

oppressive force and their survival in question. In the quote “O where are you going? Stay with me here! Were the vows you swore deceiving, deceiving?”, The shorter sentences displaying the panic and angst evident as she criticises her husband. He responds with “No, I promised to love you, dear, but I must be leaving” the irony of his response demonstrating that the “vows” he “swore” were worth nothing to him in the face of death, further reinforcing the notion that when faced with the terror of an oppressive force, people will succumb to the negative human experiences of betrayal to survive. Overall, Auden’s poem explores the inconsistencies in human nature such as apathy and betrayal, that ignite when in a state of terror due to an oppressive force.

Similar to Auden, Orwell explores the destructive impact that an oppressive force has on human experiences, through the representation of a totalitarian regime and its manipulation of human relationships to maintain control. During Hitler’s regime, he maintained control by uniting the people against a common enemy, the Jews and communists, as well as supressing any retaliation against the Nazi party through the use of the Gestapo and the Hitler youth. One of the most effective ways of redirecting people’s emotions are by uniting them against a common enemy depicted by Goldstein in 1984. “A hideous ecstasy of fear and vindictiveness, a desire to kill, to torture, to smash faces in with a sledge-hammer, seemed to flow through the whole group of people like an electric current, turning one even against one’s will”. This quote uses simile to display how the party has harnessed the collective hate against the party and redirected it at an external figure, manipulating the peoples will into submission and ultimately love for Big Brother as their “saviour”. Another method of control that the party uses is the control of human relationship of love, corrupting one of the most intimate human experiences of love into “our duty to the party”, the dialogue of Kathryn to Winston exhibiting the party’s control of love to anyone but big brother. Furthermore, the

party maintains control by crushing any hope of resistance that arises. “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – forever.” The use of metaphor and formatting of forever, displays the how the party extinguishes any opportunity at hope – and even when hope is fully wiped out, they will create more traitors just to be seen doing it again, solidifying their inexorable control. This quote is also similar to the use of repetition to imitate the stomping of the soldier’s boots in Auden’s poem, and highlights the vulnerability of the collective in the face of an oppressive power. The final destruction of hope is delivered with Winston’s desperate pleas “Do it to Julia” exhibiting the obliteration of his only human relationship, and how the party’s use exploitation of the greatest human weakness, terror, has led Winston to succumb to the ultimate act of selfishness and betrayal. Through the party’s use of various oppressive techniques, Orwell depicts how they are able to corrupt and manipulate human relationships and the human experiences tied to them.

Thus, both composers expose how the of abuse of power leading to loss of freedom and the manipulation of human relationships, that ensue due people succumbing to an oppressive force. These arguments put forward by both composers have enhanced my understanding of human vulnerability to a great extent....