1984+Essay

Dear Boethius, August 4, 1984 Excuse me sir, but I am afraid your statement: "You cannot impose anything on a free mind, and you cannot move from its state of inner tranquility a mind at peace with itself and firmly founded om reason," is now false. It might have been evident in your time, but now, it happens everyday. This is how our governmenthas ways of getting into our minds.

In the current time, 1984, we have this thing in which we like to call doublethink. This is the ability to be told a lie, know you're being told a lie, but you can still believe it. This enables our leaders to make up anything they want and every person who is able to use doublethink will easily believe it. But if you are not able to use doublethink, that makes you a thoughtcriminal.Thoughtcrime is thinking impure thoughts which could lead to wrongdoing. "Thoughcrime doesn't entail death: thoughtcrime is death." (Pg. 32) This is true, because it doesn't cause death, because you do not die, but at the same time, you do. That is the end of the life that you were currently living. They will change you, and kill you while you have a pure mind.

Another way our leaders keep ultimate control is only having love for your leader. They have even gotten this philosophy to where there is no love for a family or a life partner. Even the sex between a husband and a wife is supposed to be terrible. "She hated it, but nothing would make her stop doing it. She used to call it our duty to the Party." (Pg. 145) By Party it meant the government and the duty was to make more children to go into and work for the Party. People didn't like sex because of the group: The Anti-Sex League. This was a group which was completely against sex and only participated in it to reproduse so the Party can have more pure-minded workers. There is another group called the Junior Spies. These are kids who hate their parents and wanted to catch them and turn them into the thoughtpolice as thoughtcriminals. Thios helps the government in ridding the place of thoughtcriminals.

More ways they keep control over the population is by devices we call telescrees and microphones. The telescreen is an oblong metal plaque where announcements can be given and people were watching through them watching your every move. Microphones are are devices which capture the words you speak. " Big Brother is watching you." (Pg. 3) Big Brother was the leader and he truly was watching you in hopes of catching you as a thoughtcriminal. They could see or hear absolutely everything you do or say, unless you can somehow go where ther are none of the contraptions around. Only the highest members of the party have the ability to shut these things off. This way, you are never alone and can never have any privacy.

As you can see,Big Brother has many ways of maintaining his power and getting into your mind. When you get caught for being a thoughtcirminal, Big Brother is your mind. Therefore, I hate to say it, you are without a doubt incorrect.