Freedom and Security: Regan & Orwell - English 10 - PDF

Talia Hodgsonn Gebhrad/DeLeno English 10 February 6, 2025 Ronold Regan once said: "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction." What he meant by this was that each generation must work to preserve rights for the future generations and that you cannot take for granted your fre...

Talia Hodgsonn Gebhrad/DeLeno English 10 February 6, 2025 Ronold Regan once said: "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction." What he meant by this was that each generation must work to preserve rights for the future generations and that you cannot take for granted your freedom and security. George Orwell wrote 1984 to show what would happen if freedom was lost. Orwell demonstrates how total government control can take away freedom from the people and how devastating it can be. Similar to Regan, Orwell wants to instill in people the idea that they cannot take their freedom and security for granted and that they need to work to preserve it. In 1984 Orwell creates a world where the government controls everything that you do. Constant surveillance and harsh punishment to ensure that the people never step out of line. The problem is the people are really unhappy, and the conditions are not good, but there is constant brainwashing to get people to think that they are better off than they were before. The government constantly lies to its people and outlaws' speculation that maybe they aren't doing a good job. Orwell character Winston works in the Ministry of Truth. His job is to rewrite history and destroy old articles that might make the government look bad. "Who controls the past, controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past" (34). The government uses this slogan to justify lying to its people. They need to have complete control over their people because if they do not then the people will realize they want change. The government calls this lying and rewriting "Reality control". They use nice language to gaslight people into thinking that "Reality control" is a good thing. The government manipulates its people into thinking they are actually free. With complete government control the only free people are the people who can think for themselves. Orwell writes, "Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows" (80,81). This means that if the government can't control what you know to be true, then that is the freedom you can give yourself. This essentially means that you must educate yourself to steer clear from getting brainwashed. Winston knows that two plus two equals four, but he also knows a lot more that he shouldn't know. This idea of two plus two equaling four is repeated throughout the book and shows that Winston has knowledge and with his knowledge he has freedom of thought. Once you are brainwashed you no longer have freedom of thought. Before Winston is caught for disobeying the government he thinks "You were the dead; theirs was the future. But you could share in that future if you kept alive the mind as they kept alive the body, and passed on the secret doctrine that two plus two make four" After Winston is caught and severely brainwashed Orwell writes "2+2=5" (290). This symbolizes that Winston is now completely stripped from freedom. All they had was their own thoughts, but the government took that away too. Reagon stresses the importance of keeping your freedom. That if you do not fight to keep your freedom it will be lost. In 1984 there is a class of people who are very poor they are called the "Proles" they are allowed to be free because they are seen as animals. Repeated throughout the book Winston thinks; "If there is hope it lies with the proles" (69etc.) Because the people's freedom has already been lost, they have to fight to gain it back. Winston thinks that the proles would be able to do this because they can think for themselves, they aren't as controlled as the upper classes. "The future belonged to the proles" (220) Winston thought. If the future belonged to the proles than maybe the upper class would no longer be in power, but Winston thinks "at the least it would be a world of sanity. Where there is equality there can be sanity" (220) Where there is equality and sanity there can be freedom and security. Although the Reagon wants people to preserve their freedom while Winston wants people to gain it back, the idea of fighting for what is right still pervades. Orwell and Reagon's message that you cannot take your freedom and security for granted is portrayed to their audience by instilling a mild fear in them. Both Reagon's quote and Orwell's book introduce the idea that things could be bad. The idea that freedom could be lost between generations hopefully adds some urgency to what Reagon is trying to portray. That things can change so fast, so what you do matters. Orwell's book impresses onto its readers what could happen if they don't fight for their freedom and security. It gives a direct, seemingly realistic, example of how terrible it could be if freedom is lost. Orwell and Reagon are both trying to instill in people that you must work to preserve freedom and security; it cannot be something you take for granted.