white supremacy and proles
In chapters 7-8, Winston becomes more obsessed with the lives of the proles and their role in overthrowing the party. However, it seems they could care less about the party and are unaware of how much they are being oppressed. Though the proles make up a large population of the people, they are so removed from the terrible life Winston describes under the rule of the party.
These people are somewhat unaware of what's going on, almost like our own world today. As I read I was seeing parallels to our world and the systemic issues within it. As recent events have shown us, it's as if people are living in 2 different Americas. One is riddled with oppression, violence, systemic issues, a dying environment, and much more. The other it seems is unaware of these issues, baffled by the recent "crazy" events that have spun out during the pandemic. In one way, it seems some of us are aware of a party-like issue that affects many aspects of our life (cough cough white supremacy), to others, these events come out of the blue and they don't see the underlying causes, going about their lives as the proles do often benefitting from the system (both knowingly and unknowingly).
Though I would say we are not quite at the point of thought police and total control, I think these comparisons are interesting ways to connect 1984 to our world today. What do you think?
I totally see what you're talking about. The fact that people could be unaware of how messed up our world is right now is baffling to me. Similarly Winston must find it astonishing that the proles are so unaware of the level of oppression they are under.
ReplyDeleteYES. This is a great analysis. For all that Winston sees hope in the Proles, they have no consciousness of, well, much of anything beyond their own little personal spheres.
ReplyDeleteThis is such an interesting take! I think that it's sad that just because some people are not directly involved in a problem happening, they have this mentality: I'm just glad it's not me, and move on with their lives. People think because it's not personally in their life, they don't have to worry about it and don't know the privilege they have.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is an incredibly interesting point. The similarities are definitely frightening. I think the proles are in a way kept docile through the pubs and lottery and the illusion that they are free so they don't try to leave. They are in a situation that isn't that bad for them so they don't try to change it and that mirrors a lot of what's happening in our society.
ReplyDeleteYeah I agree with all of your points about the proles, but I also kind of got the impression that they generally don't know about anything different being possible.
DeleteI agree with Haley. They seem to be quite similar to the lower castes in Brave New World (minus the genetic alteration, of course;)--easily appeased with little pleasures such as the fake Lottery in 1984 and soma in BNW, and socialized into being happy in their own little bubbles.
DeleteI agree! I think Proles are given concessions so that they have some freedoms, which hide them from how they are being taken advantage of by the party. I also enjoy the trump comic bc he has not solved any of the problems of his base supporters, like how the party does not care about the proles well being, he just used racial agitation to rile up his supporters.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with what you wrote here. I observed similar parallels while reading, and I think you put it in an interesting way. I feel like a lot of marginalized people, even if they aren't specifically taught about white supremacy and systematic oppression, they are still very aware of the facets of these things because they have been ingrained in their culture since the moment they got here like 400 years ago, so I think that's the biggest (most obvious) distinction to make between the two groups.
ReplyDeleteFascinating comparison! I think the duality of being aware of and not being aware of the problems you mentioned is an urban/rural thing, and I do think the urban/rural divide in America has gone off the rails. But I would say that it would be unfair to take this analogy to the level where we compare outer party members to urban dwellers and proles to inhabitants of rural areas. Besides the strange and harmful city-superiority complex that that could cause (and that is kind of an epidemic among urban democrats, i must say), rural areas face significant problems as well, and I think they should permeate our discussions of issues in America more.
ReplyDelete