I must say it, I believe I am part of the 0,000001% of my classmates that did not have to read 1984 as an assignment for middle/high school, thus, I asked many of them, the ones that already read it, about what they felt and/or remember about the book, and most of them agreed on something: all they could think of was how frightening they were once they were reading it/finished reading it. And now I understand why, but who would not be scared? We are talking about the presence of some of the most triggering elements a human being could ever find in his/her life. 1984 is one of the most important literary works of the XX century, not only because of its writing and content quality, but also because its relation to the foresight of different events that have actually been happening, as a sort of prediction.
Furthermore, this post will focus on Edgar Allan Poe’s "The Man of the Crowd" as well, aiming to connect certain concepts presented in both works.
- Fear, reign o’er me
Starting with 1984, one of the main elements of this masterpiece is the lack of privacy. It is the year 1984 and London is under the power of the dystopian totalitarianism of The Party. The Big Brother’s regime has taken all over freedom by rejecting any kind of autonomy thinking and everything has been developed up to a desolation and mental coercion regarding the upcoming dependence on the government. Every movement, every thought, every rebellious kind of act was under the supervision of different Ministries, which were the way how the government was divided in order to maintain control. Well, this measure had no other goal than controlling the population by brainwashing them through different types of torture. This method of manipulation and surveillance to dominate every human life led to a mixture of feelings and emotions throughout the history. One of these moments that caught my attention was when Winston recognizes Julia after talking to Mr. Charrington, he gives an impression of being terrified, but in the sense of being scared of a continuous belief he had in his head since he thought he was being followed by her, expressing his feelings of fear in an odd mixture of hate and love, in which he also states that he thought of causing her physical harm: “He could keep on her track till they were in some quiet place, and then smash her skull in with a cobblestone. The piece of glass in his pocket would be heavy enough for the job.” (85), however, the idea was deserted rapidly.
Terror management is also a key feature in these kinds of regimens, in which they provoke citizens to be under a constant fear of death because if there is any kind of rejection or avoidance of the rules.
“The TMT (Terror Management Theory) is rooted in a long tradition of thought regarding human awareness of death and its role in psychological functioning The theory posits that to manage the potential for terror engendered by the awareness of mortality, humans sustain faith in worldview which provide a sense that they are significant beings in an enduring, meaningful world rather than mere material animals fated only to obliteration upon death.” (Greenberg & Arndt 398)
The TMT is shown in the main characters of the novel, being Winston the one portrayed as an undercovered rebellious at first which only expressed his thoughts in his diary in order to keep them hidden, Julia, who wants a change of the system, but is not that interested since, perhaps, she still keeps certain fear by having a complete change after all they are currently living, and O’Brien, who although was never actually part of the brotherhood, was part of the Inner Party and followed the rules of converting people to his side, as it was an obligation for the members of it.
- Into the psychological world of mystery
According to Zimbardo, “terrorism is about one thing: Psychology. It is the psychology of fear. It is the psychology of inducing fear in a target population for political objectives. It is the weaponization of fear and anxiety induction, usually by a small group opposed to the political, economic, religious and/or social agenda of a larger, more powerful, entrenched group.”.
The propaganda, the settlement of the Newspeak, the telescreens and the machines that control every aspect of each human being is what pressure is causing in the society, making the place unbearable to live and giving it the sense of emptiness.
This change of weather had an odd effect upon the crowd, the whole of which was at once put into new commotion, and overshadowed, by a world of umbrellas.” (428)
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| Illustration by Harry Clarke for a London edition dated 1923. |
This sensation of scenery is also developed in the mind by certain moments in "The Man of the Crowd", in which according to the narration, the action of the participants become clearer, as the shades (light) and weather of the scene changes, giving it another aura. Within the text, we can see that the unknown man is presented after a huge introduction of the details noticed by the narrator, but obviously his expression, the feature that interest the storyteller the most depicts a special essence in the character, that separates him from the rest of the crowd. The mystery of the man by itself and the thoughts of the narrator towards the possible options of the man’s reasons to move around and live in his own world makes me think of an invisible person. Not as a transparent one, but as a human created by the nature itself and built by what the person who is watching him believes he is. According to Silviu Mihai, “ being a man of the crowd implies the feeling of loving being incognito, which takes the man up to the point of modesty” (1), leading me to believe that this status of “being incognito” can be accurately used when someone does not want to show him/herself after doing a particular action that could have lamely consequences or after the revelation of a secret. That point allows me to connect this man with the beginning of the story: “There are some secrets which do not permit themselves to be told.” (425), perhaps, stating that the man’s boundaries are his actions and that’s why he keeps an expression that makes him to isolate from the rest of the crowd. Secrets seen as something negative can also be noticed in 1984, where, for instance, Winston keeps his ideas hidden in a diary, his secrets, since are dangerous according to the plan of the totalitarian system, and dangerous of himself as well, due to the exposure of torture he can be involved if he demonstrates his real thoughts towards the government.
- “But he/she didn’t see me.”
In both texts, we can notice the idea of being followed/follow someone as a way to discover the motivation of certain people to act. In "The Man of the Crowd" it is the central theme, since the narrator, after noticing some characteristics of a group of people he sees (crowd) focuses on a man who has a particular expression he had never seen before, and continues following him, being really careful in order to avoid arousing suspicion, so as he can discover why the man has that expression and why he moves around shop by shop. In 1984, Winston feels constantly followed by Julia, since he thinks she is following him because she is a member of the Thought Police, and could expose him to the truth that he is actually against the system. However, she happens to be also against the doctrine, so he can feel more confidence and start a hidden relationship. But, why do these people called the attention of both narrators? In Orwell’s novel, even though Winston thinks that Julia is a loyal member of the Party, she still gets his attention, an uncertain feel, but still she is part of his thought evidently through a great part of the beginning. In the case of Poe’s, the narrator pays attention to the man because of his expression, but even though it is never said why exactly he has that expression nor another reason of why this man was so important for the narrator, he might see himself reflected to him, just because the way he behaves. Paul Hurl points out another reason of what could refer to the focus towards the man: “The narrator cannot classify the man's face because the face itself represents the already-generalized character of the crowd. The stranger is no just another face in the crowd; it is all them” (131). Nevertheless, I would rather focus on the action, since what is followed is what the characters have done, as Winston’s main actions to be followed for are his diary and his thoughts, and the man could be thinking about a crime he committed or a sudden thought he might have had.
- Emotional terror: violence to escape
In the end of 1984, Julia and Winston are found in their affair and are both punished, and O’Brien tortures mentally and psychologically to Winston since he was not liable to accept the doctrine, even though under pressure O‘Brien reaches his goal and “dehumanize” Winston, by leading him to betray his ideas and Julia. But what is in Room 101? Simply a place to face your fears.
"Do anything to me!" he yelled. "You've been starving me for weeks. Finish it off and let me die. Shoot me. Hang me. Sentence me to twenty-five years. Is there somebody else you want me to give away? Just say who it is and I’ll tell you anything you want. I don't care who it is or what you do to them. I've got a wife and three children. The biggest of them isn't six years old. You can take the whole lot of them and cut their throats in front of my eyes, and I'll stand by and watch it. But not Room 101!" (195) - the first prisoner.
Placed in the Ministry of Love, which maintained the law and order, the place with no windows, is supposed to cure the “mental disabilities” of people who is against the system, by inducing shock through violence, and there is no escape unless they change of mind. In Poe’s and Orwell’s texts I see, somehow, fear is used to escape, since, for instance, in the first case, the narrator sees from the outside what I believe he captions himself, which could mean that he is trying to see how the man escapes from his own mind, his own cause of that expression, so he can do the same. In the latter, Winston, from the inside of the bubble, sees his own escape as keeping with him a diary in which he can write from a place that is not under the vision of the cameras, but this diary gives him the opportunity to have his own stream of consciousness and makes him aware of the relations he holds within his work/town. Both characters reject what relates them with society; Winston rejects society as well as the unknown man rejects the same flow of the crowd.
Conclusion:
Torture to the mind: we all have our background, we all have our own thoughts, but we are all under pressure by what mass asks for. People and media, the highest controllers of the world, of your own mind. Just go on with your life. I can say just one thing, and it is that I am very thankful that I got to read this masterpiece now, in a moment of my life where I can make sense of more things.
References
Arndt, Jamie & Greenberg, Jeff. Terror Management Theory. 2008.
Hurh, Paul. American Terror: The Feeling of Thinking in Edwards, Poe, and Melville. Stanford University Press. California, 2015.
Mihai, Silviu. Mystery and Modernism in the Man of the Crowd. 2010.
Orwell, George. 1984. Penguins Books Ltd. New York, 1950.
Poe, Edgar Allan. The Complete Tales & Poems of Edgar Allan Poe: The Man of the Crowd. Castle Books. New York, 2002.
Zimbardo, Philip. State Terror and State-Sanctioned Terrorism: Models of Mind and Behavior Control in Orwell’s 1984, as Operationalized Jim Jones in the Peoples Temple Mass Suicide/Murders. 2005.
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