1984 With a Happy Ending

If you have been following this blog for a while, you may remember our previous posts of the novel 1984, by George Orwell. The fictional dystopia described in this book is one of the things that, other than Mr. Freeze, sends chills down your bones and freezes your blood. To be watched every minute of your life right down to your very thoughts, where even the most popular human being can be alone, gives the government the pleasure of power while the people under its rule suffer miserably. When reading this book, we think to ourselves, It’s not possible. No government can have that kind of power. And it’s true (in my opinion). There will always be just enough people to revolt against the tyranny. And I say that because there is one film that proves even one person can make an enormous difference.

The movie “V for Vendetta” is one of my favorite superhero films of all time. Right behind the Batman movies. The setting of this movie is much like that of Oceania in 1984. There is a Big Brother: Adam Sutler, the one man with unlimited power. There is a Winston Smith: Evey Hammond, who works for a company that alters media records to favor the majority party, Norsefire. The main character walks around and sees the evil of the government but cannot do anything about it until she meets another person who also sees the evils of the government. Because she was suspected of being an accomplice of this man, V, she is arrested and tortured. But the similarities to 1984 end there. V is not a Julia; he does not defy the party just to defy them. His goal is to destroy their regime and raise their people against them. Evey is not as weak-willed as Winston and withstands her torture to the point where she is mentally ready to die. “Big Brother” is taken down (and is a real person) and his party falls into shambles trying to capture the anarchist.

I’ll not reveal any more of this movie, because it is a must-see. Unlike 1984, V for Vendetta starts at square one and does not double back. The ending is much more satisfying than 1984 and one feels that the power is back with the people rather than the government. “Remember, remember the 5th of November.”

“The past was dead, the future was unimaginable.”

The “Big Brother” reference occurs prominently in the book, The Hunger Games. The idea is that Panem is synonymously “Big Brother” can help us compare and contrast along with the book 1984. In reference to the plot of the novel, The Hunger Games, 1984 is significantly similar in the way that both worlds are controlled in means. The protagonist in the novel, Katniss Everdeen described how she felt trapped in her world, and how she wanted to win against the games of Panem. Winston on the other hand, significantly feels the same way living in the tyranny of the ruling Party, known to us as Ingsoc in the novel.

“Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious.”

“I’m more than just a piece in their Games.”

Both of these protagonists feels the weight of the power of these totalitarian governments that they don’t know who they are as personal individuals anymore. The power of the control of the governments gives a great impact to the characters in the story, leaving them feeling lost in the world of their own. Progressively, both of them gets an internal spark in them, a strong passion to go above and go to forth pursuing their ultimate dream of essentially overthrowing totalitarianism. According to the plot of The Hunger Games, it is predicted that in 1984, rebellion will eventually and fundamentally occur, concurrently in conclusion of the novels.