1984

Title: 1984
Author: George Orwell
Publication Date: 1949
Publication Company: Harcourt Brace & company
Class: English IB HL
Category: Other classes



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           The book 1984 by George Orwell directly relates to theory of knowledge as Winston (the protagonist of the novel) tries to overthrow the Party by joining the Brotherhood which may or may not exist. When Winston is caught by the Party for trying to overthrow them, Winston is sent to the Ministry of Love to be “cured” into loving and supporting the Party and Big Brother. In Part III of the novel, it states “Anything could be true. The so-called laws of nature were nonsense. The law of gravity was nonsense. ‘If I wished,’ O’Brien had said, ‘I could float off this floor like a soap bubble.’ Winston worked it out. ‘If he thinks he floats off the floor, and if I simultaneously think I see him do it, then the thing happens.’…. ‘It doesn’t really happen. We imagine it. It’s hallucination.’….All happenings are in the mind. Whatever happens in all minds, truly happens” (Orwell, 229).

            Is this correct? Is reality only in the mind? Is there a world outside our mind? Do we really imagine and hallucinate every second of our life? Does this mean reality is different for every person? We cannot possibly imagine the same exact scenario, can we? How do we know if someone is thinking the same thing we are, and perceiving the world in the same manner we do? Of course, we could ask them. But how do we know the words coming out of their mouths mean the same thing we interpret it to mean? If every word means different things to different people, it makes us question how effective is our communication system? If everything is a hallucination, are we really communicating with another person or is this, also a hallucination and not reality? Does reality even exist? Or is it just a concept that we all believe in? Will we ever know? Is knowing the answer to reality existing outside our minds possible if we can only think within our minds and not anything beyond it?