The last man in Europe
Being in a minority, even a minority of one, did not make you mad.
“The Last Man in Europe" was one of the original titles for the book we all associate with the dystopian genre—1984.
It’s written by George Orwell (real name - Eric Arthur Blair) between 1947 and 1948 in Jura, Scotland, and was sent to the publisher on the 4th of December, 1948.
Orwell couldn’t decide on the title between "The Last Man in Europe" and “1984”, but his publisher, Fredric Warburg (who also published books for Franz Kafka), suggested 1984.
1984 is a much-talked-about book, and most of the things that I want to write about it, have already been written.
So, I’d like to talk about 1984 through ten quotes that I’ve chosen from it that I love for their educational and behavioral value:-
1. “If all records told the same tale then the lie passed into history and became truth. ‘Who controls the past’, ran the Party slogan, ‘controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.’”
By controlling the information we consume, those in power can choose what information to share and what to throw into oblivion to promote a certain political agenda.
From book bans in the US to deletion of certain aspects of history from national textbooks in India, this practice hasn't died down.
2. “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted all else follows.”
In our present times, we can express a basic truth without any fear in most countries.
Nonetheless, many countries still try to actively suppress the supposed truth. An example of this is Saudi Arabia, Oman, Algeria and Morocco banning the teaching of evolution. They could have denied the evolution theory but banning it seemed unnecessary and Orwellian.
3. “In moments of crisis one is never fighting against an external enemy, but always against one’s own body.”
This quote doesn’t have relevance in the political arena but in our human nature. This thought had stuck the protagonist Winston when he was in immediate danger of being found out by the thought police, "but precisely because of the extremity of his danger, he had lost the power to act.”
4. “If you kept the small rules, you could break the big ones.”
This quote was by Julia, the lover of Winston. Unlike him she didn’t want to overthrow the government, she just wanted the freedom to do what she wants to do. So, by keeping the big rules she would break the small rules here and there.
Same way how people find ways to live their lives in a dangerous and controlling place. This quote shows the strong-will of people to survive.
5. “The aim of the High is to remain where they are. The aim of the Middle is to change places with the High. The aim of the Low, when they have an aim, is to abolish all distinctions and create a society in which all men should be equal.”
While this is not exactly the same in our world, I like this quote because it shows the class struggle between different groups and how each individual only cares about what benefits them.
6. “In the face of pain there are no heroes, no heroes, he thought over and over as he writhed on the floor, clutching uselessly at his disabled left arm.”
When in pain, we forget what we were fighting for and why we were fighting. All that remains is the pain and the desperation for it to go away.
This quote shows how easy it is to break a human’s mind, to make them lose their aim, and to destroy what they believe in.
7. “What can you do against the lunatic who is more intelligent than yourself, who gives your arguments a fair hearing and then simply persist in his lunacy?”
We all have at one point asked ourselves a question like this when we debate with a person. It feels that what we are saying is falling on deaf ears and whatever argument we present they simply persist in their “lunacy”.
8. “Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship.”
We’ve seen a lot of circumstances in which this seems to be true. Not only in the 20th century, but also in the 21st century. A lot of countries which experienced Arab spring are again in a way dictatorships. Sudan which had a revolution very recently is going through a civil war now.
Why? Because the ones who were given the power after the revolution didn’t want to lose that power. Just like the speaker of this quote in another line said: No one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it.
9. “What knowledge have we of anything save through our own minds? All happenings are in the mind. Whatever happens in all minds, truly happens.”
This quote never fails to give me an existential crisis. What if everything is a delusion? What can I even perceive save through my own mind?
This quote seems extremely similar to The matrix theory and Hinduism’s Maya.
10. “Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious.”
The people living in Oceania (the dystopia in 1984) will not rebel because they don’t know what’s happening to them is wrong and until they have rebelled they wouldn’t know about this.
So, by keeping people in an illusion the government made sure that they will always stay in power…
I love talking about 1984, more so now, because as Dorian Lynskey, the author of The Ministry of Truth said: “I hesitate to say that 1984 is more relevant than ever, but it’s a damn sight more relevant than it should be.”
