Memory

Within the imaginary world of 1984 in which Winston Smith lives, there are many disturbing parallels to modern society, not the least being a lost appreciation for history and memories. While there may be many lessons to learn from this book, careful readers will undoubtedly gain an appreciation for the role which memory plays in helping individuals understand themselves and the world around them. It is evident that memories become the context in which one lives and makes decisions, and without the memories of who we are both individually, and collectively, society is lost in an abyss, drowning in the dogma of those in positions of absolute power.

Early in the novel, we learn the extent of memory suppression of Winston, and all others in Oceania. Winston is not absolutely sure which year he is currently living in, or even his age.(Orwell 9) We are given more insight as to how this deprivation of memory was accomplished by Big Brother later in the novel when Winston introduces us to his workplace at the ministry of truth. Winston is responsible to rewrite or even destroy all possible discrepancies between reality and Big Brother’s propaganda. All evidence of this is incinerated as he throws it into what is nicknamed “the memory hole” This destruction of all things that are real creates an environment which is best described by Winston himself. “Reality only exerts its pressure through the needs of everyday life---the need to eat and drink, to get shelter and clothing, to avoid swallowing poison or stepping out of top-story windows, and the like. Between life and death, and between physical pleasure and physical pain, there is still a distinction but that is all. Cut off from contact with the outer world, and with the past, the citizen of Oceania is like a man in interstellar space, who has no way of knowing which direction is up and which is down.”(Orwell 228)

Who controls the past controls the future, who controls the present controls the past. (Orwell 40) The danger which is evident in this slogan rests in the understanding that if an individual or group can gain absolute control over present affairs, they can eliminate the truth of the past, and thus control all future events. This is the genius of the party. After all, how could one possibly know the consequences of either their actions or the actions of others? Consciousness for the Consequences of actions is gained only through personal experiences and those things which one has seen others experience. The compilation of memories and experience create the backdrop to our thinking, the context and environment in which we see our current state of being. “Objects of reflection are the only originals from which all our ideas take their beginnings.”(Locke 105) In “1984” it is clear that a large part of the “party’s” strategy is to eliminate the peoples “objects of reflection”, their memories of the past. If an individual or group can simply eliminate the backdrop of reality, through fabricating the truth, their acts of cruelty and oppression are virtually invisible to the general public.

Throughout the remainder of “1984” we see the effect which indoctrination has had on society. A passage which is particularly plain in its depiction of the current state of “truth” in this imaginary world is found when Winston is speaking to his secret lover Julia about the loss of memories and his wishes to bring down Big Brother. He says, “Do you realise that the past, starting from yesterday, has been actually abolished? If it survives anywhere it is in a few solid objects with no words attached to them… Already we know we almost literally nothing about the revolution. Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book has been re-written, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street and building has be been renamed, every date has been altered. That process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists