Freedom

As I read George Orwell's 1984 I began to realize how the people in their society lack the basic freedoms that we have. People all across our country rejoice in the freedom of speech, association, and conscience. Yet the people in 1984 are silent thoughtless individuals. The people are afraid to speak their mind because of the risk of committing thought crime and they aren't willing to share their opinions or ideas with anybody because of the risk of that person revealing their ideas to the thought police. What groups they do support are government run organizations which promote chastity and spying. These groups may fulfill one's social requirements but they don't give a person the chance to think critically. This idea brings me to believe that the 1984 people have no conscience. The dictionary defines conscience as, "The awareness of a moral or ethical aspect to one's conduct together with the urge to prefer right over wrong," and both of these qualities the 1984 people are not required to posses. Those individuals who do posses these abilities are either not educated enough to use them or are too scared to show that they have them. The people who do show it are captured and tortured until they lose the ability. In our society most are encouraged to develop morals and ethics in order to run the country successfully and be able to fit into society. We punish those who don't have morals and ethics and commit senseless acts with jail time or penalties. 1984 represents in some way the opposite of what society looks like today, yet their society still is successful.