Washington State University - Chinook Yearbook (Pullman, WA)

Page 25 text:

RICHARD NIXON MARCEL DESRANLEAU DENG XIAPENG JIMMY J. LEE dominated by three interchangeable superpowers who are continually at war. All three battle with each other in order to keep their subjects in a state of political frenzy and to insure per¬ petual rule over them. Humanity is caste in fear and distrust, characte¬ rized by probing two-way telescreens, truth erasing “memory holes”, and brutal thought police. The official language, Newspeak, fabricates real¬ ity to suit the party platform. The masses dwell in unthinkable poverty and constant terror, always under the thoughtful eye of their loving and omniscient leader, “Big Brother.” George Orwell, born in India and schooled in England, wrote his novel in 1948 and published it in 1949, dur¬ ing which time he was severely ill. Be¬ fore dying, one year after the publica¬ tion of 1984 , he said the book “would not have been so gloomy if I hadn’t been so ill.” Many will not read the book because it is so grim; others dare not read it a second time. Still others, perusing till the depressing end of the story, realize the book is worth a look even after the passing of the prophe¬ tic year. Historically speaking, the world during Orwell’s life should have seemed relatively safe from the boot of totalitarianism. The Alliance had recently crushed the imperialistic fascism of the Axis to end World War FIDEL CASTRO LEE FENTON BALD EAGLE MEGAN CAMPBELL ABRAHAM LINCOLN IAN YOUNG II. And with the end of the war, the United States rose to global military superiority, trumpeting its pledge to fashion a world safe for democracy. During World War II, however, Orwell saw an irresistible energy in the kind of sadism displayed by the Nazis that made totalitarian regimes, founded solely on power for their own sake, believable. Orwell also per¬ ceived, with brilliant clarity, the fu¬ ture costs, in security and in wealth, that the atomic billows over Japan would create for our generation. 1984 ' s protaganist, Winston Smith, works in the ministry of truth, which is the doublethink title of the ministry of propaganda. His job is to alter news JOAN CRAWFORD TR1CJA ELLIO ' IT 1984 Expressions 21

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CONSTANTINE CHERNENKO GLENN JENKINS DAVID LEE ROTH JULIE COLLINS ADOLF HITLER AARON CHOI Big Brother is Watching You As 1984 passes, George Orwell must be spinning in his grave. Throughout the Western world, a substantial segment of the media, academia, and common citizenry are gearing up to “appreciate” his ideas and assure the rest of the world that “There will never be a 1984 in Orwell’s sense.” After everybody has gotten over the novelty of his ideas, however, and ceased to speculate as to what particular details of life in 1984 match those in 1984, they will realize that, at the present, Orwell would have sufficient cause to don his war fatigues and roll up his sleeves. Through Orwell’s field glasses, the globe by 1984 is supposed to be TOM SELLECK MARK A. CHAPMAN DAN RATHER JIM VAN COOTEN MR. T TIMOTHY DEWITT 20 Expressions 1984

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CLINT EASTWOOD STEVEN MIKKELSEN Big Brother is Watching You BOY GEORGE JOHN OTOOL GEORGE SCHULTZ HISAO SHITN1ZU items in the London Times, using the official language of the state, News- peak, so that no one will ever know the party line has changed, or that the current version of historical fact is a “rectification.” The language of Newspeak is designed to prevent peo¬ ple from thinking independently by limiting the language to a few official¬ ly approved words with reduced and precise meanings. In as much as peo¬ ple think in language, the diminished vocabulary makes it virtually impossi¬ ble to think a heretical thought. Today’s distressing trend is to an expanded, fanciful language, em¬ ploying large words and dead metaphors, which prevent thought LYNDON B. JOHNSON BRIAN LITTLE PAUL NEWMAN SABARINAH SH. AHMAD. rather than promote it. This techni¬ que allows the government to morally justify unjustifiable actions. “For as any self-respecting bureaucrat knows, it is bad form indeed to use a single, simple word when six or seven obfus¬ cating ones will do.” Orwell warns that by using cloudy images, worn out euphimisms, and large words, the reality language attempts to picture becomes muddled and confused. Bill Moyer, commentator for the CBS Evening News, reported that the United States State Department had eliminated “killing” from its vocabul¬ ary. “The unlawful or arbitrary de¬ privation of life” is used, instead. Lan¬ guage of this type smothers the reality CHEVY CHASE JEFF SCHAUB 22 Expressions 1984