Four Legs Good, Big Brother Better
At the end of chapter 8, we read the words "Ignorance is Strength." This quote is one from Big Brother, essentially saying that the less people know, the stronger the Party will be. This kind of thinking is not only present in this book, but also in the book Animal Farm, in the case with the sheep.
In Animal Farm, the sheep are the dumbest animals, only repeating whatever the pigs say. In the beginning, the first and most impactful rule is “Four legs good, two legs bad.” This is in reference to the human that they overthrew, and is used throughout the first act as not only a rule, but a motto. Everything they do and say revolves around that rule. However, as the book progresses, the pigs gain more and more power, and begin to change the rules slightly, much like the Party changes the history books. By the end of book, the phrase has turned into "Four legs good, two legs better." The phrase has completely turned on its head, and it no longer means anything close to what it did to begin with.
However, the sheep continue to repeat it, not realizing what they are saying. They are akin to the phrase "blind sheep," a term used to describe someone who does not have any thoughts of their own, and simply listens to whatever the person in charge is saying. This is very similar to the proles and citizens of the Party. Everyone is living a lie, and the thigs they are know are just what is told to them, with no knowledge of themselves.
Yeah I thought of this same comparison when I was reading through 1984, as I had read Animal Farm prior to this. It is interesting to look at how the pigs have warped the phrase "four legs good, two legs bad" into something that completely lost meaning, and compare this to "war is peace", "freedom is slavery", etc. in 1984. I also saw parallels with how real life dictatorships (like Stalin's USSR) completely rewrite the history of their countries to make sure their people are subservient and don't know what it's like to be free.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a very common occurrence in Orwell's writing. He used a lot of his own personal experiences and opinions regarding the wars in Europe at the time. I think that in a lot of ways, this was a way for him to express himself and his views without worrying that there would be major repercussions
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Good comparison to Animal Farm -- and SO relevant to life. "Ignorance is Strength" is the scariest of the Party lines from this book. If people simply repeat what they're told without thinking about it -- and are actually proud of not thinking about it -- they can be made to do anything.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate the way that you highlighted the way that Orwell plays with the idea of changing history, and I also wrote my blog post about the proles essentially being treated as "sheep." We can definitely see this in many of the Proles being addicted to the lottery, but also in Party members like Parsons. Your comment that everyone has "no knowledge of themselves" was very striking and gave me a lot to think about.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why, but I empathized much more with the animals when I read Animal Farm than in 1984. I think it might have to do with the fact that we get to watch the pigs develop their authoritarian regime, thus depriving the animals of their freedom. The world we see in 1984 is after that has already happened, so the people living in it seem less like people to me, I would say.
ReplyDeleteIronic since technically the animals aren't people but the people in 1984 are more like sheep?
DeleteThis comparison really highlights the similarities between Animal Farm and 1984. We can see that Orwell is trying to show us that these societies don't have a good end, but rather always seem to turn out worse for the people, and the "blind sheep" as you put it, blindly support this government, without realizing what is happening.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read Animal Farm, but it sounds like the parallel that you're drawing here is spot-on. There is also a connection that can be drawn to modern times. Both ends of the political spectrum call the other side "sheep" to imply that they're being controlled by something bigger, whether that's the media or a specific person. I also think that the behavior of the sheep (and the people in 1984) is very telling of what can happen when the government has absolute power for such an extended period of time. When the government is the only constant, you trust them the most and absorb everything that they say, because what else do you have to grasp onto?
ReplyDeleteBeing "sheep"-like is definitely something the citizens and proles are praised for, and they know it. I think it's also interesting that you mention that sheep are the "dumbest animals" because, although not all citizens/proles are necessarily at the same intellectual level, the party definitely seems to try to keep it that way by killing off those who know too much or even appear to have the potential to be a threat.
ReplyDeleteI can see how the proles might be the sheep, but I think that they are less so the sheep than Party members like Parsons. The proles still live lives much closer to what we live today, and are simply content with that. Parsons lives through the life set out by the party and still decides to adhere to it strictly.
ReplyDeleteThe "sheeple" thing has really come up in current discourse, especially when it comes to masks and other 'rona precautions. It's interesting how "ignorance is strength" can be a double-edged sword sometimes.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read animal farm I thought of the sheep as being the happiest characters. They don't realize that the world around them is getting worse. They just repeat the propaganda given to them by the pigs, but because they don't have critical thought on their situation they are not unhappy. In 1984 we see that most members of the party are totally sold on big brother, and they are happy. Winston who is against big brother is constantly in fear and stress.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious how many people in 1984 actually swallow everything Big Brother tells them, or if their just acting so that they don't get vaporized. I think this because, from an outside perspective, Winston may seem like a sheep as well, though we know he has "counter-revolutionary" thoughts. Further, people are getting vaporized all the time so thoughts against the governmnet can't be that uncommon.
ReplyDeleteWould assume there has to be a fair amount of people who don't take Big Brother's bs, but just acting so they don't get killed.
DeleteI agree with this: I think that people don't necessarily blindly believe what the party tells them, but nobody is willing to admit that they disagree. And in effect, this is the same thing, because whether people are sheep or just acting like sheep, their behavior is the same.
DeleteThat's an interesting comparison. The proles are essentially "blind sheep." All that keeps them going is the lottery (which is unknowingly rigged by the Party as well). Without history to show how the current world came to be, and media being manipulated to only give what the Party wants them to know, they will blindly trust whatever the Party said. If they say the price of chocolate is going down, they'd trust it, even if their gut may say that it was cheaper last week.
ReplyDeleteI think the party members are especially brainwashed, but it seems like the proles are less brainwashed and more unintelligent and they don't care enough to attempt to overthrow the government. The craziest part to me was when the bomb hit an area and everyone went inside, only to come right back outside after the bomb hit the area and go on like nothing happened. I think that event showed really how unintelligent/brainwashed the proles are.
ReplyDeleteI think its also interesting to note that even people conditioned by Big Brother from birth, those who know no other life than the one they're living right know are still susceptible to committing thoughtcrime. Although the children are vehemently loyal to the Party's ideas, we can see Winston noticing adults in his life who he thinks will be taken away from thoughtcrime. I wonder where this more complex understanding of Big Brother comes from, especially because history is rewritten to their convenience anyway.
ReplyDeleteI really like your comparison between 1984 and Animal Farm, the erasure of history and rewriting what is deemed as beneficial is a gradual process, and this is evident in both novels. I completely agree with the proles in 1984 being like the sheep in Animal Farm, both the animals and citizens are so conditioned that they don't realize the complete dystopia their society has fallen into.
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