He went back to reading books and newspapers with increasing frequency and George Orwell's novel 1984.
This is a topic of undoubted relevance: the author imagines In fact, a tyranny based on control and manipulation of information and the most rigid and ruthless repression of all forms of political and intellectual freedom. Sgarra who commits the sin of sins, the "psicoreato," which resulted in social excommunication with dire consequences, final.
"The psicoreato not result in death, it is death."
The character of the story is named Winston Smith, "the last man in Europe", as Orwell at first wanted to call the book. Smith works at the Ministry of Truth, which is committed to "rewrite," according to the needs of the moment, the news about the past, burn the original files and replace them with those 'reworked'.
Smith knew, but maybe it was the only one left to have a historical memory and desire to learn. "Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two equals four," she kept repeating. "It was not true, as the chronicles, that the Party had invented airplanes. He reminded them airplanes since the earliest childhood, but could not prove anything. There were no more tests. "
She was tragically alone. The last man to have some shred of knowledge and, above all, to keep some interest.
"But this knowledge, where were you? Only in his consciousness, which in any case would soon be destroyed. E if everyone accepted the lie imposed by the Party, if all the documents tell the same story, that's the lie became a historical fact, so true. "Who controls the past," said the slogan of the Party "controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past "."
The Ministry of Truth was also responsible for drafting the "Newspeak," which consisted of a progressive simplification of the language: more and more limited vocabulary and phraseology of building more and more essential. An ongoing work of scissors: vocabularies with fewer pages. More Newspeak is made thin, easier communications - both public and private - Were controlled. And not only that: "The main goal toward which the Newspeak is to restrict the maximum scope of thought. At the end we will make it psicoreato literally impossible, because there will be no words with which it can express. " The population was divided in two. On the one hand, the majority, "Prole", to which there were no concerns of any kind: neither of them was interested in politics or aspired to careers in power; worked, is distracted with pornography that was Ammann abundance, is fun, procreated, getting drunk, a shapeless mass and impersonal. Prole I could never rebel.
Then there was the wide ruling class who took care of everything, a multitude of bureaucrats and officials framed and very controlled. Through an extensive network of television transmitting each phrase was intercepted, monitored every move, while were incessantly disseminated press releases of the Party. A continuous and relentless indoctrination.
Winston Smith, to write a few lines in a diary, was forced to crouch in a corner behind the screen: the only point of the house where the eye of Big Brother did not come.
As Orwell, with surprising insight, has provided our time will confirm the use of a dictionary today more and more internationalized and thin, widespread phone tapping, faxes, e-mail, the opportunity to use computers as environmental microphones, and still be able to locate a phone, even if turned off, the ease with which one can reconstruct a person's movements and activities through the ATM, credit cards and Telepass. Oceania, the reign of Big Brother - whose capital is London - is in a constant state of war. For the most part a distant war, so much so that Smith often wonders whether it is an actual conflict or just a contrived false information useful to keep in awe the people, ask her sacrifices, her live a united feeling of hatred.
But there are bombs that fall rocket-close and do damage and casualties, and that end to dispel any possible doubt on the existence in most of the enemy. Like today. But "the rocket bombs which fell daily on London were probably dropped by the government ocean-ania, to keep people in fear." The awareness of being at war, and therefore in danger, makes the concentration of all power in the hands of a small caste seem the only and unavoidable condition in order to survive. " And again: "No matter what war is really fought for, and as the ultimate victory is impossible, it does not matter if the war goes well or badly, is just a state of war persists." Winston Smith, the character of Orwell's novel, falls in psicoreato: reject approval, wants a private life free, with the woman he loves, even in a dirty room and is uncomfortable, but without controls, and even coming to practice the rebellion. Is discovered, interned, tortured, approved in force. To quell '"last man in Europe', the end is desperate and no return. Winston Smith, before collapsing, said his tormentor: "I do not know, nor care, but you fail in your intent. Something will defeat you. Life will defeat you. " "I know you will fail. Is there anything in the universe ... I do not know, a spirit, a principle ... you will not be able to dominate ... The spirit of Man. " From the site I
1984.org wanted to mention this analysis of Orwell's book because it binds almost every year hoping that deviates from reality. But never is, is more like, more and more real.
Big Brother, not the television, but the one that controls our lives, exists and is revealed more and more even if we all pretend not to see him, to maintain our perception of reality. Informiamoci more about what is happening. Let us not stop at the front, depth, creiamoci our idea about things. Has not included everything that comes to us from TV and newspapers, at face value. We develop our critical thinking and intuition. If we catch a situation in which something is is most often true. We teach our children to think with his head relished, as free men!
