1984

Steve

The Past is Never so Present

As time goes by, present day history is being made, completely unaware of past instances. The United States of America is presently trying to intervene the situation in Iraq for personal gain. In the past, there have been many occasions in which the United States has attempted to try and restructure countries for personal benefit, including Guatemala in 1954 which was a disaster It seems as if the current government for the United States has abolished history from their mindset and is living the present without any sensible recollection.

In the book, Nineteen Eighty-Four, written by George Orwell, Big Brother, the supposed governing agent that runs all of Oceania, uses propaganda to influence all of its faithful citizens. Oceania is run by members of the Inner Party whose identities are very secretive. A member of the Outer Party, Comrade Winston Smith, firmly believes the propaganda and present world he lives in is false. However, he cannot verbally (and should not, in writing) pronounce his feelings because the “Thought Police” will arrest him for “Thoughtcrime.” Thoughtcrime is the worst crime any person could commit, a crime against all that Big Brother stands for. Winston works at the Records Department, his job is to correct all previous false statements made by Big Brother into actual truth. Basically, Winston is involved in erasing the history that Big Brother created, therefore, helping to build a present that has no recollection of the past.

The connection between Nineteen Eighty-Four and present day United States is incredible. Winston Smith realizes that what he is contributing to is wrong, and that the past has no affect on what is and will happen in the future. Big Brother and the Inner Party do not take anything from the past into account. They erase all history known to the civilization, including records containing human existence. Although, the present United States government does not take these extreme measures, it does parallel Big Brother in a way in which past history does not affect the United States’ present actions and future considerations. Past military presence and outcomes in United States history seems to not affect the horrendous decisions that are currently being made in Iraq, maybe this is because the government does not want to admit what