Question #6 - 1984

Are there are any current situations in the world that relate to the novel? What are they, and how do they relate? Does the novel shed any light on how current situations could be resolved or "fixed"?

There is a current situation in the world that relates to this novel. North Korea is the perfect example for what the Party stands for, and Kim Jong-Il is the perfect example of who Big Brother is. In the novel, the Party and Big Brother want everyone in the country to be their followers; they want everyone to agree with every decision they makes, and if one citizen doesn't like it, he/she gets arrested and "fixed" until they genuinely agree with the decisions of the Party and Big Brother. This is the same with North Korea and Kim Jong-Il. Whatever Kim Jong-Il decides to do, the rest of the country must agree. If one citizen says something negative about his decision, or goes against what Kim Jong-Il ordered, he/she is arrested and tortured for merely having different opinions. These things happening in North Korea everyday relate exactly to what happened in the novel. Winston and Julia went against what the Party said and disagreed with Big Brother. Because of this, they were caught by O'Brien, who was pretending to be a rebel, while he secretly supported the Party and Big Brother, and were forced to change their ways of thinking and acting.

The novel does shed some, while not much, light on how to resolve this current situation. Winston does say that if there is any hope, it lies with the proles, who are the lower class people. However, this does not say much, because the proles are also very dumb, and do not realize they are living a harsh life under the Party. This is also very similar with North Korea. In North Korea, I think the novel's version of proles is the army. The people in the army and police, who are all employed by the government under Kim Jong-Il, do not realize the power they have. If the entire North Korean army and police were to unite together against Kim Jong-Il, I think they would be able to overthrow him. However, I doubt this will ever happen, because the people in the army and police do not realize that they have this power, and it is also more likely that the people in the army and police support Kim Jong-Il.