Orwell’s topicality in times of pandemic: control not only physical but also psychological
Sometimes the classics of the past can help us understand the contemporary. This is the case of "1984" , the ninth novel by George Orwell, which catapults us into a dystopian dimension ruled by Big Brother, a threatening entity, inspired in many ways by the dictators of the last century. Orwell's work describes the life of Winston Smith, employee of the Ministry of Truth, a public body destined to censor history, to cancel any name or event hostile to the univocal narrative of the regime: "If all the documents told the same fable , here the lie became a historical fact, therefore true ” , writes Orwell. A clear premonition of the Cancel Culture which, instead of dealing with the past in a secular manner, prefers to get rid of it by throwing water at the mill of political correctness .
It is curious how Winston notes his libertarian reflections in a paper diary. Image with a strong allegorical meaning: the paper hosts the writer's thought, his reflections, his unique and inimitable vision of the world. Precisely for this reason Hitler and his followers organized the so-called “Bücherverbrennungen” in 1933, great fires in which thousands of books were burned against the Nazi ideology and therefore considered harmful to the regime's stability.
But what is most troubling about Orwell's novel is the dictatorship of single thought: the regime is not satisfied with maintaining power and exercising it at will. No, he wants to manipulate the minds of citizens, demanding not only their physical but also psychological submission. There is no private life: everything passes to the scrutiny of the state, every activity is functional to the propaganda of the Big Brother . To better control its subjects, the regime uses the "telescreen", a tool with which Big Brother can observe every movement, steal every information, recognize every potential symptom of dissent. And what is the telescreen if not today's Trojan which invades, often without reason, the private sphere of the citizen revealing his secrets and weaknesses?
“1984” has a lot to teach us in this pandemic period, in which the public debate has taken on surreal characteristics. Every heretical voice is branded as "denial". Anyone who invokes major reopenings is accused of minimizing the danger of the virus. Forgetting that many studies, such as the one conducted by Stanford University, attest to the ineffectiveness of closures in health terms. But the important thing is to ridicule and / or criminalize the interlocutor, in line with the worst socialist tradition. An example of this are the paeans against nightlife and "free all" that we have read in many newspapers and listened to on all TVs.
The spectacularization and dramatization of Covid implemented in the last year and a half are reflected in relations with others: neighbors denounce each other by signaling the "gatherings next door". Just like in "1984" , where Winston struggles to make any friendship for fear of being betrayed and handed over to the regime: "You had no friends, then you had comrades." It is the "psycho-crime". Thoughts are a danger and their manifestation can be punished with death: "War is peace, freedom is slavery and ignorance is strength." Fortunately, we have not yet reached that point, but you get to hell in small steps. And Orwell understood that.
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This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Atlantico Quotidiano at the URL http://www.atlanticoquotidiano.it/recensioni/lattualita-di-orwell-in-tempi-di-pandemia-il-controllo-non-solo-fisico-ma-anche-psicologico/ on Mon, 26 Apr 2021 03:57:00 +0000.