Nineteen Eighty-Four
Author - George Orwell
Published - 1949
Genre: Distopian Novel
Theme: Big Brother is watching you
Synopsis: Nineteen Eighty-Four is the story about a future world where people are under constant surveillance by a system called "Big Brother". Big Brother observes people in their everyday lives at home, in the streets, and at work. Any action judged by Big Brother to run counter to its interests of power and control is met with the intervention of the Thought Police, a ruthless Gestpo-like task force. Winston Smith, the protagonist of the story, lives in this nightmarish world and works for the Ministry of Truth, which is essentially the government's propaganda industry for the manufacture of misinformation. Winston is trapped in his own critically sceptical thoughts regarding his society, he is frightened to act on his thoughts for fear of retribution. This story portrays his struggle to try free himself from a world that constantly monitors his every action.
Philosophical Associations:
Glenn Greenwald - No Place to Hide
Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky - Manufacturing Consent
Relevance: Greenwald's release of classified NSA documents obtained from whistleblower Edward Snowden changed our understanding of mass surveillance. No Place to Hide reveals the astonishingly pervasive depth of global digital surveillance. From texting and phone activities to personal emails and web search history, Greenwald reveals the shocking extent to which governments and big business collude to gain access to peoples' personal information. While Greenwald's revelations of mass surveillance share disturbing similarities with Big Brother, Herman and Chomsky's work relates closely to Winston's job at the Ministry of Truth. Manufacturing Consent argues the thesis of the "Propaganda Model", which predicates the extent and quality of media coverage in relation to a particular media issue. This framework is repeatedly applied and proven with vast amounts of evidence from the media tested, revealing the awesome extent to which misinformation, indoctrination, and jingoism are a part of journalistic practises.
Old Man and the Sea, The
Author - Ernest Hemingway
Published - 1952
Genre: Short story parable
Theme: An old fisherman contemplates the perseverance of life while struggling with his greatest ever catch
Synopsis: Hemingway's tale is about an old fisherman named Santiago who has not caught a fish in eight-five days. Poor and hungry, he thinks his bad luck has finally changed when he catches a huge marlin. During his intense struggle, Santiago reflects on the many struggles in life and its unforgiving nature. However, he is determined and unrelenting in his desire to keep struggling both literary and metaphorically.
Philosophical Associations:
Epictetus - The Discourses
Relevance: The ideas of the stoic Epictetus provide an excellent framework for the psychological characteristics of Santiago. Stoic philosophy argues that people must learn to accept their fate if they truly desire to be happy in life. They believe that people need to try to understand themselves better and be wise enough to know the things that they can change apart from the things they cannot change. Therefore embracing one's fate heroically, rather then fighting against its unrelenting encroachment, is a fine aspiration for any stoic.
Oliver Twist
Author - Charles Dickens
Published - 1838
Genre: Novel
Theme: Young orphan Oliver is led astray into the life of petty crime
Synopsis: This book tells the story of a young orphan named Oliver living in early Nineteenth Century London. He is raised in poverty at an orphanage where is he is subjected to the abuse of administrators like Mr. Bumble. With little prospect of a decent future ahead of him he eventually joins up with a gang of child thieves and pickpockets run by a man named Fagin. In this breakthrough novel Dickens reveals the desperation of many children caught up in the developing industrial slums of London. His realistic depictions of hanging children convicted of pickpocketing had an effect that influenced his society's views and treatment of child justice and welfare.
Philosophical Associations:
Peter Singer - The Life You Can Save
Relevance: Singer's book approaches issues of world hunger and poverty from an utilitarian perspective. In his work he offers the analogy of the drowning child which should make any rational person reconsidered their contribution to ending poverty. Loosely stated, the analogy asks the reader to imagine that one day they are walking by a small pond wearing their brand new shoes they had just bought. Suddenly they notice that a young child is drowning in the pond. Looking around, you seem to be the only one there. The pond is only a few feet deep. It would be no trouble for you to wade in up to your waist and save the child, as without your help the child would surely drown. Then Singer asks his readers if they would be willing to ruin their new shoes for the sake of saving the child. Since almost everyone agrees they would risk the cost of their new shoes in turn for saving the child, Singer compels his reader to ask why they would buy a new pair of expensive shoes when the same expense could be used to feed starving children or help stop easily preventable diseases in poor nations? Singers compelling argument to help improve the suffering of others collaborators effortlessly with Dickens efforts almost two hundred years prior.
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