George Orwell's book 1984, is a dystopian novel depicting a world where the government, or 'big brother' has complete control over the way citizens live their lives. The majority of the population blindly follow, but any dissenters are quickly eliminated. The Truman show, is a 1998 motion picture starring Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank, an ordinary man living and working in a town called Seahaven. But what he doesn't realize is that his entire life is televised as a form of entertainment for the rest of the world.
Winston Smith, the protagonist in 1984, and Truman Burbank, the protagonist in 'The Truman Show" are both victims of an oppressive lifestyle, and the two stories are both about the main character breaking and trying to escape from their current lives. Truman is trying to escape the domed town of Seahaven, while Winston is trying to escape the oppressive Big Brother. Both are also aided by female characters who encourage and assist them. For Winston is it Julia, a cunning, brave government worker who uses her sexuality as a form of rebellion. And for Truman it is Silvia, his high school sweetheart who mysteriously disappeared, and is encouraging him to break out of Seahaven from outside the dome.
In The Truman Show, Truman is afraid of water because his father died in a boating accident years ago. This is representative of his fear to escape and learn the truth. In 1984 it is a little more obvious that Winston is afraid to learn the truth due to a likelihood that he would be tortured and killed if he tried to discover the truth. In both cases however, both protagonists to learn the truth about their situations, Truman eventually escapes, while Winston unfortunately does get tortured and eventually killed.
Unfortunately, your last line isn't true, Winston doesn't die. The separation between the two characters is that both learn the origins of their places, but Truman is able to escape from Seahaven and meet up with Sylvia, whereas Winston succumbs to the influence of Big Brother and 'learns the error of his ways,' not dying.
ReplyDeleteBut can you really say for certain that Winston wasn't killed? In 1984, "[Winston] was walking down the white-tiled corridor, with the feeling of walking in sunlight, and an armed guard at his back. The long-hoped-for bullet was entering his brain." So whether or not he died or this was just a dream is a matter of interpretation and how you read it. And is Winston really succumbing to the influence of Big Brother or is he more or less just a mindless zombie at the end. If I remember correctly, the government has very little concern with Winston at the end of the book and cares very little about what he does. This kind of goes against their ideals of oppression and control because do they really have control over him? I don't think he even has control over himself anymore much less Big Brother.
ReplyDeleteI looked at the escape and "death" of the main characters as more of a rebirth. Truman gets a fresh start to real life, instead of a controlled one. Winston is reborn with a new love to big brother. Winston may "die" but if he really dies physically, or is just so mentally broken, we will never know.
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