Analyzing Evil: INGSOC From 1984

Hello everyone and welcome to the eighty-eighth episode of Analyzing Evil! Our feature villains for this video is INGSOC from 1984. I hope you enjoy, and thanks for watching. If you have any feedback or questions feel free to let me know below!

00:00 Introduction
05:03 The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism
1:02:40 A Summary of The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism
1:12:15 The World of 1984
1:17:59 INGSOC Personified
1:28:18 Conclusion

This video was sponsored by Polygence.

#1984 #INGSOC #bigbrother

[michaelbuick]

When reading "The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism" Winston jumps around the book a little and so we learn the deeper meanings of "War is Peace" and "Ignorance is Strength", but not "Freedom is Slavery". In fact Winston is interrupted just before reaching that section and so we don't get to find out. It always bugged me and it wasn't until a 2nd reading that I figured it out.

If freedom is slavery, then slavery is freedom. So freedom from...what? O'Brien explains to Winston that he does not exist. A statement which requires doublethink given that "I do not exist" is a paradox but this is the final form of doublethink: complete self erasure. The entire ideology of Ingsoc is based on solipsism reality does not exist only The Party exists. The Party is immortal. The Party is forever.

That's the inner meaning of "Freedom is Slavery". If freedom is slavery then slavery is freedom from death. From one's own mortality. Total surrender to the party via doublethink means ceasing to exist and becoming one with the eternal being that is Ingsoc. Through doublethink, they achieve immortality.

[John.Angell]

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.” - CS Lewis

[TheBeresford]

I cant think of anything more chilling depressing and soul crushing then when Winston desperately asks Obrien "When will you shoot me" and Obrien responds
"It may take a long time. But dont give up hope."

[GILGAMESG]

O'Brian is one of the most terrifying villains I've seen in all of literature, he might have only appeared for like 3 chapters near the end but every line of dialogue had so much power and weight behind it

[dragonslair]

There's a tiny glimmer of hope in 1984- the appendix for Newspeak. Despite the seeming unassailable power of the party, the appendix for Newspeak is written in past tense.

[Samwell-L]

“If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stomping on a human face - forever”

- O'Brien

[jr.castle]

The cool thing about the appendix is that it's really more like an epilogue, part of the story. It takes place in the setting and comes from the perspective of some future historian writing about newspeak and Ingsoc _after the fact, _ something which shouldn't be possible if the party system was still in place. In the end, Winston was right. No matter how totalizing an authoritarian system might be, it can't last forever, and people will be there at the end to survive and build something new.

[danieljohnson]

What was always so horrifying to me was that in the end, it wasn’t just enough to kill Winston, they had to make him love Big Brother before they killed him.

[baryonyxwalkeri]

What I really liked about this book is the fact that from the start we see Winston as the hero of the story. The moment he joins "the resistance" makes the reader think he's gonna fight with ingsoc and eventually lead freedom fighters to victory. But it turns out that everything was a trap and Winston instead of being a hero is just another victim of The Party being no different than thousands of other people who commited crime against ingsoc

[ChrisMuzz]

I remember reading this in school. The line "He loved Big Brother" still sends chills down my spine.

[TurquoiseOrmZ]

1984 is one the most terrifying novels I ever read in my life. Gashlighting to horrifically Extreme level.

[christianoliver]

I honestly think the most horrifying thing about INGSOC and the world of 1984 is the lack of laws. In my opinion nothing is more terrifying than the unknown. And not knowing what you’ve done, especially in an area as intimate as your own thoughts, is especially scary. Not knowing what your supposed to do or act, eliminates the ability to act along. This shows that every shred of resistance to the monolith of INGSOC’s control over every single aspect of one’s life. That everything you deem yours is not yours but the party’s.

[thenotsodemocraticrepublic]

I always liked the theory that the other super states are fabrications created by the party and that Oceania is a North Korean-style rump state whose borders don't exceed the British Isles while the rest of the world is similar to ours.

[faiillusri]

O'Brian gives me chills, he's such a well written and realistic villain.

[KRFTWRK]

The book really had a chilling description of how Winston was ground to paste by the torture. Whatever was left of him at the end, sitting there drinking the gin was hardly a man at all. No hair, no teeth, no hope. They killed him mind and body. Now that's a fate worse than death.

[uqgrnlo]

1984 is pure horror. Scarier than most horror films.

[PuebloNoBueno]

God, O’brians speech about power was bone chilling. And your delightfully monotone voice, almost completely devoid of emotion, was enough to elicit feelings of hopelessness in me as well. Great video!

[AlexeiVoronin]

The novel isn't scary because it says "War is peace" and "Freedom is slavery"... it is scary because it explains these statements so well and in such exquisite detail, that you find yourself (even if just for a fleeting moment) agreeing with them...

[ben-tyjo]

1984 and Brave New World (I read them basically together) were the first books I ever read in school that genuinely got me to think about society and my views about my place therein, these books legitimately terrified me. Would love to see a video about Brave New World to compliment this one

[eduardodiaz]

"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stomping on a human face, forever"