1984: Why Freedom is Important

The term `freedom' is often associated with the notion of living free of restraint and having an unfettered liberty to engage in rational actions with a sense that that our actions will not be controlled or interfered with. Given the above definition of freedom and the principles of positive and negative freedom, this essay shall seek to demonstrate that while they do not experience freedom fully, the proles are more free than Winston in Nineteen Eighty-Four. This essay shall also discuss the reasons why we consider freedom to be important with a particular focus on our assumptions of human nature and its components.

We typically consider freedom to be the capacity to exercise choice and as being exempt from authoritarian control following the performance of a rational action. While we believe this to be true, two specific forms of freedom exist: positive freedom, which refers to the capacity to act, and negative freedom which is experienced through the absence of constraint.

The proles, working class of Oceania, exist within the Party society where history is rewritten and `proletariat literature, music, drama and entertainment,' is produced by the Ministry of Truth. Unlike Winston, the proles are unaware of this manipulation and therefore pose little threat to the Party's rule. Within the societal sphere created by the Party, the proles are free from Party obligation and regulations (i.e. positive freedom) which allows them to experience liberties such as sexuality, family and leisure freely, `left to themselves, like cattle turned loose upon the plains of Argentina, they [proles] had reverted to a style of life that appeared to be natural to them.'

Due to lack of physical restraint (i.e. negative freedom)...

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...tiny. For the proles, somewhat free in terms of individual liberties, the denial of their intellectual freedom restricts their capacity to progress both individually and as a society, `being without general ideas, they [proles] could only focus on petty specific grievances.' Despite their lack of progression, however, the proles, live simple and happy day-to-day lives, `the larger evils invariably escaped their notice.'

Given the original definition of freedom it can be inferred that while neither Winston nor the proles are completely free, the proles enjoy individual liberties while Winston does not. Our assumptions about human nature lead to the conclusion that we consider freedom to be important as it allows us to progress in our search to protect and promote ourselves.

Bibliography

Orwell, George, Nineteen Eighty-Four, London, Penguin Books, 2003.