The Agentic State In George Orwell's 1984

There are some words that remain relevant through time. The past, the present and the future is a product of human nature, and so it becomes evident that our present is a dark echo of the past. Orwell’s 1984 is an example of one of these pieces of literature, rising to popularity with every law and proposition that draws a parallel to that of Oceania. It is evident, that decades past 1984, the piece still speaks directly to the people of today in various ways. Through themes including technology, authority, and power, Orwell strikes a conversation with future readers that leave them thinking that Oceania is like a world that they know all too well.

The word “technology” often conjures images of sleek and shiny devices which make life simpler,

The agentic state is described as the state in which " a person comes to view themselves as the instrument for carrying out another person's wishes, and they therefore no longer see themselves as responsible for their actions” (Milgram, Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View). Most people, Milgram had believed, were comfortable in the agentic state. A militia man may be a loving father in real life, but activate a bomb that kills thousands of men, women, and children in seconds. There is no doubt that they would not imagine killing another at home, but in war, “it is their duty”. As demonstrated in his obedience to authority experiments, and those replicated in 2017, the majority of people will obey to authority, even if it will involve injuring another person (in the experiments, by electrocuting the “learner”). It is when the individuals of Oceania and of our own world remain passive and undermines their own morals that true harm, even in the name of a democracy, can occur. Although it may be common to believe that to convert a democratic individual to one of totalitarianism is difficult, the Obedience to Authority experiments suggests very much otherwise, proving that it is all too

Although it is now long past 1984 and the severity of the issues described in the novel has not reached its peak in 2017, it is still very much relevant and will perhaps become more so in the years to come. It all seems incredibly inevitable. Perhaps, however, Orwell had intended to write this text because he sees a possibility, no matter how slight, that it is avoidable. As he had written, “If there was hope, it lay in the proles…”(73), who resemble the average individual in our society most. Although humans may seem to become ever more alike to machines, “sometimes we can see the strings, and perhaps our awareness is the first step to our liberation” (The Experimenter). With conscious awareness, it is the common person who can learn to contradict authority in the correct circumstances, the common person who can decide how technology develops, and thus, the common person who utilizes their power. Therefore, it is pivotal, in order to avoid Orwell’s fate, to not be like the placid proles, the unaware party members, or those who chose Big Brother, but rather a citizen who is aware of the world they live in, and one who makes good