This paper is an attempt to write a manifesto from the name of Smith, the protagonist of Orwell’s immortal novel (Orwell, 1949). Aaronovitch, among other authors, writes, that it was the decade of political chaos and horrible uncertainty, which resulted in Orwell’s work, in his attempt to draw this grotesque picture (Aaronovitch, 2013). This picture, Orwell, hoped, may wake up his co-citizens and make them look the horrifying reality in the eyes, so as to be capable to cope with it. And his work appeared to be one among the greatest works in the genre of dystopia, a classical example of it (Aubrey, 1983).
Manifesto
To kill him, who won’t lie!
My dear compatriots! I know, my goal is nearly unachievable, my mission is nearly impossible, my hope is almost inexistent. But if it was entirely dead, there would be nothing for me to lose. My hope is the only thing I possess in this life. The party has taken away the rest. Look at your lives. You, what a pity, do not possess even this last treasure which I can be proud to have. Look at your life? You keep silence simply because you don’t have that hope. What is life then good for? What will you tell your children? What world do you bring them into? The world, in which they, just like you, or even to a larger degree, though it may now sound fantastic to us, will possess nothing at all? The world, in which they will have to lie to one another and kill their compatriots may they ever dare to say something different from lies! That is the world, your children are about to inherit. But, unlike us, they won’t have the knowledge and the understanding of history to change anything around.
Due to horrible lies, which we have been made to believe for these thirty years, we have entirely forgotten the world as it was. Meanwhile, historically speaking, the period of time which has surpassed is negligible. As for our children, well, they won’t have anything to remember. They will become machines, like the ones we are afraid of when recognizing them in our own selves.
Today we consciously lie in minor things, creating one huge lies. And, yes, we are forced to kill the ones, who won’t lie. And I know that my life is at a risk as well. But I consciously accept this risk. I am the one to utter the word of truth. I am ready to be killed for that. I only wish for the process to get started. The truth is what we all know. However this is what we are most of all afraid to clearly articulate. The reason behind our fear is reasonable and understandable. By admitting and facing the truth we will be forced to act. Meanwhile, acting and taking the responsibility is what we have lost the skills of. In our modern reality we bare no responsibility if we do nothing. But one thing we fail to realize: by our inactivity we kill the ones, who dare say the truth. Due to our silence, people are tortured and killed. Due to our fear our children will not see the world of humans, but will be born to the world of machines. All of this is dedicated solely to the security of a few individuals. So isn’t it time to stand up and speak out? They won’t kill the one, who won’t say the lies, if there are enough of us, speaking out the truth. They won’t cope with us. Our silence is their power. Let us take it away from them!
- Aaronovitch, David. “1984: George Orwell’s road to dystopia”. BBC News Magazine (United Kingdom: The BBC). 8 February 2013. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21337504
- Aubrey, Crispin; Chilton, Paul, eds. “Nineteen Eighty-four in 1984: Autonomy, Control, and Communication” (Repr. ed.). London: Comedia Pub. Group. 1983.
- Orwell, George. “Nineteen Eighty-Four”. A novel. London: Secker & Warburg. 1949
