Fear

I connected the two articles and Orwell's purpose of 1984 with the concept of manipulation and fear. Politician's use fear to manipulate us into feeling a sense of security with their actions and presence. They work off of our fear to gain our loyalty and trust. In 1984 Big Brother uses Oceania's fear to gain their confidence. He then manipulates their fear so that his actions are all justified as means to protect them from their fears. However the second article talks about how our fear is manufactured and in this case Big Brother drives the people of Oceania to the point of insanity where there is nothing they don't fear. Oceania has gotten to the point where they drive fear out of everything they know and that make Big Brother even more powerful than ever. I think the second article spoke out to me more because it's harder to accept that fear is simply fabricated and not always real. I also like the way it started out in a second person point of view and then switched over to first person. This makes the thesis more personal and draws me in to accepting the concept of the fabrication of fear.

Fear fear?

The connection I see between the three works when it comes to Fear is that above anything its a tool or a weapon, in 1983 the government uses Fear, Fear of vaporization, of torture, or loss, to keep the people in line and doing what the Party says they should. In "The Manipulation of Fear" Fear is an excuse to wage war, a so called "self-defense" tactic where a party lashes out to protect itself but in doing so wipes out the other party. In "The Manufacture and Manipulation of Fear" Fear is the smoke screen that politicans in the Unites States use to cloud the citizens vision so that behind the smoke screen they can do whatever they want, as long as they do it to protect the "American" way of life.

i see a connection!

well after looking at the two essays from today and then having all day to compare them to how Orwell talks about fear. and i think Orwell in a sense relates to both but in different ways. for the first one its how fear is created by higher power in order to have control of people that "need" to be controlled. and then with the second one, i saw the connection with how political party members use fear to win over a crowd instead of the truth because in all honesty fear drives people more than the truth. although everyone can say they would like to know the truth..if you think about it truth isnt going to drive someone to do certain things that are asked of them, however if fear is thrown into the picture people will go to any length to prevent the said fear from happening. in 1984 you can see that, everyone is driven by fear...everything they do isnt done because they want to necessarily but because if they dont there could be some serious consequences. i feel this really connects to the essays and our modern society because in so many ways fear controls our lives, whether it be with ourselves or with our government.

Fear is torture

First off I have to say that I loved our discussion on fear today. In the world today "systems of power" use fear as a manipulatory tool to make people submit to their will. There is a hidden fear in each person about the capabilities that people in charge have. In the past fear has driven people to lie, cheat, steal and even kill. The major crimes committed by systems of power or even by the general populace have been in response to a personal or national fear. In 1984 Winston also has fear. His treatment of fear is slightly different from the two essays discussed in class. Winston's fears power. He fought throughout the entire book to find some crack in the system, some opening to bring the party down. He fears all that the party stands for. Winston fears the treachery and torment the party validates. Over the course of time fear will drive the world to become merciless, cruel, and existence painful. The party feeds on fear. Room 101 demonstrates this. Room 101 is the thing that you fear most. For Winston this fear was of rats. The party used the fear factor to cause people to renounce all they stand for and hold dear. It caused Winston to renounce his love Julia and he screamed for her face to be eaten off by the rats. Winston fears what the government knows and their ability to force people to bend to their will.

I posted as a comment... thought that is what we were supposed to do

"Fear" Comparison

I think that while the first two essays talk about the manipulation of fear in a way that is "bold" I think that Orwell goes about the manipulation of fear in a more subtle way. Winston and the Julia have the constant fear of the Though Police lying hidden somewhere. The US tends to use the fear of terrorist attacks to keep the public "in line"

Of all three I think that the 2nd is the most thought provoking. In stating that the US government always uses fear to keep things under their thumb. It was one of those statements that you always knew was true, but seeing it yourself makes it seem all the more real.

Comparing

All of these authors show how Governments manipulate people into doing what they want by fear. In 1984 Winston was always scared that they could see something in his face to give him away. Others were frozen by fear not to ever do anything against the party. Then at the end with the whole 'Room 101' that obviously played on their worst fears.

If I had to pick which one had the biggest impact on me, it'd have to be the 2nd essay we read. It really opened my eyes and was like hey wake up this is going on right now. We just kinda let government get away with doing things and don't notice it. I think a lot of it is that were young and most of us don't really care, but were that age now where we have to decide what happens to our generation and those to come.