1984 – “Imagine a boot stamping on a human face . . . forever”
On this day sixty-two years ago, George Orwell passed away, soon after the publication of his final novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, an ugly glimpse at a dystopian future where the world is run by totalitarian regimes. This weekend’s video is a climactic scene from the movie, showing protagonist Winston Smith being tortured by Inner Party member O’Brien.
O’Brien tells Smith that, “If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face forever.” O’Brien goes on to argue that “the individual is only a cell, Winston, and the weariness of the cell is the vigor of the organism.”
“You’ll fail,” Winston responds. “Something will defeat you. . . . some spirit . . . the spirit of man.”
In Orwell’s book, the spirit of man is defeated, destroyed. Thankfully, in our lives, we can write our own ending.
A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.
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