Big Brother is watching you.

George Orwell, 1984

"At such moments his heart went out to the lonely, derided heretic on the screen, sole guardian of truth and sanity in a world of lies." 1984, George Orwell

            Totalitarianism is defined by The Oxford Online Dictionary as a system of government that is centralized, dictatorial and requires complete subservience to the state. The term alone may lead to think of Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Benito Mussolini. However, for someone who has read 1984 by George Orwell, the definition may be a grim reminder of the government described in the novel, the words 'Big Brother' and 'regime' etched on the mind. Throughout the whole book, Orwell illustrates the reality of the totalitarian and fictional London. It is described in first person by the main character Winston Smith, and the reader learns about the means used by the government to ensure absolute power. In such situation, we see how one can be induced to either fight or surrender and how the price of each decision has its own consequences. Is it possible to remain ourselves when facing torture? Can one still be considered alive when drinking becomes salvation? And if surviving means changing, is it to be considered as a mere abnormal consequence or is it the ugly true nature of humankind? This reading stirs up several questions as one embarks on a journey of self-reflection.

The appearance of Winston is constantly punctuated by the presence of a refilled glass of gin. One way to perceive this repeated scene would be Winston trying to forget who, how, and with whom he used to be. People who suffer from alcohol abuse tend to “drown their sorrows" as cited by the national American institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. According to the NIAAA, the main reason is to cope with stress or to forget uncomfortable situations. People who dive into the darkness of alcohol try to escape their consciousness and their past memories. It seems that Winston had lost desire of life. He had betrayed himself, his beliefs, his thoughts, and ultimately his beloved one and he uses gin in order to forget.

Another aspect to consider is that Winston continues drinking the Victory gin even if it makes him "shudder and even retch slightly ". What is ironic is the word Victory because it is not his own but that of the regime. He is not enjoying it but still he is accepting it and consuming it. Some vices such as consuming alcohol are made to make the drinker feel alive. However, in this context it seems like by constantly drinking he surrendered to the regime and by doing so he accepted a slow death. He might be physically alive but the indifference and the overconsumption make one wonder if the Winston we knew at the beginning still exists. Is life worth living if he is going to live it this way?

Another particular aspect of the novel to take into consideration is Winston's change of mind as the main character's hatred towards the regime turns into 'love for Big Brother'. Although the story is fictional, Smith's turn of heart is very much real and raw. It is due to the torture he went through with the police. This led to the character's numb indifference which is observable in the excerpt of chapter three, part six. When thinking of war, the character feels "a violent emotion, not fear exactly but a sort of undifferentiated excitement, flared up in him, then faded again". This is the kind of lethargic state the main character finds himself trapped into. In psychology, traumatic events such as physical torture result in severely damaging consequences either physically or mentally. The IRCT (International Rehabilitation Council for Tortured Victims) states that the effects of torture are not limited to immediate pain and that "Many victims suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It includes symptoms such as “flashbacks (or intrusive thoughts), severe anxiety, insomnia, nightmares, depression and memory lapses". Smith's post-traumatic symptoms to cope with the consequences of his torture are well noticeable within the final passage of the book. He thinks to himself: "Something was killed in your breast: burnt out, cauterized out". This passage can be interpreted as a reminder of how vulnerable even the most stubborn person can be when facing torture and terrible conditions. One may lose all notions of oneself, become numb and pass the point of no return.

Winston also unveils how the survival instinct in a hostile environment changes people. In a totalitarian society, surviving sometimes means betraying others to be saved. Priorities change in one's mind showing a rather repugnant side of the human being. There's no more room for human bond or principles because it is a decision in which results, not the intention, matter. The result is saving yourself. It is difficult in this situation to make a decision in which both parties will be saved. In front of this dilemma, one will tend to think about himself or herself before everything since it is either "me" or "you". The ending result will be a decision one may not have made if it weren't for this setting. Therefore, environment can take its toll on people and is able to change them into someone they were not to begin with.

What kind of person one can become varies according to the environment he or she lives into. Several movies, books and other TV shows carry on this survival idea. A dystopian environment is used as a main point around which the story revolves around. We can mention the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and the manga Battle Royal by Kōshun Takami. Both of them depict a story about teenagers who live under a totalitarian regime. These kids are obliged to participate in a game of survival where only one person will remain alive. We follow how these children change due to these circumstances making different decisions from what they would have done in a normal state. Killing their friends is one example of them. We see how being in a hostile environment leaves no choice but to put aside one's principles and loved ones for the sake of surviving. For instance, in the story of Moby Dick by Herman Melville in which a white cachalot destroys a fishing ship leaving the sailors hungry for weeks, the remaining of the crew resorted to eating the flesh of their own companion in order to survive. In a state of starvation and desperation, they started seeing each other as food. Also, they were fervent Christians who knew cannibalism was forbidden in the Bible but still did it. This shows how beliefs but also feelings for one another may have no place in surviving. One can say that it is not very likely to happen in real life since it is a fictional story. However, we can mention the famous tragedy of the Andes Flight disaster. In 1972, the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 "the Fairchild" crashes in a snowy chain of mountains between Chile and Argentina and the remaining survivors choose to eat the pilot and the other dead people to remain alive. Thus, people can change and make different choices in order to survive when the environment surrounding them is cruel and unfair.

The main character Winston proves to be the embodiment of what it means to live, fight and lose in a totalitarian society. This story remains fictional yet it does not diminish the value of the lessons we learn from it: How surviving by drinking is different from living. How torture can be a more cruel punishment than death itself. And the contrast between who we are and who we become in order to survive. We live in a different setting and environment than Winston, yet we are able to relate to his story because it has been proven to be the result of human beings at the end. A lesson that can be learned from 1984 for Big Brother can become our reality one day if we are not careful. 

Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass are novels written by Lewis Carroll published respectively in 1865 and 1871, the second one being a sequel to the first. Both stories take place in two fantasy worlds inhabited by imaginary and sometimes weird creatures. They focus on their conversations with Alice, reflecting the Victorian society and environment. No clear moral can be concluded from the stories, which is somewhat distinctive for the tales of that era, even though they address different themes such as growing up and curiosity. Identity is also a recurrent theme in both books and the question of integrity can be appealing to people of all ages, even if they’re originally intended for children, because our reality is also a world of wonder.

“Who are you?” is an example of identity discussed in the book and is the question  the Caterpillar asks Alice. It is an inquest to which the little girl does not find the right words to respond to.Indeed Alice is haunted by a repetitive question within the story, “And now who I am I?”. This same question may lead to one the most fundamental interrogations of philosophy such as: “What makes me, me?” and “Who am I?”. The crisis of self-identity that the little girl goes through gives strength to the assumption that shaping oneself is an active ongoing process and that the definition of identity is in fact a complex theory to define. 

Personal identity can be described according to two spheres: psychology and sociology. Psychologically, part of identity is internal and central, meaning it is constructed by one’s self-reflection, feelings, memorable details, morals or values. In other words what cannot be guessed by others. The other part of defining identity is social that is; one’s job, hobbies, religious beliefs, or political affiliations, what can be related to one’s outside environment. In reality, that social belonging can be described through different tendencies that one has, is social comparison. An illustration can be the struggle that Alice goes through to define herself and the doubts that haunt her. Another example can be “weight” as nowadays one strives to be thin and fit as seen in television or media whereas in the past a person with significant weight reflected good health and high social class. That is to say that inversely, without an entity to compare to (without models, television, etc.), one would be satisfied with his or her looks. These illustrations as well emphasize the link that identity and needs have, added to the psychological and social dimensions it takes. In the Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the 3 lower level needs (Physiological, safety, and belonging) are mainly related to the outside environment or control. Whereas the upper 2 levels are related the sense of self. The psychologist accentuates that if lower level needs are not satisfied, higher-level needs will be forgotten in favor of reinforcing the inferior level.
Again, it is to say how highly the two dimensions described earlier (social and psychological) are indissoluble, yet both are important to give rise to one’s identity. What distinguishes one person from others cannot paradoxically take place without the context of society. Genuinely, one’s world of society plays a considerable role in defining one’s self.Similarly, in the wonderland’s context, Alice does not settle her role in the strange world, yet she loses her identity from a social and self perspective. 

“I knew who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then” Alice tells herself. In reality, this inner thought may bring up the assumption that identity is not stable, yet it is affected by several factors and changes. Along the story, Alice is confronted by numerous changes and is immersed into a real sense of “world of wonders”. “And now who I am I?”, the typical question that Alice asks herself and tries to find a response to while being confronted to all these alterations of the new environment she landed in. Reality is somewhat similar to Alice in wonderland's storyline, in which defining oneself is an active ongoing process. Over time, identity develops and evolves. 
Depending on what shape one’s life takes, its degrees vary from a person to another. In that sense, a person might identify with a trend or have a particular vision on a subject in a specific time frame and change during his/her lifespan. This same example can be applied to religion, social class, political affiliation, or faith which partly define our identity. As in the same context, experience, surroundings, and constant thinking shape one’s identity. Indeed, as in the context of wonderland, being confronted by new creatures, to different values, or herself embodied in different aspects doubted Alice in concerns of identity, even if consciously she knew she was Alice. 

Another illustration that can accentuate the variability of identity and its potential change, is slavery. Back in the eras, slavery had been a common, yet accepted trend. Whereas today it has been abolished in most parts of the world, it is discussed as a major issue under the values of international human rights. In other words, it illustrates the inconstancy of, in this example, a shared social value that is part of one’s identity. Extendedly, learning is a process, and mistakes are part of it. One might constantly try to keep a balance between what has been acquired from the past (experiences), family or society in accordance with what is existent and what is aimed to be achieved in the future. Therefore, identity is a core human need that takes two dimensions, psychological and social, even though it is not stable but shapeable through the endeavor that one takes along his or her life.

      While the story gained popularity among adults and children and affected all generations, it brings to light one of the major struggles of the human being. Alice could not recognize herself anymore, neither physically nor psychologically, each time she had a conversation with a creature. This matter remains recurrent to a very advanced age of our lives as we are continuously trying to establish ourselves socially while each person we meet is challenging our inner confidence.

The Story of Dewa Ruci

  

 

The story of  Dewa Ruci is a spiritual text that puts into consideration the fact that there is no code for doing the right thing since everything can be explained subjectively depending on people’s deep spiritual morals. The moral of this story is that the highest point of enlightenment is to be found deep inside an individual. This means that if a person would pay attention more to his or her thoughts and words, he or she would be acting in accordance with his or her morals. An example of this would be reaching a certain level of self-awareness and consciousness that will make him or her seek the best of himself or herself. For this particular reason, the Dewa Ruci story should not be taken from the ethical aspect. It makes the reader use his or her mind to understand the different spiritual lessons and visions of the main character’s experience in the text.

The Dewa Ruci was one of the first Islamic Javanese texts used to propagate Sufism, a mystical school of thinking. In the 8th canto, the ultimate goal for the hero is to reach enlightenment and become "one" with God by following the teachings of his Pandit (teacher). One of the main requirements of Sufism (a dimension of Islam), according to the Dewa Ruci, is to abandon all concepts of identity and perception of oneself. Another point mentioned in the text is that reaching that goal for the student is equivalent to the true definition of being himself or herself. By leaving all desires behind, the student goes on a quest to redefine his or her existence and goal, according to the Sufism. However, the ways used differ from sect to sect. Extreme approaches based on total deprivation from human necessities are often criticized in the text.  

In the fourteenth stanza of the text, the Dewa Ruci says that by taking away the 'dirt' of the three colors (black, red and yellow) the hero's union " will really take place without [any need for] guidance about the union of subject and Lord”. Subsequently, the latter's intentions 'grow keen', increasing his craving for the feeling of happiness attained by the union with the Divine. The focal point of the whole sentence is the word 'craving' as it is used by the Dewa Ruci to describe the color red. While the author specifically precedes the noun with 'bad', he also adds that 'all cravings arise from it' linking them as a whole to all negative things. On the one hand, it is understandable for a spirit who talks of religious matters such as the 'Lord' and the 'Divine' to condemn cravings, as many other religions castigate the feeling of yearning as well. Buddhism lists them as the cause of all suffering in the Second Noble Truth (One of the four pillar texts of Buddhism), Christianity labels them as a sin in the bible and the Quran mentions “Hubb Al-Dunya,” translatable as (bad) cravings of wealth. On the other hand, though, the term is used within The Dewa Ruci to explain Wêrkudhara's longing for happiness bestowed by the divine. It is a puzzling choice of vocabulary considering the association of life with negative events. Moreover, it might not be fair  to say that all cravings arise from bad desires. Indeed, The Merriam-Webster Online dictionary defines cravings as: “an intense, urgent, or abnormal desire or longing". Noticeably, the definition does not involve pessimistic keywords, further proving that cravings per se are not directly linked to negativity. 

Control, possession, and powers are three destructive and poisonous traits in human nature, yet, they are the most craved and yearned when relating to historical events. Since the start of what some would call the beginning of humanity, people started challenging nature; from building roofs for when it rained to starting fires when it froze. Humans might challenge the way things are. Surpassing the abilities nature has provided might be  promising and reveals the willingness to improve the quality of one’s life. However,  people may forget that the human kind has sometimes been rather blessed than cursed as they might seek greater satisfaction. In that context of power, rulers are  differentiated  from realm to realm in their capacity to lead and guide. As argued in the text, the path that would lead anywhere close to the divine perfection diverges from desires of power and control.  

At the end of the story the main character (Bima) realizes his north from south and  east from  west, when he feels the fusion between him and God who becomes his sense of direction.