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.