“I understand HOW: I do not understand WHY” (Orwell 68)
I think this constitutes one of the major difference between the two novels. In The Hunger Games Collins demonstrates the WHY continuously, why the Districts aren’t allowed communication, why they are ruled so tightly by the Capital: They once revolted and it resulted in the purported decimation of District 13. In a post-apocalyptic world, the need for strict regulation and law-abiding order makes a certain amount of sense. Granted, the Capital has clearly gone over board, but nonetheless, the seed, the WHY is demonstrated. The HOW is a little bit muddier until the third book, and even then not entirely clarified.
Orwell takes a different approach. London, 1984, is deep in a war that has been raging for decades but not exactly generations. The main character speaks with some pale, but nonetheless existing memories of other times. Of time before war was quite so ubiquitous. He works for the Party that he secretly hates and journals to that extent. His role is to aid in the recreation of the past, taking articles in which the details need to be changed in order to satisfy the current movement and alliances. To maintain perpetual intelligence and honesty, the past is altered to agree with the present, instead of the present seeking to realize the promises of the past. It is as if he serves a party that wishes for time to move backwards.
No comments:
Post a Comment