My Response to Nineteen Eighty-Four and Gil Scott-Heron

     To Winston, "it struck him as curious that you could create dead men but not living ones. Comrade Ogilvy, who has never existed in the present, now existed in the past, and when once the act of forgery was forgotten, he would exist just as authentically, and upon the same evidence, as Charlemagne or Julius Caesar"(Orwell, Pg 47). Winston has created a dead man, Comrade Ogilvy, out of his imagination. Eventually, there will be no question about Ogilvy's existence and that he will just be a dead soldier who existed. The power to erase someone's existence and to create one is very terrifying. I can see how Big Brother and his political party gain so much power over these people in Oceania. There is no real history in this totalitarianism world. Creating a false history is just as simple as Winston erasing a person and creating a new one in his place. The reason why this occur is to hide the truth from the citizens. No one knew what happen to Comrade Withers or why he was disgraced after being awarded. Everything is just hidden and erase. On the other hand, Gil Scott-Heron's "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised", is quite the opposite. Here, he mentions, "The revolution will not be televised." Now this basically means that the revolution will not be shown on TV. Instead of watching what is happening and not doing anything, the revolution will be live and not be on TV so people will have to join and see what this revolution is up to. Unlike 1984, this song is not trying to hide anything; in fact, they are encouraging people to join in on the revolution. Instead of erasing and altering the past, this revolution is trying to change the future.