Memories of Life Before Government Control Orwells 1984,...

Overbearing governments can change every aspect of society but people’s memories and their stories of the past cannot be completely altered to forget what life was like. Society uses these memoires to compare it to the new way of ruling which sometimes is less favorable to the individual. Governments try to change people’s opinions of reality which proves to be impossible. Within the novels, 1984 by George Orwell, The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley the Governments have taken societys freedom away and all that remains are the memories of what life was like before the changes; the main characters are constantly using the past as a way to survive through the difficult times. Winston in 1984 uses his†¦show more content†¦Winston has trouble keeping straight the real facts because they have been clouded over by so many changes in history made instantly by Big Brother. The common citizens do not even notice when history is altered right before their eyes. During a protest the country of interest changes from Eurasia to Eastasia. The change is seamlessly made as the crowed does not even flinch. Winston notices and tries to convince Julia, his lover that the war was really with Eurasia and not Eastasia. He argued with her about it for perhaps a quarter of an hour. In the end he succeeded in forcing her memory back until she did dimly recall that at one time Eastasia and not Eurasia had been the enemy. But the issue still struck her as unimportant(Orwell 154). This issue was so important to Winston because he wanted to spread his knowledge of the lies of Big Brother. He believed if people could just remember what life was like before Big Brother there was still hope of overthrowing the government. Winston knew, When memory failed and written records were falsified—when that happened, the claim of the Party to have improved the conditions of hu man life had got to be accepted, because there did not exist, and never again could exist, any standard against which it could be tested. (Orwell) A persons memory of better times gives hope that things will return to the way they used to be. Offred, the main character in The Handmaids Tale, is constantly