Concept of Law and Literature in Orwell's Nineteen Eighty Four - Book Report/Review Example

Law and Literature Core Statement According to Ian Ward, "the ability of literature to provide a supplementary chronicle is perhaps the least controversial of the defenses of law and literature, perhaps in part because it is also the least challenging or threatening. If law is indeed comprehended as the expression of contemporary social, political and normal forces, then it is very obvious that we can better appreciate its inception and evolution if we have a surer grasp of theses invariably historical forces." 1 This essay will attempt to analyse this statement by looking at the issue of law and literature with respect to George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four”. The paper will first introduce the concept of law and literature as well as a general description of the novel. The paper will then look into detail the issue of land and literature and their presentation in various literatures. After this, the paper shall focus on the novel “nineteen eighty-four” paying close attention on the issue of dystopia as well as sections that bring out our main subject i.e. law and literature. We shall then analyse the chosen topic (dystopia) with respect to both the text (George Orwell’s 1984) and experience of studying law and literature. Introduction In many law schools today, law and literature has become an important part of the curriculum whereby students read fiction that contains themes of legal ethics, trail procedures, and justice. The main reason for the study of law and literature was best summarized by Ian Ward whereby he commented that we should study past literature in order to understand the forces that drive changes within the law.2 The law has for a long time been the principal theme in the literary genre of dystopian writing just as this theme has been important to the legal imagination. Undeniably, many schools of legal thought target in various ways to optimise the social existence of human beings3. On the other hand dystopian literature constantly explores juridical systems which are inadequate, leading to various sorts of disaster, madness and totalitarianism. By studying dystopian literature, we get to assess the background and situation of the times that these texts were written so as to understand what aspects of the existing law system led to the writing of these texts. The book nineteen eighty-four written by George Orwell presents a dystopian world in which there is a discordance between law and literature. In the society of 1984, any literature pertaining to the law, or any literature that may question the infalliability of the The Party was destroyed. The law was created on the whims of Big Brother and some chosen elites. This resulted in a situation where stratification of the society exists, individual rights are non-existent and the government are all-powerful without any form of regulation or accountability4. Law and Literature The rising movement of law and literature focuses on the combination of the law and literature academic fields. Law and literature as a field has its foundation in two crucial advances in the intellectual law history. First, there has been an increasing doubt on the ability of law to be meaningful and provide value while it is in isolation and whether it must be linked to a philosophical or cultural context to provide it with meaning and value5. Secondly, there is an increasing focus on the variability of meaning in all literature, whether legal or literature6. There are two main perspectives in law and literature: that of law as literature and that of law in literature7. Law in literature focuses on understanding the various issues that are presented in major literary text while law as literature mainly involves applying methods of literary interpretation, analysis and critique so as to understand legal texts8. Law and literature offer us the chance to combine the ability of literature to offer a unique comprehension of the human condition, with the legal structure that controls those human practices in reality9. This allows a democratic judiciary to utilize an innovative and dynamic method in accomplishing its main function of ensuring a moral and just society. Law in literature is mainly involved with the manner in which aspects of law are brought out in literary texts. Scholars in this field value the independent manner through which authors view the law. Proponents of law in literature hold that authors of these literary texts have a lesson to teach students and law professionals on the human condition, and the effect that the law has on it10. These scholars argue that the fictional conditions presented in these texts can communicate to us about social and political states, and about the people who seek legal help or are presented before the courts11. While these texts cannot teach its readers about the law, it can teach law students about the conditions of human life12. Weisberg holds that literature has to be appreciated for its ability to lead one to relate with others, and for the political, cultural and social contexts that these texts, especially those touching on aspects of law, grapple with13. Nineteen Eighty-Four The book nineteen eighty-four, written by George Orwell presents a dystopian world in which government surveillance, totalitarianism and appalling human conditions are rampant14. The events in the book take place in Airship One, a region within Oceania in a world that is characterized by constant wars, manipulation of the public, and an ever-present surveillance of the people by its government. In the city of London, posters carrying the warning, “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING” fills the streets. The dystopian world created by Orwell contains 3 classes of people: the inner party (ruling class), the outer party (middle class) and the majority, proles (working class). In the world of 1984, the concepts of individual freedom and free enterprise do not exist anymore. There are only three super powers left to dominate a world characterized by fear, hatred and isolation. Eastasia and Eurasia are two of these superpowers while Oceania is the third and is always at war with one of the others15. Winston Smith, the protagonist is a member of the elite ruling class and works as an editor in the ministry of truth16. His main job in the Ministry is to revise historical records so as to ensure that the past is told in such a way that matches the variable party line. He is also tasked on deleting records of those people who have been murdered by the government and are removed from memory and history (unpersons)17. The Party, which is responsible in developing government policies in Oceania, is in complete control and selects social activities for its citizens provides clothing and ration food. Tobacco and chocolate are in short supply during the current war18. Winston’s work attire and basically his whole meagre wardrobe are provided by the government and he spends his evenings in meetings sponsored by the government. Oceania is dominated by hatred and war, where every movement and expression is monitored by the government through spies, telescreens and microphones. Big Brother’s secret militia, the Thought Police, assists the Party to crush any sign of rebellion by eliminating people accused or suspected of behaving or even thinking in a disloyal manner. The government publication, Hate Week, enables the government to instigate and intensify hatred against Emmanuel Goldstein, Enemy of the people, and while at the same time increase devotion to Big Brother. The Party also holds that the proles, who are the majority, are naturally inferior and have to be kept in check. Under big brother, any individualism is persecuted and thoughtcrimes are punishable by death. Thought crimes in this instance defiance any instance of independent thinking by any individual. While Winston is directly responsible for historical revisionism, he has a deep hatred for the ruling party and hopes for a rebellion. He secretly purchases a journal in which he writes the heresy “down with Big Brother”. Winston’s actions constitute the worst imaginable crime, “thoughtcrime”.19 Most of the actions committed by Winston mainly revolve around his attempts to drag up the past, such as the people and events that occurred during his childhood. He tries to investigate what life was in London before the revolution, but he finds that the party was successful in completely annihilating all remnants of life before it came into power. Winston enters into an affair with the free spirited Julia, an employee at the Ministry of Truth. At the early stages of their relationship, they view their involvement as a political act against the Party that is dominated by suspicion and hate. Since Promiscuity has been forbidden, they view their relationship as an act of rebellion. As the affair continues, their feelings for one another fade, but they still continue their clandestine meetings20. They discuss how their lives are repressive and the possibility of joining the Brotherhood. Winston and Julia ae later recruited into the brotherhood by O’Brien (a co-worker) but are later betrayed by Mr Charrington, a member of the Thought Police, and are arrested in their secret room21. Winston is detained in the Ministry of Love (Miniluv) that is tasked with brainwashing and torture. During the next few months, he is tortured, beaten and starved with the main reason of “curing” him22. Ironically, he is tortured by none other but O’Brien, who confirms that he was indeed a trusted member of the Inner Party. He finally submits when he is threatened to be caged with hungry rats inside room 101. It is at this point that he finally betrays Julia. Winston is finally released, but he waits to be eliminated by a bullet to the head. He meets with Julia, who also admits that she also betrayed their love23. Winston realizes that he does not have any feelings for her at heads to Chestnut Street Café where he spends another night drinking. He knows that his death has been sanctioned, but he weeps with joy when news of the army’s latest victory is presented in the telescreen. He is finally under the control of the party, and his defeat is best summarized by the final sentence of the novel, “He loved Big Brother”24. Nineteen Eighty-Four, Law and Literature Looking at the novel, we see a dystopian society in which the people are kept under a tight leash by being kept without a sense of individualism and independent thinking. These people cannot change their present situation since the past has been deleted to conform to what the government wants. Looking at the scene when Winston reunites with Julia, they admit about betraying each other and agree that in their society, one has to save himself, not caring about others. Ward argues that a comprehensive understanding of the history of law helps us better appreciate its evolution and inception25. In terms of a dystopian world, examining the current social, political and normal forces will better enable us to understand how the law will change to describe a future situation. Nineteen Eighty Four gives us a picture in which dystopian world has deleted all its historical documents. The past has been revised and nothing about the future has any basis. Laws can be changed arbitrary as nobody can argue about its inception and evolution26. Winston does not know the current date, what happened during the war or even the events that led to the party being in power. When Orwell was writing this novel, he noticed that during this time, movements that were cropping up, either national or civil, seemed to adopt a non-democratic form27. That is, they sought to group themselves around an exceptional Fuhrer. This period saw a shift from nationalistic ideals towards individualism, survival at its heart. World War II saw the destruction of histories. Books were burnt and ideologies were spread through print and media. Orwell took this as a basis of his novel, as he imagined a world where the spreading of propaganda and deletion of histories did not end but continued to the unforeseeable future. The novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, gives us an opportunity to study Ward's views, and as we look closely at the characters and themes of the novel, we note that Ward was correct, at least in our dystopia. Literature has the ability to give us a supplementary chronicle. It gives us a history, which can be accessed by anyone. Even if we eliminate people with individual thought, literature can enable us to understand the past and thus give us the ability to argue about the future Background of Nineteen Eighty-Four George Orwell began plans of writing the novel as early as 1940, during World War II, but he was only able to finish it in 1948, at the initiation of the Cold War28. Orwell was greatly influenced by the Anti-Fascist texts of the 1930s as can be seen in his books. The main theme and plot of Nineteen Eighty-Four is influenced by Communist Russia29. After the death of Lenin in Russia, there was a major power struggle between Stalin, the secretary of the communist party and Leo Trotsky, the Minister of War. Stalin power began to increase within Politbureau, a small collection of party leaders and the society's elite. Stalin together with his allies Kamenev and Zinoviev, soon became invincible as they utilized the Russian secret police, NKVD, to crush all plots against them30. In order to resist all attempts by Trotsky to democratize the country, they eliminated his followers by killing them or sending them abroad. Trotsky was finally forced to retire from the ministry, and was later forced out of the Politbureau, was exiled from the country, and was later assassinated by NKVD agents31. From 1928 onwards, Stalin held all the power in Russia. He introduced forced labour, collective agriculture, and the creation of an authoritarian state combined by annihilation of all possible threats to him (political opposition)32. In 1928, he initiated his five-year plans, each of which describes ambitious plans of development. None of these plans were ever fulfilled, nevertheless, after five years in 1932 the government claimed that all plans had been achieved33. In the Russian society, people were not free to choose their own jobs, and those who resisted were taken to labour camps. The secret police set up Gulags, and other centres of torture and brainwashing. The dictatorship set up by Stalin was finalized when the vast majority of poor unskilled workers became under the control of a minority of selected and loyal skilled workers and bureaucrats who were given some privileges not allowed to the masses34. The gulf between the classes developed and expanded and new elite was formed. To counter contradictory information, Stalin began efforts to rewrite history so as to show that Lenin approved his accession35. Over the years, Stalin began enjoying a certain amount of hero-worship from the citizens as cities and infrastructures were named after him36. Critics of Stalin were eliminated by the Great Purges that took place between 1934 and 193837. Under Stalin’s rule, the USSR became a one-party democracy where elections were a joke. While everybody was told that they could belong to the communist party, membership in reality was a privilege38. The party was described by a pyramid structure with privileges and power belonging to only an elite few. Each level of the pyramid contained organisations responsible for spreading propaganda, educating bureaucrats, and training military personnel39. These activities were instituted to enhance the strength of the party and ensure loyalty. Stalin held power throughout World War I until his death in 1958. The novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, was based on communist Russia under the rule of Stalin. Orwell wrote this book to show what will happen if systems that began developing during the war and at the beginning of the cold war took hold and continued into the future. As World War II was taking place, Orwell held that the British Democracy as it appeared before 1939 would crumble before the war ended40. Oceania was derived from the annexation of the British Empire by the US to fight against the Asian peril to New Zealand and Australia. It was utilized as a naval power by which battle was waged to take back India. The society of Oceania is based on the society of the USSR ruled by Stalin (represented by Big Brother). Dystopia, Law and Literature Utopia denotes a place condition or state of mind that is perfect with respect to politics, legal affairs, customs and practices of the people and conditions of the place41. In this place, the needs of the people are satisfied fully. On the other hand, dystopia is a futuristic or imagined universe, which has the capacity to maintain an oppressive societal control and the disillusioned view that the society is perfect, through corporate, bureaucratic and other forms of control. Dystopias are usually exaggerated such that they cannot be reflected in the real world. However, dystopias provide students of law with information needed in order to understand the legal and human aspects that surrounds laws and legal careers. The majority of dystopias provides the leeway for criticism on the current trends and norms that are upheld by the society or the political class42. The characteristics that are evident in most of the dystopian societies touch on various issues that are evident in the common societies. The main issue that stand out in most of the dystopian societies is the use of propaganda. Governments hold power and control over its citizen through the use of propaganda to create fear, insecurity, distrust and hatred43. Propaganda is a powerful tool in that it causes the masses to be insecure over imagined threats44. As the masses react to the propaganda by panicking or fighting, the ruling class capitalizes on this situation to attain a targeted advantage or hide a certain misgiving that would have rallied the people against them. As witnessed in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, the rumor mill is the main source of information for the masses in a dystopian society45. The access to information is a reserve for the few people, while the rest have to contend with half-truths and outright lies. The lack of proper information leads to the creation of a figurehead in the society (Big Brother). This figure is presumed to be the all-knowing and people have exaggerated and unrealistic views on the leader. Citizens in dystopias are wary of stranger as they do not know if they are spies out to report them to higher authorities46. Analysis of 1984 with respect to law and literature George Orwell presents a serious issue in an imaginative and compelling manner that leaves a reader with an understanding about life in an authoritarian, communist society. Students as well as the wider audience may not fully understand the nuances of communist Russia. While people may have heard or read on about life in Stalin’s Russia, Orwell gives them a protagonist with whom they can relate to and with whom they can understand the day to day life of individuals in an oppressive government. The book satisfies the major function of law and literature, that of presenting a complementary chronicle of the past in an unthreatening and compelling manner. The book highlights issues of justice, law (in this case, it presents the failures of laws), human rights and importance of understanding the past in regulating present regimes47. For the modern student, 1984 reminds us the importance of literature in guiding the development of law. It teaches us that information about the past determines how people understand the law and the power in a given legislature. For example, by understanding the plight of a people under communism, their culture and experiences, we can formulate laws to limit the power of the government. Conclusion The defining characteristic of law and literature in its earliest formal incarnation was its commitment to humanism48. Law and literature held that humans acted as an ethical guard to the technocratic and scientific visions of law that dominated a large part of the twentieth century. Allen Smith once remarked that most of the failures witnessed in law arise from the fact that scholars and professional fail to ground themselves firmly on humanistic traditions, of which literature acts as the chief expression.49 Scholars have come to realize that literature, as the most human of the humane arts, could instill humanistic judgement to the law. Literature has the power to remind us of the rich humanity held in judicial decisions and case reports therefore acting to censure the mechanistic objectivity of the law. Literature also has the ability to offer reflections, expressed colorfully through narrative, on the human connotation of ideas vital to law such as justice, punishment and criminality. Literature can also offer representations of rhetorical excellence, bringing back together the practice of law with the noble tradition of forensic oratory, thereby turning students of law into rhetoric artists.50 Bibliography Binder Guyora and Weisberg Robert, Literary Criticisms of Law (Princeton UP 2000) Bowker Gordon, Inside George Orwell: A Biography (Palgrave Macmillan 2003) Brodeur Karen and Orwell George, George Orwell’s 1984 (Max Books, 1995) Brooks Peter, ‘The Law as Narrative and Rhetoric.’ In Peter Brooks and Paul Gewirtz (eds), Law’s Stories: Narrative and Rhetoric in the Law (Yale UP, 1996), 14–22. Cardozo Benjamin Nathan, Law and literature and other essays and addresses (FB Rothman 1986) Crane Gregg, Race, citizenship, and law in American literature (Cambridge University Press 2002) DeLombard Jeannine Marie, ‘Law and Literature’ in S Hadden and A Brophy (eds), A Companion to American Legal History (Wiley-Blackwell, 2013) Fish Stanley, "Working on the chain gang: Interpretation in law and literature" [1991] 60 Tex. L. Rev. 551 Fitzpatrick Sheila, Everyday Stalinism (Oxford University Press 1999) Gurnham David, Memory, imagination, justice (Ashgate 2009) Hanafin Patrick, Gearey Adam and Brooker Joseph, Law and literature (Blackwell Publications 2004) Lewis Felice Flanery, Literature, obscenity, & law (Southern Illinois University Press 1976) Meyer Michael J., Literature and law (Rodopi 2004) Minda Gary, "Law and Literature at Century's End." [1997] 9 Cardozo Studies in Law and Literature 245 Orwell George, Nineteen Eighty-Four (Martin Secker & Warburg Ltd 1949) Posner Richard A., An affair of state (Harvard University Press 1999) Smith Allen J., “Aspects of Law and Literature: The Revival and Search for Doctrine.” [1977] 9 University of Hartford Studies in Literature 213 Tzouliadis Tim, The Forsaken: An American Tragedy in Stalin's Russia (Penguin Press 2008) Ward Ian, “Law and Literature” [1993] 4 Law and Critique 43 Ward Ian, Law and Literature: Possibilities and Perspectives (Cambridge University Press 1995) Ward Ian, ‘On Literary Jurisprudence’ (JLIS, 12 March 2011) < http://web.law.und.edu/jlis/essays/wardessayIII.html> Accessed 30 Mar 2014 Weisberg Richard. "Poethics: Toward a Literary Jurisprudence." Poethics and Other Strategies of Law and Literature. Columbia University Press, 1992. 3-47 West W., The Larger Evils – Nineteen Eighty-Four: the Truth Behind the Satire. (Canongate Press 1992) Read More