What up, homies? Welcome back to Thug Notes.
This week, we stickin it to the man with "1984" by George Orwell.
"1984" focuses on Winston Smith, a mid-level member of a totalitarian regime known as "The Party."
Now, the leader of this gang goes by the name of "Big Brother"
and represents the po-po keepin tabs on all yo sh*t.
One day, my boy Winston gets fed up with the system and starts spittin fire up in his journal.
But dat fool gotta watch his self, cuz talkin smack about Big Bro is enough to get a brotha thrown in the slamma.
Later, some fly hunny named Julia straight-up booty calls Winston by passin him a note that says, "I love you."
Hell yeah.
And after a while, Winston be thinkin he got mad love for this fox.
One day at work, Winston peeps some cat, by the name of O’Brien,
who seems like he wanna stick it to Big Brother, too.
So, Winston brings his boo, Julia, to O'Brien’s crib,
where O'Brien says that he's a part of a rebel group called "The Brotherhood."
Winston be like, "Sign me up, blood."
One night, Winston be readin some book that O'Brien gave him when bam —
the 5-O come bustin through his door and bag him and his homegirl.
Turns out, dat fool O'Brien was secretly part of Big Brother’s Thought Police crew.
And, let me tell you somethin, home boy. These fools ain't playin.
In order to realign Winston with the party’s mentality,
O'Brien be torturin Winston until he admit to crimes he ain't even done.
Then, O'Brien be like, “Yo. We ain’t even done up in here until everything be dead inside you.
And, after you empty, we gonna fill yo ass up with Big Brotha-ly love."
Ain't that some sh*t?
But Winston say, "Naw shorty, I keeps it real."
This be one of them instances where keepin it real goes wrong,
cuz dat boy O'Brien slings Winston's ass in the wackest torture chamber yo b*tch ass ever heard of — Room 101.
So, O'Brien puts a cage full of rats all up in Winston's grill until he gives in and starts screamin,
"Do it to Julia! Not me!"
In the end, The Man takes all the soul straight outta Winston. He only love Big Brother.
Damn.
Aight son, you don’t know nuttin about Big Brotha unless you schooled on their wackest method of control —
"doublethink."
Let me break it down. It’s called doublethink cuz yo ass be thinkin in two ways at once.
The first is you makin the conscious decision to believe something that be obvious bullsh*t.
The second is when you also deny that it’s even a lie in the first place.
So in the end, you's a fool who be believin nonsense with all the conviction of it actually bein true.
Like O'Brien book say, "Doublethink goes on forever. With the lie always one step ahead of the truth."
That sh*t is ridiculous. When most ballas think about Big Brotha,
they usually think about the po-po peepin yo sh*t wit informants and telescreens.
But, what’s just as legit is the way The Party twists reality.
See, if you wanna roll like a G'd up totalitarian dictator, you can’t just tear down da truth like Hitler,
whose dumbass actually burned books that weren’t feelin his flow.
Naw, naw — you gotta build that sh*t back up like Stalin,
who actually rewrote those muthaf**kas to be in line with his flava.
Orwell’s Oceania be givin nods to Stalin, who was sho as hell betta at controllin his peeps than Hitler.
Yo, you know what else is wack?
As The Party recreates reality, eventually all yo individual qualities get kicked straight to the curb.
How's a brotha gonna know he exist if all he be is what the government tells him he be?
But, let me be clear, son. If you think this book just be a critique of Stalinism, you best check yo self, blood.
Cuz on the real, this book here is a warning for all mankind.
Orwell sayin, "Yo, unless we change shit up in here, we gonna become some soulless robots
and not even know it.”
Hey, thank you for checking out Thug Notes.
Don't be a playa-hater, man — hit subscribe! See you next week.