This quote explains the government's power over the
children in the dystopian society depicted in George Orwell's 1984.
Parents have no authority over their children, who are influenced from a very
young age by the forces of "Big Brother." The children join organizations such as the
"Spies," where they dress uniformly in "blue shorts, gray shirs, and red neckerchiefs"
and are systematically indoctrinated in the philosophies of the government. The children
are taught to love Big Brother and hate "foreigners, traitors, saboteurs,
thought-criminals," the "enemies of the State;" they are encouraged to attend public
hangings, and as such are desensitized to violence. The children will report to the
authorities anyone who engages in questionable activities or who criticizes the
government, including their parents, and indeed are praised as "child hero[es]" for
doing so. Parents have no control over their children, who have been turned into
"ungovernable little savages" by their training.
There is
no love cultivated between children and their parents; through early and constant
indoctrination, the children's devotion is all directed towards Big Brother. Tragically,
parents actually fear their own children, because they know that their children's
loyalties lie with Big Brother, and that should they even suspect their parents of
deviation from the strict codes of behavior mandated by the government, they will not
hesitate to turn them in (Part 1, Chapter 2).
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