In justifying this nightmare society [Orwell’s 1984], Winston’s torturer, O’Brien, explains: “You are imagining that there is something called human nature which will be outraged by what we do and will turn against us. But we create human nature. Men are infinitely malleable.” Fortunately, O’Brien, like the Director in Brave New World, is wrong. People are immensely malleable, more so, in all likelihood, than any other species. But infinitely? Absolutely not. And it is precisely such asserted distortions of biological reality that make 1984, as with Brave New World before it, so deeply troublesome. —Barash and Barash —Biology, Culture, and Persistent Literary Dystopias (Chronicle)
Similar:
Seton Hill students Emily Vohs, Elizabeth Burns, Jake Carnahan-Curcio and Carolyn Jerz in ...
“The Cowherd Who Became a Poet,” by James Baldwin. (Read by Dennis Jerz)
Dr. David von Schlichten honors the spectrum of motivations (not always financial) feature...
NASA reconnects with Voyager 1 (after months of confusion)
Collegewide game encourages small interactions around campus
Surprise sidewalk encounter with my man Hopkins outside the Admin shuttle stop this mornin...