blog 3. 1984 Truman..

Imagine if everything that made up your life was a lie, to protect you from a conflict-filled “real world”. From the first step you took, the first word you’ve spoken, to the friendships you’ve built. Is the perfect society really worth living a lie? That was the question that Truman was faced with in Sea haven. Censorship in Sea Haven and in other societies promotes a lack of gratification and a search for truth.
In the movie “The Truman Show” Jim Carey (Truman) had a very parallel life to a few important concepts in literature. In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, the protagonist, Winston Smith is very parallel to the main character Truman, in Sea haven. They are somewhat victimized in both their societies. The director of “The Truman Show”, Christof is a mirror of “the Party” (Ingsoc).
Looking at the life from Winston’s point of view you would learn to dislike the society in which he lives; as well as watching the society in which Truman lives; so fake and sugar coated. The Ingsoc created a controlled environment, with the fear of being watched by “Big Brother” (the head of the party). This is a parallel that goes directly to Truman, throughout his whole life he was watched and didn’t know it. His whole life was made up from a lie to believe in things that were not true. A very important character in 1984 was Syme, he the Sylvia in the novel. Syme was a major threat to the party, because he refused to conform and believe what they were trying to do to the Society. In effort to save Winston from learning the truth, he was vaporized from their society. Sylvia too was kicked off of “The Truman Show” for partially revealing to Truman the truths of what was going on. When living in any society you have friends and foes. Some of those friends though, may very well be foes. A great example is Marlon, Truman’s childhood friend. There a scene in the movie where Marlon “sincerely” convinced Truman that nothing was going on. Nobody was watching him and if it was true that he would be in on it. He led Truman astray based on gaining his trust. The friend/foe character in the novel was O’Brien. Winston thought that he could confide in O’Brien, but in the end he turned out to be a part of the inner party who ended up turning Winston in.
The juxtaposition in the movie “The Truman Show” and the novel 1984 by George Orwell creates the image in my mind that the movie allows the viewers to see bigger picture and how it is connected to the world outside of New Haven. Truman’s life can then be concluded by saying all things in life are not what they seem no matter how real they may be in front of you, and the more that his life was censored the more he strived for the truth, which is when he decided to leave New Haven. Winston on the contrary, was not lucky enough to survive the suffering that came with finding out the truth. So the question then again raises… is a “what seems to be perfect” society, really worth living a lie?