Lewis & Orwell
Posted: July 24th, 2009, 3:01 pmI find some similarities in some of C. S. Lewis's writings and those of George Orwell. Both men's books contain arguments for absolutism (belief in the existence of absolute objective external universal truth) and both shared a somewhat dystopian view of what future society would be like if it remained on the course it seemed to be going in their day - and which it may still be going in the present day.
Orwell wrote a very interesting review of "That Hideous Strength" - the book of Lewis's which most closely resembles Orwell's own 1984: http://oxfordinklings.blogspot.com/2006 ... -over.html
If Lewis had written 1984, Winston could have gotten himself out of the ideological confusion forced upon him by O'Brien quite simply.
http://www.george-orwell.org/1984/19.html
The dialogue would have gone something like this:
Winston: ...I know that you will fail. There is something in the universe -- I don't know, some spirit, some principle -- that you will never overcome.
O'Brien: Do you believe in God, Winston?
Winston: YES.
Orwell wrote a very interesting review of "That Hideous Strength" - the book of Lewis's which most closely resembles Orwell's own 1984: http://oxfordinklings.blogspot.com/2006 ... -over.html
If Lewis had written 1984, Winston could have gotten himself out of the ideological confusion forced upon him by O'Brien quite simply.
http://www.george-orwell.org/1984/19.html
The dialogue would have gone something like this:
Winston: ...I know that you will fail. There is something in the universe -- I don't know, some spirit, some principle -- that you will never overcome.
O'Brien: Do you believe in God, Winston?
Winston: YES.