Posted by poum84 on September 20, 2001 at 20:59:14:
In Reply to: Osama bin Laden and Orwell posted by Eric on September 19, 2001 at 17:44:25:
I think that is a fantastic question. The parallels are infinite. In 1984 Goldstein is the scapegoat. Whenever something goes wrong everyone assumes it is Goldstein behind it. You don't have to be a genius to see how this connects to bin Laden (everything is blamed entirely on him). No one has seen Goldstein in years in the book and no one knows where he really is. Similarly we don't know where bin Laden is and we haven't seen him in years. The only video we have seen of him is over 10 years old. Both bin Laden and Goldstein are more symbols than people. They represent an idea, they are the scapegoat, they make the people feel secure because they are someone to blame for the troubles in the world. They make the people love the government more because they have someone to hate and to blame. I hope more people will respond to this question, I find it very interesting.
-poum84-