Ms. O’Keefe
English IV
19 January 2018
be truth is the truth”(Orwell). Orwell doesn’t want us to be oblivious to reality, he wants the
world to be aware of reality and not let anyone take that away from us. Orwell’s stance is shown
by making the government in 1984 who wants to control everything the citizens do the bad guys
in the novel. The government in 1984 aim for everyone to just accept what the government tells
them is the truth without hesitation. If Orwell was for the limitations on free speech, he would
have painted the government as the heroes of the novel instead of the villains that torture their
citizens until they surrender all their power to the government like they do to Winston.
Orwell wouldn’t be in favor of limiting free speech due to the ignorance of the people
that would come with censoring or limiting what we can speak about. Free speech is keeping us
aware of reality instead of just assuming that everything is the way the people in power claim it
is. By limiting free speech, we are giving up our power to be aware of reality and make a
difference. Limiting free speech may cause some to be upset and even offend some but in the
end, it’ll help us bring attention to topics that would’ve never been brought to light if there was
limitations on what we can talk about. For example, actors wouldn’t have spoken up about
Woody Allen being a child molestor and there wouldn’t have been any movements to take him
and other child molestors out of Hollywood if there was a limit on what we should and shouldn’t
talk about. Orwell would’ve wanted us to remain like Winston was at first and be fully aware of
the things going on that the people in power are trying to hide.
Alondra Flores
Ms. O’Keefe
English IV
19 January 2018
Works Cited
Alone, You Are Not. “Me too.” You Are Not Alone, metoomvmt.org/.
Barrett, Lisa Feldman. “When Is Speech Violence?” The New York Times, The New York Times,
14 July 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/07/14/opinion/sunday/when-is-speech-violence.html.
“The Bill of Rights: A Transcription.” National Archives and Records Administration, National
Archives and Records Administration, www.archives.gov/founding-docs/bill-of-rights-transcript.