The Religion of Hate in The Sun Also Rises and 1984.
Instructions:
Write a 7-page essay using the latest MLA 9th edition citation format on the topic of how religion is subverted in Orwell’s 1984 and Hemmingway’s The Sun Also Rises.
Look at Butler’s definition of Mania and Tyranny and ground your argument n Finchelstein’s prescriptions for tyranny and social recall.
PartA: Orwell; A Cult of Hatred
Set up the absence of religion in the society of 1984 and how it is replaced by a cult
Like worship of Big Brother as enforced worship for the entire population
Why is this system in place and what is it’s purpose?
Focus on the 2 minute hate ritual
A way to institute civil religion based on aggression
Absence of the sacred supported by displacement way sin which ritual is invoked for cosial control/ means of domination- this is at odds with conventional presentations of religion (humility, penance etc.)
Degradation of the sacred in 1984, what is considered sacred in their world? Big Brother, Spies, the Two Minute Hate as a ritual
How does the ritual function to generate subordination?
Drive to channel powerful emotions in a society that doesn’t permit love between individuals or any emotions that don’t subscribe to the agenda of The Party
Violence and aggression spectacle seem related but are different
Absence, degradation, displacement, perversion in ritual
Finchelstein source- idea/ appeal of re-making the social order/ sacrilizing violence
Part B: Hemmingway: A Cult of Self Destruction Build on Butler’s argument of Death Drive and tie it in with how the characters in the book are driving themselves towards dangerous behavior as means of subverting morality & conventionally religious orthodox values by a) drinking/ alcoholism, b) adultery/ promiscuity c) escape mechanisms to escape reality
Focus on the bullfighting scene, the ritualism of bullfighting and how does the bullfight take on the mantle of a religious ritual in the novel, what does it represent?
Brett “God doesn’t work for me”- analyze this
Jake identifies as catholic
Brett rejects religion as a whole- this marks a change in their relationship and fighting over God
sources:
Georgoe Orwell- 1984 (Book)- focus on the 2 Minute Hate Ritual
Ernest Hemmingway- The Sun Also Rises- focus on the bullfighting ritual and the drive for the main character’s drive for self destruction in a largely promiscuous and overtly open society at the time
https://www.proquest.com/docview/1300161983?pq-origsite=summon&accountid=14656&imgSeq=6
https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~cavitch/pdf-library/Butler_Political_Philosophy_in_Freud.pdf
Focus on defining the death drive, mania, destructiveness and aggression
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ubc/reader.action?docID=4934570&ppg=55
For this source outline the context of the lost generation (les generations perdues , set up the context to the novel of Hemmingway. How was the self -destructive drive of the Lost Generation attributed to their godlessness?)
https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=LitRC&u=ubcolumbia&id=GALE|A19600006&v=2.1&it=r&sid=summon
https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-is-the-two-minutes-hate-in-1984-and-what-is-124283
