n 1949, George Orwell wrote 1984, a
stunning novel envisioning haunting images of the future. Fifty years
later,
The Matrix, a movie directed by the Wachowski brothers, debuted
on the big screen featuring mind-blowing special effects and complex
kung-fu choreography. There are many obvious similarities between these
two works of fiction. For example, both 1984 and The Matrix are
dystopian visions of the future, which is to say, both deal with the
maintenance of an
imperfect society. The word dystopia is the antonym
of utopia, which itself means a perfect society; therefore, a dystopia
is theoretically a society of total misery and wretchedness. Despite
the many similar "distopic" elements found in these two pieces, there
are still distinct differences which contribute to the variation in the
overall themes of 1984 and The Matrix. Most obviously, in both 1984 and The Matrix, the
protagonist is
a rebel and resists the controlling power. In addition, the dystopian
environments in which the protagonists dwell are similar. In both
worlds, the protagonists have very few luxuries: the main meal consist
of very little besides a nameless bowl of tasteless artificial slop.
The only available source of alcoholic beverage is, in 1984, a "sickly,
oily smell
" Victory Gin, and in The Matrix, an anonymous liquid
used for degreasing engines (Orwell 8). The clothing and furniture is
equally unappealing, being old, ragged, and looking as if it was
salvaged from a junk yard. Moreover, not only do the protagonists have
to eat unsatisfactory food, they are also unfulfilled sexually. At one
point, Winston recalls his encounter with the prole prostitute,
thinking about how he needed to use her services despite her elderly
age because he needed an "outlet for instincts which could not be
altogether suppressed"(Orwell 57). In The Matrix, the short-lived
"Mouse" had to resort to going into the Construct, or a kind of virtual
reality, and interacting with the virtual woman in the red dress in
order to fulfill himself sexually. The setting gives off a cold unhomely feel to any dweller,
contributing further to the dystopic imagery. The apartment which
Winston Smith, the protagonist of 1984, lives in is cramped and
uncomfortable, with the telescreen removing whatever privacy there is
left. Likewise, the living quarters on Nebuchadnezzar, or the
hovercraft where the protagonist, Neo, lives on, are very tiny, with
each room being little more than an oversized closet featuring a narrow
bunk and a heavy metal hatch as a door. Furthermore, with the constant
threat of enemy machines called Sentinels "programmed for only one
thing...search and destroy," there isn''t a single second when Neo can
feel safe. In both works, the protagonist is imperfect: In 1984, Winston
is old, frail, and constantly bothered by the throbbing ulcer on his
ankle. In The Matrix, Neo has mechanical implants throughout his body,
a painful reminder that he, too, used to be part of the Matrix. Had
Morpheus not freed Neo, he would have never realized that the real
world is actually a post-apocalyptic dystopia at the end of the 22nd
century. In fact, the movie also explicitly says that our world right
now is an imperfect society and hints that our society could never
become utopic because "human beings define their reality through misery
and suffering. So the perfect world was a dream that your primitive
cerebrum kept trying to wake up from"(The Matrix). By choosing an
imperfect person as the protagonist, the director/author is able to
remind the reader that the protagonist is only human, not perfect. Certainly there are many similarities in these two fictitious
works; however, upon closer analysis, there are more differences than
similarities. First of all, in 1984, the enemy to the public is their
own government, and consequently, themselves. In contrast, the enemy in
The Matrix is artificial intelligence. And although artificl
intelligence is man-made, there is still a distinction between friend
and foe because all the enemies are machines or programs whereas in
1984, it is hard for the protagonist to tell whether anyone is part of
the Thought Police or not. And it is because of this inability for one
to tell between friend and foe that Winston gets caught--by trusting
Mr. Charrington. Secondly, it is not the underground society which seeks the
protagonist in 1984 as it is in The Matrix; it is Winston who, through
the course of the novel, is always searching for the Brotherhood but
never finds it. In fact, as far as the reader knows, the Brotherhood
might not even exist. By emphasizing the obscurity and evasiveness of
the Thought Police in 1984, Orwell is giving the reader a sense of
Winston''s helplessness and the Party''s power. In The Matrix, the
freedom of the human race depended all on finding and freeing one
person, "The Chosen One." When Morpheus freed Neo, the directors were
able to convey a sense of hope to their audience. On the contrary,
Winston Smith always knew that he was going to get caught by the
Thought Police sooner or later because he could never escape the grasp
of the Party, which gave the atmosphere a feeling of impending doom and
utter hopelessness.