Che Guavara And 1884 Essay

Che Guevara s and 1984-

Ernesto Che Guevara was born on June 14, 1928, in Rosario, Argentina. He studied medicine at the University of Buenos Aries. Che the name as he was affectionately known was acquired when Guevara was studying. It means "mate" or "friend". However after his studies Ernesto made a serious life change.

He was unable to watch Fulgencio Batista oppress the poor people of Cuba, so he left the medical profession and joined the forces of Fidel Castro. We can say that Ches interest in politics came from him wanting to help the poor people of Cuba or how he felt about South America Being colonized by the United States.One of Guevaras main influences, however, was Fidel and Raul Castro, and their mission. After joining Fidel Castro, Ernesto became an iconic figure to many people around the world and a prominent revolutionary.

In contrast the book the book 1984 published in 1948 and written by George Orwells with a similar theme some of which paralleled themes in ches life. There are themes of betrayal, of oppression, suffering and rebellion in both lives. 1984 was a fictional account of events al la George Orwell. It was Orwells terrifying vision of the future if certain doctrines were left unchecked. It is a very insightful book about how state powers can strive to completely control the lives of individuals though cultural conditioning. The protagonist of the story is a man called Winston Smith and the novel tells us about his life and his longing for change to a better world.

Ernesto che Guevara was willing to fight and win his war at all costs even if it meant losing his life. Similarly Winston Smith, the protagonist in 1984, was willing to rebel against big brother even though he knew he could be killed or worse. Both men then showed a sense of self-sacrifice for what seemed to be a greater cause to them. The difference being that Che was willing to take other peoples

lives in order to achieve his goals, whereas Winston was only prepared to loose his own life To broaden the point let us use a quotation from one of ches own speeches of what he thought was necessary to achieve his aims and also speaks to his idealism.

If we, in a small point of the world map, are able to fulfill our duty and place

at the disposal of this struggle whatever little of ourselves we are permitted to give: our lives, our

sacrifice, and if some day we have to breathe our last breath on any land, already ours, sprinkled

with our blood let it be known that we have measured the scope of our actions and that we only

consider ourselves elements in the great army of the proletariat but that we are proud of having

learned from the Cuban Revolution, and from its maximum leader, the great lesson emanating

from his attitude in this part of the world: "What do the dangers or the sacrifices of a man or of a

nation matter, when the destiny of humanity is at stake."

This direct quote for the message to the tricontinental by Che Guevara is similar to the thought process of Winston Smith when he tries to justify his thought crimes

Both men are willing to make self-sacrifice and also to resist against the consequences. Winston knows that he will be punished if he people knew he was making a thought crime and this is a good example of his internal resistance and struggles against right and wrong. However he was eventually caught and was tortured. Even while he was being tortured Winston still tried to resist giving in to the demands of Obrien or big brother which still wasnt enough to save him. However we can see signs of resistance in Che when he physically fights against military forces.

Both Winston and Che dreamt of a better world. In 1984 Winston dreams of the golden country which is the land of freedom; it represents the hope of mankind. The Golden Country is the opposite of the world in which Winston Smith livesin. Che wishes to free Cuba and other latin countries from being controlled by the united states of America and to for a perfect communist country both were searching for utopia. Which takes me to the next point.

Although both Che and Winston dream of a better place to live Ironically Winston wants to be free of what Che wanted to administer. We could say that to some an extent George Orwell;s book would be contradictory to ches goals and speech and message to the tri-continental . To compare both mens goals is rather paradoxical.

The four ministries within 1984 were named to represent something but did the exact opposite. This is an example of doublethink. For example the ministry of peace was actually the head the tmilitary forces and controlled the warfare of the country. Equivalently, Che also displayed contradicting ideas. More than anything he wanted peace and freedom for his country but to obtain it he was not only willing to kill other people opposing him but also to sacrifice many lives of people who fought against or for him in war. Winston in contrast knew the consequences of his actions would affect no one else but himself though he selfishly did not give a second thought to putting Julia in harms way he was certainly not on the mercenary scale of Che. When it came to sacrificing people for the cause.

Both Ches message to the Tri continental speech and 1984 are about large scale societal changes. Che however is not only trying to send his message out locally but globally, he did this not only by using guerilla warfare but also by trying to implement real social change. He was trying to convey an idea, the idea of an ideal communist society and freedom to all people around the world but mainly for the Latin American countries. In his vision people have the right to work, the right to education, the right to proper health care, the right to proper housing but not necessarily the right to freedom of speech and expression.