The terrifying nature of freedom causes individuals to assimilate into society to shirk their responsibilities.  Societies thus take advantage of this by oppressing individuals to maintain stability.  1984, by George Orwell, and Invitation to a Beheading, by Vladimir Nabokov, both exhibit oppressive environments and individuals who accept these societies.  The protagonists believe in the ideals and opinions perpetuated by their respective powers, and choose to subject themselves to the oppression put forth by those in control.  Jean-Paul Sartre’s essay, “Existentialism is a Humanism”, discusses the freedom and responsibility inherent to humanity.  In Orwell and Nabokov’s works, the protagonists, faced with the burden of decision and consequent responsibility, choose to suppress their freedom.  Out of fear, not of oppressive forces but of self-dependence, they turn to another to control their lives.  Thus they ultimately engage in deceiving themselves and choose lives of bad faith, where they are dishonest with themselves and refuse to embrace despair and anguish.  They suppress their individuality to ignore the responsibility inherent to freedom.  Both 1984 and Invitation to a Beheading exhibit the intrinsically oppressive nature of society and show that, through an existentialist lens, structured society is unnatural and accepting it is ultimately a form of self-deception as it suppresses an individual’s freedom. [Read more…]