A Minority of One

So my Blogger account has denied me access about fifteen times in the past five minutes, claiming that my address is "reserved by an organization."  Right.  I only hope that this post publishes before I go absolutely insane.

Speaking of which.

I was doing my reading assignment for Government class from George Orwell's novel 1984.  What does this book have to do with government?  I have no idea.  But it seems to have a lot do do with insanity.

To quote the passage I just read:

 "He wondered, as he had many times wondered before, whether he himself was a lunatic.  Perhaps a lunatic was simply a minority of one."


This reminded me of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, of course, both because AP English is taking over my life and because I think that the definition of a lunatic as "a minority of one" applies to the book.  We've talked a lot about Chief Bromden's isolation and the way that he does not perceive things as others do.  He could easily be called a minority of one because he is the only one who experiences the fog, the physical manifestations of anger or hatred, and the intense levels of empathy.

Then I thought about everyday life.  If a lunatic is really a minority of one, then is it possible for anyone to have individuality and also be sane?  If everyone simply follows the rules of society, then who creates new ideas?  Where does change come from?  If being an individual means being a lunatic, then we definitely need some lunatics in society to keep the momentum going.