1984 Totalitarianism

In the book 1984, Orwell vividly describes a society driven by a totalitarian government that thrives on controlling what everyone does, think, or say. The main character, Winston Smith, undergoes the loss of his distinct character as he is created in the Party's image in anticipation of him not only obeying, but loving Big Brother. As discussed in class this novel was written not only for entertainment or pleasure but as a warning sign to others. Throughout the novel Orwell discussed many things that made him believe that the problems in 1984 will still exist in today’s society. Although there were numerous issues discussed I consider the most relevant were the discussions about Big Brother, War, and Newspeak.

In “1984”, Winston is a normal staff working for the “big brother” and his job is to change the history in order to change people’s mind. For example, if the government says there will be two chocolates per a person instead of three chocolates. Then all the news and old news need to change to two chocolates per a person, like three chocolates per a person was never happend. Also, in this novel Winston gets catched by being with Julia, after they caught him they tortured him and make him admit that 2+2=5 not 4. “He wrote first in large clumsy capitals ‘FREEDOM IS SLAVERY’ Then almost without a pause he wrote beneath it: ‘TWO AND TWO MAKE FIVE’. He wrote ‘GOD IS POWER.’ He accepted everything.”(pg. 277) He tried to fight against the party after he got a book that’s against totalitarian but after all the torture and brainwash he starts to feel he could not fight the party any longer. So that shows how Big Brother

The pursuit of freedom and the longing for a better life and “knowledge give people power, and truth will set people free” are the common understanding of the human nature. In novel, the Oceania’s Party controlled life in a constant state of propaganda-induced fear through the four ministries of Peace, Love, Plenty, and Truth. Winston’s job at the Ministry of Truth involves revisions of historical documents and rewrites of news stories to reflect the Party’s infallibility. Because the Party was afraid of historical knowledge will form power that justify or encourage the present and the future. If history was idyllic, then people will act to re-create it; if the present was nightmarish, then people will be to subvert the present in order to create a good future. The fact of the matter, the Party, which carries out government policies in Oceania, rations food, issues clothing, and selects social activities. Both chocolate and tobacco are in short supply during this latest war. Public facilities were in shreds and patches, and most of people live in poverty. The

Picture a world where a small group of people knows exactly what people are doing and when they are doing it, and if one makes one wrong move they are erased off of the face of the planet. This is what it is like to live in George Orwell’s 1984. Orwell tells a story about what he thought the world would be like in forty years. He predicted the world to be a world of totalitarian rule in which there are only three super countries. One of those countries was called Oceania, where the main character, Winston, lives. Winston is a outer party member that works in the ministry of truth where he rewrites the past. Winston realizes what he does ‘for a living’ is wrong and starts writing his thoughts in a diary, which is a

Taking place forty years ahead of the time it was written, 1984 was written with the purpose of revealing the dangers of a totalitarian society. Despite the large time frame from when 1984 was written to the year the Cultural Revolution took place in China, and also to the year 1984 was set in, this novel accurately depicts a totalitarian government during the 1900s. In 1966, the Communist Party leader, Mao Zedong launched the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in fear of losing power to the Communist party to his adversary, Liu Shaoqi. Similar to the government policies in Oceania, the Communist Party corrupts the minds of the children in order to enlist them as loyalists to the Party. They also harassed and denounced party bureaucrats,

A dystopia is an imaginary place or state in which the condition of life is bad, as from deprivation, oppression, or terror. Referring to the definition, totalitarianism throughout 1984 demonstrates all elements of a dystopia. Big Brother instills fear in the minds of Oceanians to access all power and build their version of a utopia. Orwell faults the world of 1984 to show the protagonist, Winston Smith, is able to overcome all fears the Party instills in him and to find it in himself to rebel against the totalitarian government. Winston criticizes his society for being so driven by party ideology which encourages them to go through mental processes that confuse them with what is reality as to the Party’s version of reality (Becnel 74). The protagonist proves himself to be a misfit in the society of 1984 by not conforming to the party’s ideas as others would, diminishing the idea of individuality. George Orwell portrays a dystopian society through a rebellious protagonist’s hatred of totalitarianism to illustrate the idea of nonconformity in 1984.

The Thought Police seek to restraint the logic of its citizens by placing telescreens in all public places and in the homes of the people. As Winston explains, “The instrument (the telescreen, it was called) could be dimmed, but there was no way of shutting it off completely” (Orwell 3). Few authorial figures receive the ability to turn off the telescreen, however, there will never go a second without being watched. Although this will not completely stop the individual thoughts of each person, it will efficiently regulate the language each person actions, which are often shown to reflect their personality. The telescreens act to influence the mind of an individual by spreading false information and propaganda throughout the day that civilians will intently listen to and take seriously. Mindlessly, civilians unquestionably believe what the authorial figures in their city believe, easily forgetting the past. If a citizen disbelieved in what was being told or presented signs of weakness, they’d immediately be investigated. As Winston explains, “It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing can give you away” (Orwell, 62). While being watched, complying with the law is the only way to survive in a totalitarian

Every word and movement is monitored through the telescreens and there are “ always the eyes watching you and the voice enveloping you. Asleep or awake , working or eating , indoors or outdoors , in the bath or in bed- no escape.” ( Orwell 29). The Thought police are the people who monitor the telescreens . “ Thought police plugged in on any individual wire…-in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard” (Orwell 7). To further demonstrate the manipulation of the human mind , the concept of “ doublethink,” is widely used to eliminate individual thinking and the citizens are forced to accept two contradictory ideas in their mind. The perfect example of double think would be "War is Peace," "Freedom is Slavery," "Ignorance is Strength." ( Orwell 6). All these show that the government have complete control of the citizens mind , hence having the ultimate power to manipulate the society.

1984 was written with the purpose to warn citizens of the serious danger totalitarianism could pose to society. A totalitarian government controls almost every aspect of life. Totalitarian society is usually ruled by a dictator, and there is little to no freedom. George Orwell became concerned by the role that technology had in enabling the government to monitor and control their citizens. “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past” explains the Party’s technique of using false history to influence its readers. The Party chooses exactly what to tell the public, regardless of what is accurate. The propaganda machine, which constantly corrects old material to reflect the Party's current position on

Rough Draft 1984, a book written by George Orwell, is a dystopian novel about a totalitarian government that oppresses its people and controls all aspects of their lives. The book goes into grave detail about what it would be like if the world was ran by a totalitarian government. 1984 was published on june 8, 1949 and was a presentation of how the world would be in the future more specifically in 1984. 1984 uses many prime examples of today society and how the government works today and some countries that still use communism in today modern government.

In a future eerily imaginable when looking at the current state of humanity, there is no laughter, love, or loyalty, but only languor, loss, and lunacy, and resistance from the chokehold of oppression is a futile cause. For more insight on this frighteningly plausible fate, look no further than George Orwell’s 1984, a novel at the pinnacle of dystopian literature. Set in the superstate of Oceania, 1984 depicts the life of Winston Smith, a middle class man who struggles to stay credulous and mindlessly obedient in a society in which the Party, a deceptive and megalomaniacal oligarchy that operates under a potentially mythical leader by the name of Big Brother, heavily scrutinizes each person’s every move and does all that it can to regulate every possible aspect of everyone’s life. The Party employs a series of devices to exert control over its citizens, such as rewriting actual events, rationing, and two-minutes of daily hate, but by far, the most useful method that the Party utilizes to

The definition of a totalitarian state is a government that subordinates the individual to the state and strictly controls all aspects of life by coercive measures. George Orwell’s novel, 1984, shows a society ruled by a totalitarian state. The Party and Big Brother is Oceania’s controlling government. They manipulate the people and restrict them to contain as much power as they can for themselves. The novel follows Winston Smith and his journey in losing his humanity and freedom because of the Party. The novel 1984 by George Orwell shows the threat of a totalitarian state by showing the control the government possess over the people.

Nineteen Eighty-Four was written by a major contributor to anticommunist literature around the World War II period, and is one of the greatest stories of an anti-utopian society ever. Nineteen Eighty-Four was not written solely as an entertaining piece of literature or as a dream of what the future could be like, it was written as a warning of what could happen as a result of communism and totalitarianism. This was not necessarily a widely popular vision of the future at the time of publication, but it was certainly considered a possibility by many people. The popular vision of the future, if analyzed as from a character in the book's point of view, sometimes changes, depending on the character. The mass of people, the proletarians, have a

Totalitarianism is a system of government that is centralized and dictatorial and requires complete subservience to the state, according to Google. George Orwell aims to establish this type of government in his novel 1984. The protagonist, Winston Smith attempts to conform to the strict everyday society, but also seeks to find justice within the corrupted Inner Party. As he does so he struggles to find the humanity within the system and his investigations lead him down a dangerous path. Throughout the novel Winston’s mind is pulled in conflicting directions between following the government’s strict laws and acting towards the rebellion.

Totalitarian (adjective): a central government that does not tolerate parties of differing opinion and dictates control over all aspects of life.