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Analysis Of The Book ' Republic ' And George Orwell 's ' 1984 ' Essay

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PLS 325 Ancient Political Theory
Dr. Shu-Shan Lee
First term paper
Sagynysh Yeltayeva
25/10/2015
Plato’s “Republic” and George Orwell’s “1984”: two sides of one medal Plato’s “Republic” and Orwell’s “1984” represent two imaginary engineered societies. “Republic” is an utopia, in which Plato describes the goal of the city, which is to be as happy as possible, even if it requires a sacrifice of a particular group’s happiness or individual’s one . Orwell’s “1984” influenced by the outcome of the World War II and dropped atomic bombs made the leaders of three states’ in his book to come to agreement not to destroy each other, but to live in a condition of eternal Cold war . “Republic” is perceived as a version of a way to achieve happiness through controlled society, that is why at the first sight is seen opposite to “1984”, which vividly describes the misery of life in Oceania. However, in the “Republic” tools necessary to build the city are the same as in “1984”: total control, strict hierarchical division, belief into wise leader, no possibility to question the system. That is why I consider the possibility of the utopia and the dystopia to be the two sides of one medal. First, the major theme that is exposed in two books is a strict censorship. Plato presents the restriction for stories told to children by establishing two rules: the gods must always be presented as good and gods cannot be presented transformable into multiple forms and liars . This is similar to the

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