Comparing Metropolis And George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four

George Orwell focuses his belief of the “[disbelief] in the existence of the objective truth because all the facts have to fit in with the words and prophecies of some infallible fuhrer”. He envisions the decay of future society and implements his ideas through his creation of “Nineteen Eighty-Four”. Indications of a psychological fear are examined initially through the progression and change of the human mind, which is built upon the oppression of the Party. Through the construction of a world with no freedom and individuality, the human mind adapts the change of truth and pay utter submission from the Party, to escape the presence of their ultimate weakness. With those who are rebellious of the rules of the Party gradually brings out the ugly nature of humanity. Through the fragility of the human mind, it reinforces Orwell’s idea of a corrupted society, as there no longer remains a variety of human emotions for the next generation to pass onwards. Thus conclusively portraying the defeat of human mind unable to withstand the physical and mental tortures from the Party.

The quote “The object of power is power” is heavily supported by George Orwell’s 1949 novel ‘1984’ and Fritz Lang’s 1927 film ‘Metropolis’ through their intertextual connections and shared perspectives. Both texts were composed around the context of pre and post World War 2 which is clearly evident through their settings, characterisation, themes and ideas. Through Orwell’s and Fritz’s use of dystopic societies, empowerment of women and detrimental dictatorship rule it is blatant that George Orwell’s quote “The object of power is power” is quite strongly supported by the intertextual connections and shared perspectives of Orwell’s ‘1984’ and Lang’s ‘Metropolis’.

The world that Orwell presents in Nineteen Eighty-four has often been called a nightmare vision of the future. Writing sixteen years into that future, we can see that not all of Orwell’s predictions have been fulfilled in their entirety! Yet,

The characters presented in Fritz Lang’s film Metropolis and George Orwell’s novel 1984 are unique in terms of their personalities however share similar values of freedom, purity and honesty. As a result, the comparative representation of characters in these texts has substantially informed my understanding that composers affirm values like individuality, freedom and equality in order to respond to contextual concerns and warn of a future where these values would not exist.

Conflict is the ultimate cause of a loss of individualism. It is used as a weapon to promote power and retain control, whilst simultaneously suppressing individual thoughts and emotions out of fear of negative repercussions. The definitive expression of the above concepts in Fritz Lang’s 1927 film Metropolis and George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four enables the audience to experience two separate yet similar totalitarian societies, in which external and internal conflict is utilised to disbar individualism.

When technology and power is abused certain positions are attained at the detriment of others. Metropolis directed by Fritz Lang in 1927 and Nineteen-Eighty-Four written by George Orwell in 1949 both explore dystopian societies which reflects early 20th century concerns about urbanization. In both texts we can already see intertextual perspectives through social divisions, class tension and segregation due to technology and power.

Abuse of control leads to oppression of the masses. Metropolis (1927) directed by Fritz Lang reflects the impact of growing industrialisation in Weimar Germany in 1920 through his construction of a dystopic society where the working population is subdued by the machine and capitalist power. For 1984 (1949), Orwell highlights the rise of totalitarian states, like Stalin’s Russia, with his satire of a society fully oppressed psychologically by a major party in charge. Through their respective texts, both Lang and Orwell warn their audience that abuse of power and control leads to dehumanisation of the population and how technology may be

The influence of vicissitudes in social, cultural and historical contexts evokes composers to construct dystopic texts to warn their audiences of power’s subjugating capability to supersede egalitarian values. Derived from post-war contexts, Fritz Lang’s 1927 German Expressionistic silent film, Metropolis, and George Orwell’s 1949 satirical science fiction novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984), provide intertextual paradigms on the ramifications of the exploitation of technological power and the manipulation of the lower class in a totalitarian society. Through their overlapping political, scientific, religious and gender perspectives, both composers communicate a cautionary warning to their future audiences in their respective dystopia. The

The relative investigation of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis and George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four has contributed notably to the intertextual mindsets of mans enduring angst of unlimited mechanical headway. Provided by the two texts, depictions of dystopian societies which encounter technological elevation offer a variety of social, political and personal insights allowing the audience to develop an understanding of the values formed throughout the periods. Metropolis figuratively represents the consequential fractured world after WWI, displaying public inequality brought on by the appearance of the Weimar Republic which was identified as a time dependent on technology and the growth of industrialisation. Nineteen Eighty-Four portrays Orwell's

Fritz Lang’s 1927 science fiction film ‘Metropolis’ reflects the German Weimar Republic and highlights the power struggles and political aftermath of WW1. Metropolis illustrates the marginalised working class, “hands”, juxtaposed to the ruling elite, “head”. This dichotomy reflects the sense of despair and alienation felt by the workers down below the city with the authorial figure head in a capitalist framework. German Expressionism was a major contributor to the chiaroscuro seen in the film, it reflects the setting at the time and juxtaposes the classes. Lang presents the working class as dehumanised and mechanical.

Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four reflects the principles of Stalinism and Nazism that were evident at the time of the composer and his text of 1930’s to 1940’s Europe. When Winston Smith witnesses a co-worker’s outbreak of “Swine! Swine! Swine!” the repetition is used to demonstrate loss of personal conviction in creating a dangerous orthodox for oppressive tyranny. This loss through the social and personal oppression of the Party and the absence of values of hope, love, loyalty, and dignity highlights values of fear, hatred and pain that are stipulated through tyranny. This technique is used by the composer to indicate the inability for the individual to accomplish change against a tyrannous government. Whilst Orwell perceives this world of chaotic power, Fritz Lang’s medium of film emphasizes the political and social chaos in his society. “Without the machines, you’re finished!” This high modality quote is used by Lang to signify how man and machine have become one in Metropolis. The loss of machines starts the chaos, spiraling out of control. The oppression of the proles by the Party and the workers class in the Depths begins the spiral of chaos that consumes all values to spit out what is left to the composer’s pessimistic view of the unwinding of

Between and after the World Wars, literary and art movements were influenced by world events; this is true for both the Allies and the Germans, as each interpreted historic events in different ways due to their different ideas and values. Metropolis, a silent film by Fritz Lang, and the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by the British author George Orwell explore similar notions of absolute power and lack of individuality in their respective societies, conveying their viewpoints on social issues of their time. Written some twenty years apart, the texts each question the fundamentals of life itself, as their respective protagonists seek to know more about their worlds.

Lang and Orwell’s seminal texts both express their concerns of the imbalance of power in totalitarian regimes where supreme power is concentrated and a small fraction of society possesses total control. In Fritz Lang’s German expressionist film Metropolis (1927) the totalitarian control is from the industry. Whereas, the novel 1984 (1948) by George Orwell focuses on the extremes of political power. The dystopian worlds Lang and Orwell create through a range of literary and film techniques though, differ in response to their respective contexts.

By examining how societies consider their inhabitants, composers raise concerns about the direction their respective societies were heading. Fritz Lang’s German expressionist film, Metropolis (1927), conveys contemporary fears about an increasingly industrialised Europe by portraying a futuristic cityscape built on the subjugation of the working class. In contrast, George Orwell’s polemic satire on totalitarianism, 1984 (1949), draws on events in Stalinist Russia, presenting a surveillance-based regime whose goal is to destroy the human spirit in pursuit of permanent power. In both dystopian texts, the characters’ attempts to cling to their humanity reflect the indomitability of the human spirit, but their struggle encourages the composers’

The silent film, Metropolis directed by Fritz Lang, released in 1927, reflects the social situation of the time in Germany during the Weimar Period, before the rise of Hitler power. At that time, there was a new political climate, which was in favor of an equity-oriented fascism rather than liberty-oriented capitalism. The film clearly gives viewers an idea that fascism way of the political system is the preferable ideology for the society by depicting the class struggles between capitalists and labours. Thus, the movie was often interpreted as a propaganda movie and being criticized.