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Dystopian Society In 1984

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Many generations have muttered in protest, debates, or in hushed voices to their children, “the people should not fear their government, the government should fear their people” to the point that its origins have become lost. Still, the tone of such a statement is not lost to any person that is aware of war or oppressive governments. Bengal-born George Orwell had been a soldier and the atrocities he witnessed in the Spanish Civil War would lead to his penning of the dystopian novel 1984 (Orwell, 1950). While his work shares the sentiments of the aforementioned quote it is also a warning to its readers about tyrannical governments. George Orwell’s 1984, vividly depicts a fictional dystopian society that presents his theories on what could have …show more content…

Propaganda was a staple of World War II. The war became a uniting factor for all races and genders, blurring roles and accepting into branches of the military (Tindall, 2013, p. 1169). Orwell’s society in 1984 was no different, with women and men alike being called “comrade” and yet, on the flipside it was entirely different. While the victors once told the history Americans learn in school, there has been a significant push to incorporate female authors into literature courses, to teach the history of people of color, and to provide primary source materials for major events. Ingsoc did not wish to enlighten its citizens, nor did it care for a record of accurate history. When a previous statement did not align with the party, workers of Winston’s field alter the text and destroyed the evidence. Two major scenes in the book show the level of brainwashing in the citizens when, after Winston had to alter the article regarding a promise to not touch chocolate rations, they were lowered for the second time in a month. Upon his edit, there was less than a twenty-four hour wait before the public announcement and Winston was alone in his surprise that people seemed to forget the promise and information they had just been given (Orwell, 1950, p. 58). The second was all the more …show more content…

Orwell need not lack inspiration for portraying a government that feeds its nation false stories when Germany kidnapped a Polish prisoner, killed him, and used this murder to as their Polish invasion excuse (Tindall, 2013, p. 1151). Other lies by the Nazis included blaming the Jewish population for Germany’s failing economy. This behavior led to neighbors turning on neighbors and the country being in a constant police state. With questioning the government’s actions a crime and deemed unpatriotic, children were being raised in an atmosphere where there was nothing worse than “doublethink”, not unlike schooling during World War II in German occupied cities. Along with the Ingsoc indoctrination, children were allowed to join the Spies, which could be equated to Gestapo Boy Scouts. Everyone became easier to brainwash because they joined militarized hobbies and the language, called Newspeak, was removing any words from the language that could allow a conversation that denounced their regime. As those that remembered a time before Ingsoc were killed or died naturally and all memory of the truths of history were written out and a mentality of “this is how it has always been” was beginning to be adopted, Winston frequently griping that if he dared to challenge a statement he had no proof aside from his memory. This too can be linked to the war in which many residents of

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