Examples Of Totalitarianism In 1984

With the power hungry Party and the most acknowledged face of Big Brother watching and monitoring everybody, the story of “1984” by George Orwell expresses the utmost control over their people and have the absolute power with their country Oceania. The Party believes that Big Brother will live on forever, because of the constant removal of those who are unfaithful and the rewriting of history. However, with the example of the main character showing disobedience against the Party, there is a chance for this type of ruling to fail and be destroyed by the people. The main possible cause of the fall of Big Brother is most likely the underestimation of the power of the people.

George Orwell’s 1984 is more than just a novel, it is a warning to a potential dystopian society of the future. Written in 1949, Orwell envisioned a totalitarian government under the figurehead Big Brother. In this totalitarian society, every thought and action is carefully examined for any sign of rebellion against the ruling party. Emotion has been abolished and love is nonexistent; an entire new language is being drafted to reduce human thought to the bare minimum. In a society such as the one portrayed in 1984, one is hardly human. In George Orwell’s 1984, the party uses fear, oppression, and propaganda to strip the people of their humanity.

We have freedom, but are we free? You can have your phone at school/work, but you cannot use it unless specifically given permission to. This is a paradox. A paradox is “a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true” (Merriam-Webster). According to Liah Greenfield, a professor at Boston University and a three-time novelist with books in Political Science, totalitarian societies are democracies with either no cultural traditions or too much free thought. Greenfield goes on to argue we have always had democracy, totalitarian, and nationalism, we just did not have names for them. In fact, we did not have the term “totalitarian society” until one of Winston Churchill’s speeches of Mussolini in 1946. She next brings up that totalitarians are nearly always permeating throughout cultural centers. Finally, she states, the university scene is the seed for totalitarian thoughts. She even mentions that they are like Minitrues, from George Orwell’s 1984. College students change statements or take statements out of context to use to their own benefit. The only difference is that universities do not have a head figure like Big Brother. Greenfield has solid thoughts, but she never gives facts to prove totalitarians are everywhere. She thinks totalitarians are reactions to modernity and too much free thought. George Orwell uses Newspeak, thoughtcrime, and telescreen in 1984 as well o show not giving the people of Oceania a voice will prevent

Winston Smith is a typical example of vertebrae in the spine of any society. Hard working and keeps a rigid structure by absorbing impact, filling the spaces with his unknown desires. The bending of laws to avoid self-destruction in constant pressure from society and government. The idea of having every thought controlled, monitored and limited to what the elite deem as a necessary compromise to maintain peace and order in Oceania or any other Utopia in a general sense. Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of their own choosing, to understand the concept is the true hell for Winston.

Imagine a world where the government, also called The Party, controls everything the citizens do. The Party monitors their every move by the telescreens that are in every home. Thoughtcrime is the act of thinking something that goes against Big Brother or threatens the Party’s power. If one does commit thoughtcrime, then they Thought Police will capture them and give them consequence. There is no essence of humanity in this world. Everyone is stripped of their own thoughts and told what to do and what to believe. This is the world portrayed in novel

The government of 1984 is 100% totalitarianistic. The psychological deterioration of its citizens was insane. The living conditions were horrid and the simple necessities provided by the government were disgusting and not sufficing in the least. There was someone watching you at each second except in RARE occasions. Relationships were not allowed, and love was basically non existent nor was it permitted.

When George Orwell wrote his famous novel 1984 he feared that the late 20th century would bring forth totalitarian societies; unfortunately, his vision was true. Cited among the most famous in dystopian literature, this novel reminds the reader that free will is just an illusion. Orwell’s novel is not as fictitious as it seems; people within the dystopian state of Oceania are deceived and brainwashed everyday by their own government. The party is the current government in power and they have created a sophisticated system composed of multiple layers with one sole purpose; to prevent individuals from going against the path the government has paved. Individuals are sculpted by their government into having a bias, one sided perspective that seems

By employing techniques of physical and emotional torture, the oppressive dictators of Big Brother’s society use the absolute power of their oppressive regime to restrict and manipulate the thoughts and actions of the individual in Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984. Although few succumb to the physical and psychological torture of the Party due to their rebellious thoughts, such as Winston and Julia, the majority of the Party’s members struggle to fend off the Party’s abusive and manipulative everyday tactics by sacrificing their ability to think freely. Alternatively, there are those who have been completely molded by the Party, the true believers, who are left to orchestrate the systemic coercion of the

1984 is a story of what totalitarian governments could possibly become if they were to continue to exist in “modern society”. While the story may have been written as a work of fiction, we currently have the capability to do what the party did in 1984, however on a smaller scale. When 1984 was written in 1949, totalitarian governments were new and no one knew anything about them, therefore Orwell wrote the book based entirely on what he had seen in his trips to places with totalitarian rule. Since no one knew what totalitarian governments could do, Orwell had to invent a lot of exaggerated practices in order to make the book interesting and to frighten people of totalitarian governments like Soviet Russia and eventually Cuba, but he managed

George Orwell’s 1984 was published in 1949 when England was facing an economical and political crisis due to the repercussion of World War II after Hitler’s and Stalin’s rule. The political world was repressed under the government’s control, resulting in forced labour, starvation and mass execution. Big Brother is a reminiscent of Hitler’s and Stalin’s totalitarian beliefs; the society is being persuaded by the false image projected by propagandists to promote state dominance. The public is constantly manipulated by psychological devices and forced to worship the rule, “Thou art” (Orwell III, 2) being the command of the regime.

The Party control the discourse, it seems vital to maintaining totalitarianism. In his work on understanding Orwell, James A. Tyner states, “Complete discipline proceeds from… control of thought.” (Tyner, Vol. 5, No. 1, March 2004) When the political party begins to control the minds of the people, they control their lives. There really is no personal space or personal time in Orwellian dystopia. All the time or space is owned by the government. Even the thoughts of a person are monitored by the telescreens and so are the expressions of the people. This helps The Party constantly track what each person is thinking and if they suspect the person is committing thought crime, then these people are immediately arrested and tortured and eventually brainwashed into mechanically being unquestioning followers of the Big Brother.

In 1984, “Big Brother Is Watching You.” One could not take two steps without bumping into a poster of a stern-looking man seeming to stare into the soul of the viewer. Big Brother acts as a Godlike figure to the citizens of Oceania, a super-nation constantly at war with the two super-nations. The government of Oceania, the Party, keeps citizens in a vice-like grip through constant surveillance and laws placed on every aspect of human existence. The only loyalty allowed is to the Party. They control the past, the present, and the future through its command over anything and everything. The government set up in 1984 directly reflects that of a totalitarian government. Totalitarianism as it exists in George Orwell’s 1984 exhibits key features which bare striking resemblance to modern governments.

In the dystopian novel of 1984 Winston Smith struggles with the totalitarian society and its brutal regime. Winston struggles throughout the course of the book finds his own thoughts and starting a rebellion. The brotherhood has quite a striking similarity to the German society during Hitler's reign. The totalitarian government in 1984 relates to the oppression of censoring ideas,controlling a group's thoughts, and forcing “citizens” to follow a uniform and strict policy. A totalitarian government looks to use ultimate power to control the people that live under them and dictate their lifestyle. 1984 The Party is thought of as all knowing and strictly enforces the laws to the people of Oceania. In Nazi Germany fear was instilled into its citizens , absolute rule was practiced, and values were instilled to be believed either correct or incorrect.

The human mind was built to think critically. When governments start to restrict this ability to think for oneself, society turns into a corrupt and oppressive state. George Orwell uses inspiration from Nazi Germany and Soviet Union as inspiration to outline a prophecy of a government seeking to control the minds and bodies of its people through fear. The novel offers no solutions but simply brings the possibility of the situation to the table to warn individuals against sacrificing their individuality to prevent totalitarian control in the future. Any society can turn totalitarian if all mental resistance and individuality of the people is eradicated; 1984 voices the cruciality of protecting our most important right, the right to freely have individual thoughts.

What is it like in a totalitarian government? Some people won’t want to live in a life of totalitarian lifestyle, some do. “whatever the Party holds the truth is the truth.” having only one leader that controls everything seems hard to do, 1984 to today’s society comparing to the similarities, and differences of the problems that we have from the government, to will our country be like Oceania in 1984?