Examples Of Totalitarianism In George Orwell's '1984'

All of the constant messages and propaganda causes citizens to have no time for independent thought. The constant stream of propaganda is designed to make everything the Party does, look like a glorious success. Everyone thinks the Party is doing well and is a necessity when in reality, the people would be better off without the Party. No matter where the people go, the Party provides a constant barrage of information, mostly untruthful, meant only to occupy their time. The Party also thinks down upon the family structure. The Party undermines families by letting their children into an organization called the Junior Spies. The Party then brainwashes and encourages them to spy on their parents. They are told to report any problems and signs of disloyalty to the Party. Mrs. Parson’s children are in the Junior Spies. Mrs. Parson is even afraid of her kids accusing her of a thoughtcrime or any disloyalty. The Party also forces the public to suppress and disband their sexual desires almost completely. They are forced to treat sex as merely a job where the only purpose is the creation of new, loyal, Party members. With such a lack of sexual freedom, it is obvious why Winston wishes to overthrow the Party and the face of Big Brother. When Winston is being tortured by O’Brien, Winston submits to O’Brien’s power. O’Brien is holding up four fingers and yet Winston says there are five. He is accepting anything

During the torture with rats in room 101, Winston says: “Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don’t care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me! Julia! Not me!”(pg. 300). The one person that Winston promised to never betray, Julia, was betrayed at the end due to the power of the Party and their constant monitoring of the people, which led them to know everything from what a person likes to what they hate. In this case, Winston’s deepest fear and disgust were towards rats and they used it as a tool to break the strong bond between Julia and Winston. Julia also says: “I betrayed you” (pg. 305), which demonstrates that the Party does indeed know everything about everyone because they used a similar torture method to distort and destroy her love for Winston. It is horrifying to think that torture was used to change people’s beliefs and feelings in the Party’s favor. I suppose Orwell wanted to indicate to what extent the government might go to achieve total power over people and one of his messages here is that even middle class people, like Winston and Julia, will be sentenced in a totalitarian system; if they live with their position, they are committing an act of intellectual and moral suicide as human individuals, and if they try

Granted the Party can warp laws and control knowledge, its greatest tool for taking away freedoms and controlling the public is its ability to revise history. This idea is displayed throughout the novel, and is fundamental to our understanding of how perfect the Party is. A prime example occurs when Winston is at his job at the Ministry of Truth, the manipulators of history and truth. He contemplates how he simply substitutes one lie for another in his daily work rewriting history, and explains, “And so it was with every class of recorded fact, great or small. Everything faded away into a shadow-world in which, finally, even the date of the year had become uncertain" (Orwell 36). This highlights the genius of the Party’s control; there is no history. As mentioned earlier, the Party controls all publications, and destroys all facts that are not helpful. Much of it is simply fake information that bolsters the Party. Thus, when Winston changes

Your world is not real. Kennedy was never assassinated, Michael jackson has actually always been white, and subway is certainly NOT always fresh. Stop thinking you are free, you’re not. Okay, I’m just kidding. But am I really? Because sometimes subway really just sucks. Questioning. With this, through his work ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’, George Orwell has brought to my attention that I should be occasionally thinking for myself rather than constantly abiding by what I’m told is right. More specifically, ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ suggests the plentiful ways that people can be oppressed in a totalitarian society will result in the loss of humanity and failure to rebound from the government’s control. These forces inhibit and encourage individuals’ actions and is described in the novel by the abundant use of technology combined with psychological manipulation. Orwell also uses symbols and metaphor to explain consequences of totalitarianism on a deeper level.

George Orwell’s 1984, widely known for its chilling descriptions of the dystopian society of Oceania, warns of a world in which individuality is virtually destroyed as one oppressive government controls all aspects of life. Decades after the novel’s publication in 1949, various nations today draw unsettling parallels with the characteristics of the government described in 1984. North Korea is one such example, particularly seen as a controversial topic in global debate. Although North Korea and Oceania in 1984 both possess totalitarian governments that attempt to control and restrict individualism, the means in which each government originated and gained authority differ.

George Orwell’s 1984 is a prime example of a deep dystopia with a totalitarian government. Totalitarian governments have full and total control. The Inner Party, which is the main form of government in Oceania, has total control over its people’s thoughts and actions. They use many forms of abuse in order to control them. The Inner Party controls the government and is the upper class. The middle class is called the Outer Party. These people are given jobs from the government and are more educated than the Proles, which make up the lower class. The Outer Party is in charge of executing the Inner Party’s policies, but they have no say in them. The government uses many forms of manipulation to control their people. The members of Oceania’s society do not misbehave out of fear of punishment. People who betray the government vanish. They disappear and there is no evidence that they even existed. The government also uses the threat of abuse to keep its people in line. People of Oceania know they can be tortured or killed for even the slightest misdemeanor. The middle class is led to believe that they are living a high quality life through a method of false prosperity. The government fools people by changing history so the only form of truth the people think they have is their own memory. Many people discard their own memories and believe whatever the Party tells them is truth. Winston Smith is the character in which the book is centered around. He has doubts

Over seventy years after he lived and wrote, the works of English journalist and democratic socialist George Orwell, continue to fascinate, stimulate and enrage his readers concerning the structure of society and the organization of government. The controversial writer openly spoke out against the absolute power of any government, warning that a fascist government would deprive its people of their basic freedoms and liberties. Orwell’s novel, 1984, serves as a reminder of the danger of totalitarianism by depicting a future in which all citizens live under the constant surveillance of the “Big Brother.” Through the main character, Winston Smith, Orwell demonstrates the dangers of totalitarianism; writing of the consequences of absolute government in several essays and proposing socialism as an alternative. To Orwell, the role of government is to represent the common people rather than the old and the privileged.

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.

A government enforces procedures in which a society must follow. Governments contrast by deciding to either be stringent, lenient or even moderate. The protagonist, Winston realizes that the government which he resides in maintains absolute control. Revolution results in extreme punishment that eventually leads to death. With the rest of the society brainwashed Winston tries to successfully find a way to revolt. Throughout the novel, 1984, George Orwell uses the paperweight, the telescreens and big brother to establish the theme of the dangers of totalitarianism.

1984 by George Orwell is an extremely negative outlook on a futuristic, seemingly utopian society. People inhabiting the land of Oceania are enslaved to the government, most without even realizing it. The Party uses its many members to enforce its methods of control on the population. While a bit extreme, Orwell was attempting to warn people about the dangers of totalitarianism.

George Orwell’s key objective throughout his novel, 1984, was to convey to his readers the imminent threat of the severe danger that totalitarianism could mean for the world. Orwell takes great measures to display the horrifying effects that come along with complete and dominant control that actually comes along with totalitarian government. In Orwell’s novel, personal liberties and individual freedoms that are protected and granted to many Americans today, are taken away and ripped from the citizen’s lives. The government takes away freedom and rights from the people so that the ruling class (which makes up the government), while reign with complete supremacy and possess all power.

The governments in today’s society have brainwashed their citizens into believing everything their leader says and thinks is correct and everything else is wrong. This can sometimes be known as a totalitarian government. George Orwell’s novel 1984 revolves around totalitarianism. The members of the party in Oceania are taught and required to worship their leader Big Brother whether they believe in him or not. In the novel 1984, George Orwell shows the problems and the hatred with a totalitarian government through his use of symbolism, situational irony, and indirect characterization.

Winston Smith lived in a world of lies, chaos, and disorder. His uniform was shabby and living space cold and dirty. Changing the past to suit the present was his job where he worked, the Ministry of Truth. One day, he encountered a beautiful young woman of about 26 years of age and instantly fell in love. Little did he know that she would be the one who would end his life. He dreams of sleeping with her but fears that he would be captured by the Thought Police because sex is illegal. During the Two Minutes Hate - a time when members of Ingsoc come together to despise Emmanuel Goldstein, a man who supported freedom and rights - the woman passes a note to Winston. It says for

In “1984,” Orwell describes a terrible society where totalitarianism reaches the top. In this circumstance, personality and freedom are strangled and thought is controlled. The most frightening aspect is that citizens have no sense right and wrong. Without a doubt, the reason why these happen is the governing of the Party, which is controlling everything in the country, Oceania. Orwell uses the control of language to show the idea that the Party solidifies its dominant position.