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Themes Of 1984 And The Metamorphosis

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A brutal totalitarian government with a torture-laden attitude, and a German man dealing with the repercussions of turning into a bug. Whilst both 1984 and “The Metamorphosis” have countless themes, the common theme between them is appearance v.s. reality. Overlaying a fragile moral environment, the Party in 1984 claims to be helping society with its ruthless misdeeds, while it’s ulterior motive is actually based around controlling the population by any means necessary, even constant surveillance. While it doesn’t look at the intricacies of totalitarian government, “The Metamorphosis” looks at the intricacies of family life masquerading as an allegory for society casting out someone for no good reason at all. Throughout the groundbreaking novel 1984, the mood shifts from hopeful to drastically critical in a matter of paragraphs. When the Thought Police find our hero Winston Smith and deem him a “thought criminal”, he is taken to the Ministry of Love. Despite the happy sounding name, the Ministry of Love is a horrible place where thought criminals are taken to be tortured. The name isn’t the only instance where Orwell portrays appearance v.s reality at this point of the novel. In a stellar chapter where Winston questions the validity of the Party’s philosophies, he states: “In the end the Party would announce that two plus two made five, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make that claim sooner or later the logic of their position

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