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Totalitarian Government In 1984, Big Brother Is Watching You

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In 1984, “Big Brother Is Watching You.” Someone couldn’t take two steps without bumping into a poster of a stern-looking man (known as Big Brother) 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 other 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. The Party controls the past, the present, and the future through its control 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. The Party in 1984 uses Emmanuel Goldstein as a face for the people of Oceania to project their hate onto (in order to unite the people in hate.) The “Two Minutes Hate” is a ritual performed by the members of the Outer Party, as pictures are displaced for the people to scream and curse at. Its purpose is to strengthen the Party’s position by giving the people someone to be mad at (that isn’t Big Brother.) If the people feel a lack of control over their own lives, they’re able to channel that into hate of the evil Emmanuel Goldstein and East and Eurasia (instead of being mad at Big Brother.) During one of the rituals, Winston explains that although

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