Totalitarian Mentality In 1984 By George Orwell

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.

Imagine a world where no one could live without fear. Given the thought of this, one might presume that the society is dangerous and is repleted with criminal activity. However, the reality is that the government is mentally holding their citizens captive by imprisoning them into a world that dissuades one from acting on impulse. Everywhere where interactions occur between citizens lay technology that monitors everyone 's actions which prevent many from expressing themselves. Even one’s children are taught to rebel against their parent’s if any “incriminating” action occurs. Essentially, people are trapped in a world where privacy doesn’t exist which forces many to be loyal to their government. While this scenario might be absurd and

Picture a world where a small group of people knows exactly what people are doing and when they are doing it, and if one makes one wrong move they are erased off of the face of the planet. This is what it is like to live in George Orwell’s 1984. Orwell tells a story about what he thought the world would be like in forty years. He predicted the world to be a world of totalitarian rule in which there are only three super countries. One of those countries was called Oceania, where the main character, Winston, lives. Winston is a outer party member that works in the ministry of truth where he rewrites the past. Winston realizes what he does ‘for a living’ is wrong and starts writing his thoughts in a diary, which is a

Orwell’s primary indictment of Totalitarianism stems from an analysis as to why it surfaces in the first place—lack of opposition.

Stalin, Mussolini, and Hitler ruled in totalitarian governments. Totalitarian governments are defined by a government that stays in power through propaganda, media, restriction of speech, mass surveillance, and fear. In the early 1900s, totalitarian governments were on the rise. Examples of totalitarianism in Europe existed in fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, and Soviet Russia. George Orwell, a British author, recognized the horrors of totalitarian governments and wrote 1984 as a warning against totalitarian rule.

In 1984, George Orwell provides a central theme of the peril and the effects of totalitarianism in a modern society. In other words, if totalitarianism is not dejected in the future, the novel’s fictional society would become a reality. Orwell utilizes sensory imagery and various forms of diction throughout the novel. The utilizations strengthen the theme and capture the readers’ attention to the danger of an uprising government.

In George Orwell’s Oceania, every person is shaped into what Big Brother believes is a model citizen. A model citizen follows all of the countless strict rules and worships their leader, Big Brother. By not following the rules, citizens will be vaporized, which means that they will be killed and never spoken of again. The slightest mistake could ruin one’s life; even thinking the wrong thought. The Thought Police essentially kidnaps all those who commit thought crime and reshape them to worship Big Brother. In 1984 Winston Smith is reshaped into a model citizen after hating the Party and Big Brother. This is an example of one’s thoughts and feelings being suppressed by the government. In George Orwell’s 1984, totalitarianism negatively affects the citizens of Oceania by destroying relationships and suppressing thoughts, feelings and relationships between the people.

Imagine how terrifying it would be for the government to watch and control everything you do. In 1984, George Orwell creates what he called a ‘negative dystopia’ of the future. Instead of living in a free country, the people of Oceania are under the control of the Party. They live in constant fear of being executed by the thought police for doing anything that could be seen as being disloyal to the Party. George Orwell uses theme and irony to fully convey his ideas of totalitarianism in his book 1984.

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.

In history, many people have tried to see what the future will bring. George Orwell, author of 1984, is no different. Orwell believed that a totalitarian form of government was close if the American citizens were not aware of the dangers it holds. Throughout 1984, Orwell warns the readers of a horrible thing under a totalitarian government. Orwell’s message about totalitarian government is clearly stated as “WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH”.

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.

Hitler. Stalin. Mussolini. Franco. Some of the most famous dictators of the twentieth century all had one common trait: absolute power over others. However, these individuals were not simply handed power; they actually earned the hearts of their unknowing subjects. The year 1949 witnessed the aftermath of the rise of totalitarianism, and many could not fathom how such leaders came to influence. How did people allow and even support these atrocities? In the novel 1984, author George Orwell warns his audience about the dangers of totalitarianism by depicting the power struggle between the citizens of Oceania and the Party, symbolized by the figurehead Big Brother, in which the latter is seeking to gain power over the former.

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.

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.