Totalitarianism Analysis

“War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” (Orwell 4). These three seemingly contradictory statements are the national slogans of the Party, the totalitarian regime government in George Orwell’s classic novel, 1984. Through psychological manipulation, an authoritarian government can have many harmful effects on society. Orwell’s novel is a prime example of this, and the oversight and regulation the Party has over its citizens is evident throughout the course of the novel. Orwell shows the reader the dangers of a totalitarian government, and the ways in which it can completely manipulate its citizens.

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.

In the 20th century totalitarian governments had come to power in Italy, Germany, and the Soviet Union. These governments had forced their political authority and centralized control over all aspects of life (Document 3 and 6). The government had imposed public gatherings to invade people’s lives and indoctrination of totalitarian ideas had influenced youth organizations and literature to help the government gain authority over one’s country (Document 2). One method used by totalitarian dictatorship is having mass rallies and speeches. The totalitarian government that used these method leaders was Benito Mussolini of Italy and Adolf Hitler of Germany.

Authors often use their works as a way to express their own opinions and ideologies. However, it is the skill of the author that determines whether these ideas are combined with the plot seamlessly, making a creative transition of ideas from the author’s mind, to the reader’s. There is no doubt that George Orwell is a masterful writer, and one of his most popular works, 1984, clearly expresses his negative views of the Totalitarian government. A common theme in the dystopian society in 1984 is betrayal: The Party is very intolerant towards any form of disloyalty, and anyone who plots against them or Big Brother will eventually either betray their own mind and accept Big Brother as their leader, or be betrayed and revealed to The Party by

“1984 expresses man’s fears of isolation and disintegration, cruelty and dehumanisation…Orwell’s repetition of obsessive ideas is an apocalyptic lamentation for the fate of modern man. His expression of the political experience of an entire generation gives 1984 a veritably mythic power

Pursuit of various visions of social justice probably accounts for most human misery. What's more, the historical pattern that has emerged has been one whereby one form of injustice is replaced by one that is far worse. Russia's 1917 revolution expelling the Czars, and their injustices, ushered in Lenin, Stalin and a succession of brutal dictators who murdered tens of millions in the name of the proletariat revolution. The injustices of Chiang Kai-shek were replaced with those of Mao Tse-tung; Castro's ousting of Batista or Ayatollah Khomeini's toppling of the Shah of Iran produced regimes far more brutal. In Africa, after independence, the injustices of colonial powers

Certainly, one of George Orwell´s way to show this criticism is by employing a grey and dull imagery, in order to portray how the authoritarian rule eliminated all variety. Orwell starts his book by creating a sense of cold

1984, Orwell’s last and perhaps greatest work, deals with drastically heavy themes that still terrify his audience after 65 years. George Orwell’s story exemplifies excessive power, repression, surveillance, and manipulation in his strange, troubling dystopia full of alarming secrets that point the finger at totalitarian governments and mankind as a whole. What is even more disquieting is that 1984, previously considered science fiction, has in so many ways become a recognizable reality.

Orwell’s writing is quite distinguishable by the properties he uses throughout the novel. Like many other books, 1984 revolves around rebellion. Some examples are such of the writing of Jane Austen’s Emma whom one can argue that Emma uses quiet resistance with Harriet’s relationships, as well as Charles Dickens’ who in A Tale of Two Cities uses a public revolution to fight for a democracy. What makes 1984 different however, is not only the result of Winston’s rebellion, which essentially leads him to Room 101, but also how rebellion highly despised by the government and was punishable by law. Even the most unconscious forms of rebellion like that of Mr. Parsons who told Winston while in jail that he said “Down with Big Brother” Yes, I said that! Said it over and

Orwell draws from features of these totalitarian regimes in order to create the setting in which the story takes place. In the novel, the narrator describes big brother on the poster as a “mustachiod figure”. This figure is a reference to the

Readers of George Orwell have long appreciated the significance of his representation of a futuristic dystopian world. ‘Big brother is watching you,’ ‘Thought police,’ ‘Ministry of love,’ ‘Hate week,’ are expressions that Orwell used to represent his preoccupation with the totalitarian regimes of 20th century. More than one out of four Americans said they have red his dystopia and use his expressions in their language. Many critics claim that the novel opened up new prospects of political awareness. ‘1984’ is a political fiction in which the government eliminates all forms of political opposition, be it real or imaginary. The atmosphere of the novel is completely depressing because there is no hope for change. The government dominates people morally and forces them to live in constant fear. His terrifying vision of a future in which all aspects of society are controlled by a tyrannical system attracted the

Literary concepts are often used in books to make the reading experience more enjoyable. In George Orwell’s 1984, Orwell uses a key literary element, symbolism, to do this. Orwell does this in a unique way. He makes the reader want to think one way, when the reality is far different. This causes the reader to be surprised when the truth of the matter is revealed. He is able to do this by having certain objects represent one thing, and then later reveal it is something far different. This unique use of symbolism is an interesting aspect of 1984. In 1984, George Orwell uses the concept of symbolism to make the reader think of things in a way far from the truth.

George Orwell’s novel 1984 introduces the complications of a totalitarian government through his use of symbolism in order to provide a deeper meaning to his readers. Symbolism is first presented in the novel through the imaginary character Big Brother. The citizens in Oceania are not allowed to believe in a religion, so “Big Brother… provides [as] a substitute for organized religion” (Celona 3). This example proves how Big Brother symbolizes as someone or something the party can worship in the place of an existent religion. Symbolism is also displayed through Orwell’s use of the glass paperweight that Winston had purchased from Mr. Charington. The glass paperweight in Winston’s hideaway “represents the past” and exactly how “the party has abolished beauty for its own sake” (Celona 4). This indication illustrates exactly how the party has destroyed everything beautiful and how something as

The use of symbolism throughout George Orwell's 1984 serves to enhance the reader’s understanding of one of the first examples of a dystopian future. When it was written it opened the eyes of the people showing them what might happen in the future and making them ask, “Could this actually happen?” When it was published in 1949 it was beyond its time in the sense that the world it was set in was a place that didn't exist yet. When one reads 1984 the reader will notice the extreme parallels between the novel and the world we live in today. Orwell who identified as a socialist used this as inspiration for the novel which can be seen through his use of the class system. The novel also discussed three superpowers in a stalemate

The political scientists Carl Friedrich and Zbigniew Brzezinski were the initial responsible for enlarging the use of the term in university social science and professional research, reexpressing it as a paradigm for the Soviet Union and fascist regimes as well. For Friedrich and Brzezinzki, the typical elements were intended to be taken as a mutually supportive organic entity constituted of the following: “an elaborating guiding ideology: a single mass party, typically led by a dictator; a system of terror; a monopoly of the means of communication and physical force; and central direction, and control of the economy through state of planning.” Such regimes had initial origins in the chaos that followed in the wake of World War One, at which mark the sophistication of modern arms and communications enabled totalitarian movements to consolidate power.