Use Of Totalitarianism In George Orwell's '1984'

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.

“Until they become conscious they will never rebel and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious(Orwell,Pg 70).” George Orwell's novel ‘1984” conveys that the Totalitarian government has the ability to separate societies based on their political beliefs, as well as having the ability to treat the ones who do not fit in their societies like animals. A short term for this would be explained as ‘Systematic Dehumanization’ which occurs certain human characteristics are denied to an outgroup. Examples of these outgroups in the story includes; The Proles, Obliteration of human emotions and instinct except loyalty to the Party, and the Lack of privacy of people in the outer and inner party.

In 1984, we see the the daily routine coming out of one character’s perspective living in a dystopian society. This one perspective comes out of the middle-aged man, Winston, which develops anti-hero character traits over time as he questions everybodys and his own existence . Not everybody has the ability to simply think and question like Winston does, because winston has the opportunity to look at false information in the Ministry of Truth. He belongs to only a small proportion of the party members that aren’t brainwashed completely. Social groups other than the party are either silenced or marginalized as naive, unintelligent, and incapable of being rebellious. This is because of the successful fear tactics and oppression from the government of Oceania that caused the impression of every single comrade to be dehumanized.

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

Famous theoretical physicist Albert Einstein once said, “Blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth” ( ). Winston Smith, main character in 1984, would agree wholeheartedly. Living in a world entirely controlled by Big Brother, Winston and all other citizens of Oceania must live their lives in the confines of totalitarianism, specifically Ingsoc. This authoritarian rule is so strict, that these inhabitants are constantly subject to patrol by the Though Police. Winston even boldly states that: “Nothing is yours except the few cubic centimeters in your skull” (Orwell 26).

In the book 1984 by George Orwell, Orwell describes a society based on totalitarianism throughout the life of Winston Smith, a guy who believed that the party would not be able to brainwash him and would be able to rebel against them. When Winston was taken by the party, O'Brien and Winston had a discussion about the society and how Winston believed that eventually somebody would overthrow the power. O'Brien proved to him that getting overpowered would not happen as he put Winston through the suffering. O'Brien implies that a society based on hate and suffering could exist for a long time as long as the ruler knows how to play the cards correctly.

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.

In George Orwell’s 1984, Winston Smith lives in Airstrip One, a place where the Party, government currently in charge, keeps an iron fist around its citizens with constant monitoring by Big Brother, the Party leader. Massive images of Big Brother complete with his mustache and dark hair are displayed throughout London, often accompanied by “Big Brother is watching you”. The Party’s slogan is “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery and Ignorance is Strength”. The citizens of Airstrip One are conditioned to religiously follow and serve the Party from birth, with children often spying on their parents and reporting them in for ‘thoughtcrime’, which is the thought of treacherous acts towards the party. The world which Orwell depicts in 1984 is his view of totalitarianism ‘perfectly’ executed.

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

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.

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.

     War is Peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. These are the beliefs that the citizens of Oceania, in the novel titled 1984, written by George Orwell, live by. In this novel, Oceania, one of the three remaining world super powers, is a totalitarian, a society headed by 'Big Brother' and his regime, known as the ministries of Truth, Love, and Peace. A totalitarian government is defined as a government characterized by a political authority which exercises absolute and centralized control, and in which the state regulates every realm of life. This is the type of world that the citizens of Oceania must live in, ruled by fear and under force every day. The names of the different ministries for example,

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.