1984 Totalitarianism Essay

1984 Totalitarianism Analysis
The moment a baby is born, that neonate is born free and innocent, however within the first few
seconds of their life, based on where they are born thousands of laws are immediately placed on
them. In 1949, George Orwell published his dystopian novel 1984 which gave an insight into the
totalitarianism of a fictional world in the country of Oceania. Through the eyes and words of the
main character and protagonist, Winston Smith we saw the corruption of the party Big brother.
Throughout the novel we saw how the party is able to alter the past as well as removing and
adding individuals into existence. This book can be related to many countries in today's society
and be used to analyze what is happening in those areas. Through this novel, we are able to get
several views into the lifestyle of a person living in North Korea or a totalitarian state is forced to
live. In the novel, the main character Winston states "the truly characteristic thing about modern
life was not its cruelty and insecurity, but simply its bareness, its listlessness." (Pg 73) In this
instance, the narrator Winston is thinking about Oceania in 1984 and how it is not based on how
cruel the party is, but rather on how one's physically living, spiritually and mentally is. This
experience that Winston conveyed is similar to what any other individual in North Korea may have
to face. Both the people in the fictional world of 1984 and North Korea are constantly afraid of
doing anything because it is
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Totalitarianism In 1984
The Dangers of Totalitarianism Thesis: George Orwell's 1984 and Steven Spielberg's The Minority
Report compare the Totalitarian government to the human manifestation of an all–knowing God. In
George Orwell's 1984, The Party is compared to an all–knowing God through the use of
sophisticated technology and the manipulation of information. However, unlike an omniscient deity,
The Party must use assistive technology to monitor the thoughts and behaviors of its citizens of
Oceania. Even a disloyal thought can be detected, and then punished. The slogan "Big Brother is
Watching" has literal meaning since The Party has installed cameras, and surveillance devices in the
majority of private and public places. From this collected information, The all–powerful...show more
content...
The Precrime Organization uses sophisticated, sci–fi technology to achieve the goal of complete
domination. People are monitored, tracked, and identified using cameras and "Eye Dents", which are
similar to finger printing, but use the eye to identify each individual. Precogs, human clairvoyant
slaves who see into the future and predict murders before they occur, are also used. After interpreting
this forewarning, Precrime then arrests and detains the individual hoping to prevent the crime. Like
all Totalitarian regimes who play God, there is judgment and a punishment–dispensed by only a few.
There is no recourse for the accused, and the verdict is final. Precrime's interpretation of these
prophesies is seen as "truth." As Dr. Hineman warns Aderton, "The Precogs are Never Wrong,"
(Spielberg 8). However, if the information is manipulated, or incomplete, the interpretation can be
quite different. In this story, the minority reports are destroyed as soon as they occur, so no further
examination of the data can take place. Whoever controls the information, data, or prevision, controls
the destiny of the individuals. The accused loses the option of free will and independent

1984 Totalitarianism
Totalitarianism is the overarching theme of 1984, written by George Orwell in 1948. The novel
details the story of Winston Smith, a self–described weakling who spends his life working for the
omniscient and cruel government party Big Brother. The authority in Smith's country Oceania, the
Party keeps a tight leash on the terrified citizens that dwell in its cities. Their primary goal? To exert
total mind control, building an army of brainwashed robots who will believe that two plus two
equals five if Big Brother proclaimed it true. The Party achieves this state of submission in citizens
with two important concepts: surveillance and false information. In fact, totalitarianism, specifically
in George Orwell's 1984, contributes to the spread of...show more content...
Protagonist Winston Smith works for the Ministry of Truth, the section of the Party that controls
information. Big Brother employs workers to methodically change material into propaganda for the
Party, therefore forcing citizens to believe that the Party was, is, and always will be the most
all–knowing force present in the world. As Winston describes, "if all others accepted the lie which
the Party imposed– if all records told the same tale– then the lie passed into history and became
truth." (Orwell 548). By erasing every detail that supported the true version of events, the Party
could essentially craft their own past as a never ending story of victories for the Party. Building a
history of victories and power flaunts leads citizens to believe that the Party can do no wrong, and
therefore deserves to be in power. "'Who controls the past,' ran the Party slogan, 'controls the future:
who controls the present controls the past.'" (Orwell 555). "Controlling the past," in many situations,
meant blatantly changing indisputable facts. For example, throughout the novel, Oceania is at war
with both Eastasia and Eurasia, but the Ministry of Truth edits the information to make it seem like
whatever power is currently at war is the power that has always been at war. Both simple and
complex, these edits can reinvent a whole past. Though it is composed of many elements, the telling
of blatant

1984 Totalitarianism
Without a doubt, Orwell passionately views the role of government in a totalitarian society as
deeply disturbing, appalled by the role of technology in allowing corporate power to controls its
citizens. In 1984 he has constructed the perfect example of totalitarianism: a society in which even
having a contradictory thought is punishable by death or vaporization, and government possesses
absolute power; a very real possibility for the very near future, Orwell believed. His argument is a
daunting one, and although I agree that the effects of such a society can develop to be greatly
oppressive, I boldly theorize that such systems inevitably self–destruct before they can flourish into
the horror that is 1984's very essence. There are two major...show more content...
In the past, whenever the central planners miscalculated how much product was needed from each
industry, constant shortages and surpluses occurred, consistent with the novel's description with
respect to shoes and razors. And as long as the managers who met their miscalculated goals were
rewarded, they had no incentive to adjust production according to the shortage or surplus. Because
within a command system there are no fluctuations in prices and profitability to indicate that one
profit or another is in need, many products were inefficiently overproduced and underproduced. As
in the Soviet Union and China (before its market reforms), command systems do not reward
innovation or enterprise; the only way to be on top was to participate in the political hierarchy. As in
the novel, moving up the hierarchy means better housing, better food, and the freedom to turn off
the telescreen. However, business success based solely on political maneuvering is not conducive to
technological advance, a key element of a stable economy and therefore powerful society (since
technological advance=more efficient and cheaper production methods=less cost for
production=wealthier system=money=power). In essence, command systems are doomed to fail
because their economies are; we already see evidence Oceania's impending downfall in the book with
descriptions of the government's failure to meet the public's needs. Without a stable, efficient, and
constantly

1984 Totalitarianism Essay
The political scientists Carl Friedrich and Zbigniew Brzezinski define the concept of
totalitarianism by using a set of typical attributes that can very much be identified in the system
elaborated by Orwell in 1984. Firstly, "an official ideology to which general adherence was
demanded, the ideology intended to achieve a 'perfect final stage of mankind' " (Pleuger). This
first attribute can be ascertained upon examining one of the ruling party's three slogans: "War is
peace; Freedom is slavery; Ignorance is strength" (Orwell). The motto fully embodies the
foundational ideology of the party and it is expected that all subjects adhere to it without stopping
to question the workings of the logic behind the statements. Secondly, Friedrich and Brzezinski
declare the requirement for "a single mass party, hierarchically organised, closely interwoven with
the state bureaucracy and typically led by one man" (Pleuger). The ruling party representing 'Ingsoc'
is indeed led by one man alone: 'Big Brother', despite ambiguity regarding his human/physical
tangibility. The pyramidal hierarchy instilled in the party is as follows: Big Brother at the top, the
Inner Party (ll stand by and watch it. But not...show more content...
Through his engineering of such a dystopian plot however, Orwell does make clear where his
opinion stands regarding totalitarianism; this highlights the fact that his novel aims to portray only
the negatives of such a political system and therefore indicates the hugely biased nature of the
storyline. The political construction of the fictional world that is created in 1984, does correlate
strongly with the definitions of totalitarianism that are seemingly of general consensus; this helps to
add a strong sense of realism and hereby renders the existence of the scenario all the more
imaginable in a real–life

Totalitarianism In 1984 Essay
"It is quite possible," wrote Orwell in January 1939, "that we are descending in to an age in
which two and two will make five when the leader says so." (CEJL, I, 376) The following year,
he wrote this passage on totalitarian "thought control":
It not only forbids you to express – even to think – certain thoughts, but it dictates what
you shall think, it creates an ideology for you, it tries to govern your emotional life as well
as setting up a code of conduct. And as far as possible it isolates you from the outside
world, it shuts you up in an artificial universe in which you have no standards of
comparison. The totalitarian state tries, at any rate, to control the thoughts and emotions...show more
content...
Although the action of the novel did nothing to confirm this faith, in the end it
remains a warning concerning the dangers of outweighing the common good so highly against
the private.
Totalitarianism in 1984 also led to extreme psychological manipulation and physical control. In
Orwell's novel, for example, the Party, or totalitarian state, ruled that all citizens must have a
telescreen in their room, which blasts a constant stream of propaganda designed to make the
failures and shortcomings of the Party triumphant successes. They also monitor behavior, and so,
everywhere the citizens go, they are continually reminded that the authorities are scrutinizing
them. The Party also undermines the structure of the family by inducting children into the Junior
Spies, an organization which brainwashes and encourages them to spy on their parents so that
they can report any instance of disloyalty to the party. Furthermore, Steinhoff writes in his
George Orwell and the Origins of 1984 that constant war in Oceania elicits three main

Most books have a meaning or message that is conveyed throughout the book, but some have a
meaning that is stronger than others. 1984 by George Orwell, is a story that conveys a message of
warning, Orwell is trying to warn people that the world cannot let the government take total control.
Because if that happens then the government can do whatever it pleases. This relates very well to
current events as well. The book 1984 takes place in England where a totalitarian government
controls everything. Big Brother is the figurehead of the government, which is used to scare the
party members and proles into their total control. This is very similar to modern day North Korea,
Kim Jong Un uses the threat of nuclear attacks to scare his own people

1984 Totalitarianism Analysis
In his novel 1984, author George Orwell warns against the dangers of totalitarianism through the
life of one man living in a dystopian society. The novel follows Winston Smith, a man who tries to
rebel against the ruling group of the nation of Oceania, know as the Party, and its leader, Big
Brother. Through his quest, readers are exposed to a world in which the past is consistently
altered to match the present, a person can commit a crime by having thoughts against the Party,
and continuous war creates "peace". With his novel, Orwell makes it clear that he wishes to
modify the rise of consolidated power and controlling government. Through literary techniques
such as point of view and variances in language, Orwell warns of the dangers presented when a
small group holds power over a mass of people. It is clear that Orwell is advocating against
totalitarianism in 1984. The novel is set in a dystopian world where the Party controls all aspects
of government and life. One aspect of the nation is the Thought Police, which vaporize those who
have thoughs different than what the Party dictates. The Party frequently alters the past in order to
coincide with their current actions, and citizens are required to alter their memories and thoughts
based on the Party. With his extreme depictions of the effects of the Party, Orwell is warning of
the consequences of totalitarian rule. He writes, Do you begin to see, then, what kind of world w
are creating? . . . A world of fear and treachery

George Orwell was born in Bengal in 1903, and was educated at Eton. He then served in the Indian
Imperial Police before returning to Europe as a political writer. He was considered, and hated
totalitarianism. He died at the age of forty–seven due to a neglected lung illness. He published his
final book 1984 in June of 1949, only seven months before his death in January. Orwell wrote 1984
to express his fears of America becoming a totalitarian government as a repercussion of World War
II (September 1, 1939– September 2, 1945). I chose this book because I personally enjoyed the way
he depicted his thoughts into his novel. He even used his personal knowledge he attained when he
worked in England to create the concept of Newspeak. George Orwell...show more content...
It was intriguing how every citizen of Oceania was brainwashed to think one thing, for example
O'brien states "We control matter because we control the mind. Reality is inside the
skull.."(p.218). It was harder for me understand the emotions for the main characters as they feared
being watched/ caught by thought police because in this day and age privacy has always been
there for me, so in that aspect that was the one concept, I hated the most. Although I hated that I
couldn't understand the emotions of being caught, the one thing that shook me the most was when
Winston and Julia were caught; I never saw that coming, at least not in the manner in which it
happened. When they were caught, and when Winston was being integrated and tortured in the
Ministry of Love were my favorite parts of the novel. While reading this book I have learned that
my life today could have been much different if Orwell's fears would have became a reality. In that
retrospect, I would recommend this book to others, especially to history students who are trying to
understand the fears of Americans during the second world war. I would recommend the book
because not only does it have a vivid description of Orwell's thoughts, it also describes his vision
with different literary devices such as symbolism, imagery, and the novel's multiple different themes.
Some examples of

1984 Totalitarianism In 1984
The Flawed World of 1984 A dystopia is an imaginary place or state in which the condition of life
is bad, as from deprivation, oppression, or terror. Referring to the definition, totalitarianism
throughout 1984 demonstrates all elements of a dystopia. Big Brother instills fear in the minds
of Oceanians to access all power and build their version of a utopia. Orwell faults the world of
1984 to show the protagonist, Winston Smith, is able to overcome all fears the Party instills in
him and to find it in himself to rebel against the totalitarian government. Winston criticizes his
society for being so driven by party ideology which encourages them to go through mental
processes that confuse them with what is reality as to the Party's version of reality (Becnel 74).
The protagonist proves himself to be a misfit in the society of 1984 by not conforming to the party's
ideas as others would, diminishing the idea of individuality. George Orwell portrays a dystopian
society through a rebellious protagonist's hatred of totalitarianism to illustrate the idea of
nonconformity in 1984. Winston Smith can be comparable to someone who is above the middle
class, but not exactly an elite either. He works with the outer party in the Ministry of Truth where
they alter the history of Oceania to make it appropriate for their government. Winston has one thing
against the government though making his placement in his work ironic, his memory. People do not
have memories of life before

1984 Totalitarianism Essay

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