Preview

Dangers Of Totalitarianism In 1984

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
758 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Dangers Of Totalitarianism In 1984
Throughout the novel, George Orwell warns of the dangers of totalitarianism by showing government infringement on the rights of the people in Oceania.“The aim of the Party was not merely to prevent men and women from forming loyalties… Its real, undeclared purpose was to remove all pleasure from the sexual act.”(1984, pg.83). The party is trying to destroy any institution of loyalty outside of the party. Marriage, in the eyes of Big Brother, is no longer meant as a catalyst for love. Rather, it serves only to create children. “The telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously. Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it, moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision which the …show more content…
“Nearly all children nowadays were horrible. What was worst of all was that by means of such organizations as the Spies… they adored the Party and everything connected with it.”(1984, pg.31). Big Brother uses propaganda to train young children into become spies. This psychological manipulation has made children a tool for the Ministry Of Love. Children will even betray their own parents, showing that their loyalties truly lie with the Party. "Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it.” (1984, pg. 67). By changing language, the party is changing how we think and view the world. Big Brother will have no enemies within the party, because it will have nowhere to stem from. Citizens will be hardwired to think and act as the party desires. “The eyeless creature at the other table swallowed it fanatically, passionately, with a furious desire to track down, denounce, and vaporize anyone who should suggest that last week the ration had been thirty grammes. Syme, too—in some more complex way, involving doublethink, Syme swallowed it.”(1984, pg.75). In simple terms, doublethink is a system of thought that convinces oneself to deny the truth. This form of self-manipulation allows Big Brother to alter history in front of public view without repercussions. Doublethink makes citizens of Oceania deny truths that they have otherwise
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Control And Manipulation In George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four
    • 733 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Control And Manipulation In George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four

    The surveillance surrounding the citizens results in huge effects on the citizens, including a lack of conversational skills and also results in the citizens scared to be honest and true. The Party has convinced the community that the Telescreens are normal, as The Party has the ability to change any piece of history or knowledge and then have population believe it. With technology you can acquire knowledge and use it for good reasons, but in 1984 you can argue that the surveillance is too extreme. Orwell depicts this extremity of surveillance through the fact that even Winston knew that, “even a back could be revealing” and also the point “you could not control the beating of your heart, and the telescreen was quite delicate enough to pick up”. This use of second person pronoun, “you” engages the reader and makes us more sympathetic to Winston’s situation. Winston has a dream, where he is in the Golden Country, a place he is unsure whether he has seen in reality before, or not. Inside this dream he sees a girl who rips off her clothes and Winston is overwhelmed by the way she just easily destroyed the culture and system of The Party and Big Brother with a simple action as he feels, “the gesture belonged to an ancient time.” Because of the privacy restrictions on the people, a simple action can feel so rebellious, and because of this they have to live controlling themselves, down to their own heartbeat, otherwise the consequences can mean imprisonment, torture and even…

    • 733 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Examples Of Totalitarianism In 1984
    • 968 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Examples Of Totalitarianism In 1984

    In a totalitarian government, the people are not living in a reality, but rather the inverse, they are living in a reality made for them. 1984 by George Orwell is a story of Winston Smith's struggle against a totalitarian government that controls the ideas and thoughts of its citizens. In the mythical setting of Oceania, the Party is the ruling, and Big Brother is the fictitious leader that controls all the thoughts and actions of human life. The people's rebellious thoughts and actions are most likely suppressed, but that can only go so far for a totalitarian government. In the novel 1984, Oceania is controlled by a totalitarian government, which is similar to the government systems of Nazi Germany and North Korea because they used torture and food shortage.…

    • 968 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    1984: Nineteen Eighty-four and People
    • 1645 Words
    • 7 Pages

    1984: Nineteen Eighty-four and People

    To begin, the author shows how the government abolishes individuality through the use of mind control. First of all, the creation of Newspeak restricts the individual from saying things that he/she wishes to say. More specifically, the task of the Party’s philologists is to regulate the vocabulary and language of Oceania to ultimately be able to control the actions and behaviors of the people. Literary critic Stephen Ingle argues, “The more vocabulary contracts, the more the Party will be…

    • 1645 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Dictatorship In 1984
    • 1596 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Dictatorship In 1984

    Not only did the governments censor potentially threatening information from the media, they also censored information on world events from the citizens of their nation, too. In the novel, Oceania was constantly at war; however, the enemy is inconsistent. At the beginning, Eurasia is the enemy, and have been the enemy of Oceania for a long period of time; however, the enemy changes to Eastasia later on in the story. It states, “The very word ‘war’ has become misleading. It would probably be accurate to say that by becoming continuous war has ceased to exist,” (Orwell 199). The Germans were also reminded of their enemy, and just as in Oceania, it fluctuated. The only difference being the enemies of Germany changed between the Jews and the Allied Powers (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum).…

    • 1596 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Examples Of Fear In 1984 By George Orwell
    • 213 Words
    • 1 Page

    Examples Of Fear In 1984 By George Orwell

    This is Orwell’s perfect example of a major danger with totalitarian rule, as well as what Winston must fight against if he is to feel freedom. Orwell has imagined a government that controls everything and everyone through fear, intimidation, and oppression. A government that will not give the slightest true freedom to those who seek it, but instead satiates its people with a false sense of security. A government that controls everything and everyone, and seeks ultimate power. This is government that people should be afraid of, and that is exactly why Big Brother and The Party become synonymous with fear throughout the novel.…

    • 213 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    George Orwell's Big Brother: The Position Of Power In Society
    • 961 Words
    • 4 Pages

    George Orwell's Big Brother: The Position Of Power In Society

    In Orwell’s’ novel, Big Brother the position of power in society, is proposing the idea that one must adhere to all the demands of the party and also have to have complete loyalty to the party. O’Brien a delegate of Big Brother of the party enlightens Winston that the ambition of the party is to “The sex instinct will be eradicated. Procreation will be an annual formality like the renewal of a ration card. We shall abolish the orgasm. Our neurologists are at work upon it now. There will be no loyalty, except loyalty towards the Party.”(280). In order to obtain complete and utter control of the people of Oceania the party are willing to eliminate sex to ensure that no enjoyment or loyalty will come from sex and that women and man will not develop any sort of relationship or loyalty with each other, but instead to the party. Along with the notion, with loyalty to party the corruption of young minds and the brainwashing the party is creating a feature generation of no loyalty but the party and that no one can be trusted but Big Brother. While Winston was in incarnating for deifying Big Brother, his neighbour was put in jail with him as well “Who denounced you? Said Winston. It was my little daughter, said Parsons with a sort of doleful pride. She listened at the keyhole. Heard what I was saying, and nipped off to the patrols the very next day. Pretty smart for a nipper of seven, eh? I don't bear her any grudge for it. In fact I'm proud of her. It shows I brought her up in the right spirit, anyway.”(245). The people of Oceania have been so brainwashed that not even parents with their very own kids show any bonds or loyalty to each other, even the father isn’t upset, that his daughter reported him while he was sleeping and uncontrolled of what he can say he was actually quite happy, this shows the distortion in the…

    • 961 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Totalitarianism In 1984
    • 86 Words
    • 1 Page

    Totalitarianism In 1984

    A totalitarian government must be simultaneously admired and feared by its citizens in order to maintain absolute control. Oceania’s Inner Party in George Orwell’s 1984 takes extreme measures, such as putting its people through physical and mental torture, to ensure that they will always remain in power. Citizens are robbed of any personal rights and freedoms, bringing about their suffering and the Party’s success. Inequality between the social classes as well as unreasonable punishment for crime keeps the citizens in line and the Party in…

    • 86 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    1984 Totalitarianism Analysis
    • 223 Words
    • 1 Page

    1984 Totalitarianism Analysis

    Orwell did not change anything about Totalitarianism when interpreting into the novel. He put on worshipping country leaders, strong dislike, and war hysterics. Children are brought up in families to work for the government as spies. They watch their elders both day and night (Voorhes 88). Big Brother is supposed to represent a soft element from a children’s story to society. Yet to the readers, he represents a political monster to add to Orwell’s science fiction novel, with horror elements mixed in. 1984 may have been inspired by the super-weapons of the cold war. The technology used in the cold war made a ‘social demand’. These technological advancements all served for the purpose to spread mass murder or even to at least intimidating sheer elimination. This can be seen throughout the novel, like when Syme disappeared (Deutscher 119-120). “ He lunged out a huge filthy pipe which was already half full of charred tobacco. With the tobacco ration at a hundred grams a week, it was seldom possible to fill a pipe to the top. Winston was smoking a Victory Cigarette which he held carefully horizontal. The new ration will not start until tomorrow and he had only four cigarettes left” (Orwell 58). During World War II, the government rations out good and often lowers the ration size so small due to overpopulation.…

    • 223 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Essay On 1984 Power Of Government
    • 1142 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Essay On 1984 Power Of Government

    The government in the novel 1984 by George Orwell, forces its citizens to repress all of their natural impulses which leads to rebellious behavior by some of the citizens and a brainwashed state by others. The government in Orwell’s novel is a totalitarian style government with the ultimate leader being Big Brother and the enforcers of Big Brother being the party. The party has banned almost everything from the citizens of Oceania including but not limited to writing, thinking, showing feelings, and having sex. They banned all of these natural impulses because of the belief that acting upon all of these will lead to the citizens thinking which could potentially result in a revolution. Many of the citizens followed all of the party’s rules but some did not, 1984 focuses on Winston who did not follow the rules of the party and rebelled against them.…

    • 1142 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    1984
    • 494 Words
    • 2 Pages

    1984

    In George Orwell’s 1984, Winston Smith wrestles with oppression in Oceania, a place where the party scrutinizes human actions with everwatchful Big Brother. Defying a ban on individuality, Winston dares to express his thoughts in a diary and pursues a relationship with Julia. These criminal deeds bring Winston into the eye of the opposition, who then must reform the nonconformist. George Orwell’s 1984 introduced the watch words for life without freedom: BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU. The themes I will introduce to you somehow will describe what Winston is going through and how his life and the lives of other are being controlled, through psychological manipulation and the dangers of Totalitarianism.…

    • 494 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    1984 George Orwell Analysis
    • 463 Words
    • 2 Pages

    1984 George Orwell Analysis

    The passage at this point describes the living conditions and how horrible they are, many of the resources that are needed for survival are in poor condition. These conditions will not help families prosper. Finally the society in 1984 undergo major propaganda. "On the walls were scarlet banners of the Youth League and the Spies, and a full sized poster of Big Brother". In another room someone with a comb and a piece of toilet paper was trying to keep tune to the military music which was issuing from the telescreen." (Orwell paragraph 3). In the scene where Winston was in Mrs. Parson's apartment it is shown that there is a lot of propaganda for example the banner, the poster of Big Brother and Mrs. Parson's children listening to the military music from the telescreen. Big Brother is trying to appeal to kids to become the next generation of soldiers, he is also trying to make himself an appealing individual because he wants his people to believe that they live in…

    • 463 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Power in 1984
    • 876 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Power in 1984

    The theme of power is prominent in the dystopian novel 1984 by George Orwell and throughout this book he develops two different types of power. This is collective power and individual power, which will both be addressed separately. Firstly, the notion of power through the collective is characterised through the totalitarian Party in Airstrip One, Oceania, one of the three super-states. In chapter 3 Part 3, Winston claims that, “The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake”, and that power comes from the oppression of sensual experience and basic human instincts and through the manipulation of history. In regards to the oppression of sensual experience and basic human instincts, the novel opens with a characterisation of Winston’s apartment block. It are described as smelling of “boiled cabbages and old rugs”. Through olfactory imagery, the reader is able to understand the conditions of the Outer Party member’s life as being dank and foetid, coupled with the ironic naming of the apartments as ‘victory mansion’ seems to suggest that whilst there is that pretense of both nationalism and grandeur, the reality is different. This says two things, firstly it shows a denial of the living conditions by the Party and secondly it expresses the societal division between the Outer Party and the Inner Party when contrasted with the vibrant living quarters of O'Brien's home in chapter 8 part 3. In this chapter, the visual imagry is overwhelming for both Winston and Julia through the use of synesthesia and accumulation. The effect of such a comparison epitomises the division between the two classes whereas the Inner Party, and the collective institute that makes up the Party has access to richer sensual perception in olfactory, kinesetic and gustatory senses and they can control the senses of the lesser classes. This oppression of basis human senses deprives the human body to which the Party utilises in "keeping the people in a constant state of angst", which unables them to be…

    • 876 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Doublethink In 1984
    • 986 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Doublethink In 1984

    Chapman would likely agree with Zolyan, stating that in order to stay alive in the dystopian society of Oceania, one must adopt “both a truth-committed and a non truth-committed approach” in every encounter, and they must do so at the same time (75). Doublethink was an attitude that the Party expected all citizens of Oceania to assimilate; however, Chapman observes that doublethink is not simply the ability to believe two opposing thoughts at the same time. Chapman insists that it is the ability to be concerned about and to not be concerned about the truthfulness of certain events or ideas (75). Chapman expressed this concept by using Goldstein’s book as a focal point. Chapman maintains that Goldstein’s book tells about how the Inner Party members believe that Oceania’s war stories are true, but at the same time they understand that the content is “spuripus” (76).…

    • 986 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Doublethink In 1984
    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Doublethink In 1984

    Within a dystopian society, no one has control over anything expect the group in power. As a form of totalitarian power the Party has created a way as to where even a lie can become truth, or the act of doublethink. Without doublethink as the central paradox the Party wouldn’t have complete control of the public’s beliefs and actions. As long as they have the ability to make the people believe the exact opposite of what the they already know is true, they have the power to make them believe in…

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    1984
    • 355 Words
    • 2 Pages

    1984

    Niccolo Machiavelli once said that "Since it is difficult to join them together, it is safer to be feared than to be loved when one of the two must be lacking." When it comes to the governance of human beings, communication and words outweigh violence. It is impossible to have one perfect society. There has yet to be a society in which there was not something wrong. Different attempts at a perfect society have come about but none has been proven to work without fault. Communism was a good thought but when put into action fails. Not far off from Communism comes the term Totalitarianism. A system of government where a class, group or party feel as though their authority has no bounds and strive to regulate every form of public or private life whatever way they see fit. Fighting in battles against totalitarian governments, such as the Nazi Party and the Soviet Union’s Joseph Stalin, was Eric Arthur Blair, better known as George Orwell. It is amongst the rise of dictators and the beginning of totalitarian societies that Orwell wrote and published the novel, 1984, a warning in disguise. Orwell’s predictions for what the future would look like if society continued its ways are seen through the eyes of Winston Smith. Winston’s life in the novel allows one to feel fear and concern toward Big Brother and his methods of power over civilization. Winston was able to experience dealing with three of Big Brother’s “tactics” of the government exploiting history, enforcing propaganda, and manipulating individuals’ thoughts at first hand. Winston lives in Oceania, a dystopia where the terrors of a totalitarian government are unavoidable. A totalitarian society is established through manipulation and control of one’s mind and body. It is maintained as a consequence of the threat of excessive abuse, propaganda, and force which can be seen in Winston’s everyday life.…

    • 355 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More