1984, By George Orwell: Society Under A Totalitarian Government
During the 1930’s, the popularity of totalitarian governments were at an all-time high. With people like Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, and Joseph Stalin, the idea of democracy itself was in danger. Fortunately, the rule of Hitler and Mussolini were shut down by the Allies, however, the communist regime persisted throughout the next couple decades. The novel 1984, by George Orwell, depicts society under a totalitarian government. The people of that society are forced to conform to society: act how the government, or Big Brother, wants you to act, be what Big Brother wants you to be, and hardest of all, think how Big Brother wants you to think. Although this is a fictional novel, even the most fictitious novels have some amount of truth to
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them. There are multiple references in 1984 to the Post World War II period, the Cold War period, and even modern day society. In essence, 1984, portrays what the world could potentially be like had a totalitarian style of government taken over, and illustrates the dangers of said government.
A totalitarian style of government has proved to be significantly dangerous. Generally, it consists of a dictator with complete control over every aspect of the state. During the time period in which 1984 was written, we learned that the world had just saved itself from the potential takeover of Europe by Adolf Hitler. In addition, we also learned that he had done many things in order to maintain his power in Europe such as the torture of people who didn’t agree with him and the takeover of the media and news. These ideas are also noticeable in other dictators like Benito Mussolini, who also sought to gain as much power as he possibly could. However, 1984 also has some significance in modern day society, even if it is far more subtle that Orwell had depicted. Things like telescreens can easily be represented as the myriad of security cameras that cover virtually every city street in the United States, or even social media that essentially keep logs of your every move. It is not difficult to come to the realization that although Orwell had written this novel in 1949, it not only applied to his present, but even the near, distant, and probably, still to come future.
Orwell introduces the setting of the story by saying “Outside, even through the shut window-pane, the world looked cold. Down in the street little eddies of wind were whirling dust and torn paper into spirals, and though the sun was shining and the sky a harsh blue, there seemed to be no color in anything, except the posters that were plastered everywhere.” (2). He says this in order for the reader to understand that the society in which Winston resides is not a beautiful one. It is common for a dystopian society to be colorless and ugly just like Orwell describes it. By adding just these few lines of text, the reader was already able to see that the totalitarian government that rules over Winston was nowhere near a perfect utopia. Its colorless streets proved not to be a desireable place to live.
“Now I will tell you the answer to my question. It is this. The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power. ” (185). Clearly, power is all a totalitarian government wants. This theme is very clear in 1984. Throughout the novel, the main character, Winston, has to watch his every step in order to ascertain that he does nothing that challenges Big Brother. In the morning he has to do the morning exercises (24), and during work, when socializing with his ‘comrades’, he has to make sure that he says nothing that might make Big Brother suspicious. Because of the fact that these telescreen are everywhere, he has to be extra careful as to what he says. Telescreens are essentially two way monitors, that projects whatever the government wants it to, but in addition, it is also a camera so that Big Brother can watch a citizens’ every move (2). In my opinion, a telescreen could symbolize a spy. During World War II, there were many spies so world leaders, such as Winston Churchill, had to be careful of what they said, when they said it, and who they said it to.
In addition, as stated before, telescreens are still more or less present in modern day society.
However, they’re much more subtle as compared to how Orwell had described it. It is not surprising that the average American significantly relies on the internet for an abundance of things such as entertainment, education, work, etc. By obtaining a copy of someone’s internet data, one could theoretically access things such as bank funds and private information that they should never be allowed to look at. In 2012, Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA had secretly been collecting the data of every American, and could access it if necessary. Basically, even in today’s society, the government can track you, and have a record of the things you say, and the things you do just using data they’ve collected from emails or social …show more content…
media.
Another important idea in 1984 was the idea of fabrication and censorship of the media. During Hitler’s regime, he censored all media. Anything from books to newspapers that had threatened the belief of the Nazi’s was eliminated and censored. “The messages he had received referred to articles or news items which for one reason or another it was thought necessary to alter, or, as the official phrase had it, to rectify… Winston's job was to rectify the original figures by making them agree with the later ones” (27). Clearly, the government in the novel did the same thing. Winston’s job itself was to ‘rectify’ articles in attempt to make them agree with the policies of Big Brother. Orwell seemed to use real life examples of things he’s seen in his lifetime, and that is again expressed in his thoughts toward books. “Books, also, were recalled and rewritten again and again, and were invariably reissued without any admission that any alteration had been made.” (28). Hitler was very radical and just burned books, but similar to Big Brother, Stalin had just rewritten books, and redistributed them to the public. Similar to the book, Stalin had edited Soviet textbooks in order for them to conform to the information he wanted. In a system of government like this, there is no room for people to have thoughts that oppose that of the government, and everyone should be as ignorant as possible, because knowledge means power.
One of the most common ways to manipulate the public is to unify them against a cause. By antagonizing Yugoslavia, Mussolini was able to distract the people from what was happening. This was also a major theme in the novel. It is evident that throughout the book Orwell talks about how Oceania is constantly at war with either Eastasia or Eurasia, and eventually, Winston starts to question: are they even really at war, or is it just party propaganda to keep the public riled up and frightened (107). This tactic is not only used in the book and in historical events however, because even the United States is guilty of using these methods in order to distract the public. It seems as if we are always at war with something or another in order to keep society in fear. For as long as I can remember, it has always been the war against terror. Just like in the novel, the war is very vague; not much is known as to what’s going on, and there is no visible end. Similarly, it is impossible to tell when this war on terror is going to end, and it seems to frighten the public more to know that there could be a terrorist within their own neighborhood. In addition, during the 1950’s, instead of the war on terror, it was the war against communism. The Red Scare affected millions of Americans nationwide, and the thought of communism spreading was enough to frighten the public. The war that Oceania was participating in wasn’t the only form of rallying in the book. Everyday, the citizens of this dystopian society had to watch a video of Emmanuel Goldstein and the rest of the party’s enemies, and express their hatred (2). Against their will, people had to hate this man because the party said so. It just goes to show, in a society like this, there is no thinking for yourself. The government tells you what to do, and you either comply or die. If you even thought about rebelling against the government, that was your certain demise. After all, like Winston said “Thoughtcrime does not entail death: thoughtcrime IS death.” (19).
During Mussolini’s regime, he was very particular about the lives of children. To ensure the success of a totalitarian government, it is not the mind of the adults that have to be molded, but the mind of the future adults, the children, which need to be taught that the dictator must be obeyed at all costs. Mussolini made sure that they were taught to obey. Discipline, duty, and obedience were the three major keys that he instilled in all children. In addition, they were raised with religious and military training, and were expected to go to school 6 days of the week. Stalin also did something very similar: children were all expected to join youth organizations, and they were taught to be good communist citizens. This idea is heavily portrayed in 1984 when children are all junior spies who reported suspicious behavior to the thought police (17). They adored the party, and everything related to it, so reporting people was like their duty (17). They were proud to be serving Big Brother, and they wanted to be loyal to the state, so in the future, they themselves could work for the thought police. It was also not uncommon for parents to be reported to the thought police by their own children. “It was almost normal for people over thirty to be frightened of their own children. And with good reason, for hardly a week passed in which The Times did not carry a paragraph describing how some eavesdropping little sneak -- 'child hero' was the phrase generally used -- had overheard some compromising remark and denounced its parents to the Thought Police.” This is significant because the bond between a child and his or her parents are sacred. It is supposed to be an emotional bond full of love and trust, but in this society, a parent can’t even trust their own child.
Lastly, in this society, it is all about conformity.
There is no individuality, no uniqueness in a sense, every one follows the people around them. “But still more it was an act of self-hypnosis, a deliberate drowning of consciousness by means of rhythmic noise… Of course he chanted with the rest: it was impossible to do otherwise. To dissemble your feelings, to control your face, to do what everyone else was doing, was an instinctive reaction” (11). By doing this, it made people think they believed something that they may not. Similarly, Hitler had his own rallies in which he convinced the people that Jews were the cause of all the problems. Even though one person might not have believed it, he saw the people around him all worshipping Hitler, and he just wanted to fit in. Clearly, in a totalitarian government, fitting in is not always the best idea, because the default characteristics will most likely be
bad.
In conclusion, George Orwell was trying to establish in his readers the fact that a totalitarian style of government was detrimental to the well being of a society. Because of the characteristics of this type of government, it will never be successful. The novel 1984 accurately portrays what the world might have been like had this style of government taken over, and it is not a pretty sight. There is no love in between citizens, the people live in fear every day, there is no chance for success, and everyone is essentially the same person. A society like this, even on paper sounds like a terrible place to live, but contrary to popular belief, we live in a society fairly similar to that one the one in the novel. There are aspects in the novel that can be related to time periods like the 1930’s but even the 21st century. This is all the more reason that more people should familiarize themselves with the novel, so they can be aware of the dangers in this type of government. Differences are not a division in society, but rather it is the bond that holds a successfully society together.
them. There are multiple references in 1984 to the Post World War II period, the Cold War period, and even modern day society. In essence, 1984, portrays what the world could potentially be like had a totalitarian style of government taken over, and illustrates the dangers of said government.
A totalitarian style of government has proved to be significantly dangerous. Generally, it consists of a dictator with complete control over every aspect of the state. During the time period in which 1984 was written, we learned that the world had just saved itself from the potential takeover of Europe by Adolf Hitler. In addition, we also learned that he had done many things in order to maintain his power in Europe such as the torture of people who didn’t agree with him and the takeover of the media and news. These ideas are also noticeable in other dictators like Benito Mussolini, who also sought to gain as much power as he possibly could. However, 1984 also has some significance in modern day society, even if it is far more subtle that Orwell had depicted. Things like telescreens can easily be represented as the myriad of security cameras that cover virtually every city street in the United States, or even social media that essentially keep logs of your every move. It is not difficult to come to the realization that although Orwell had written this novel in 1949, it not only applied to his present, but even the near, distant, and probably, still to come future.
Orwell introduces the setting of the story by saying “Outside, even through the shut window-pane, the world looked cold. Down in the street little eddies of wind were whirling dust and torn paper into spirals, and though the sun was shining and the sky a harsh blue, there seemed to be no color in anything, except the posters that were plastered everywhere.” (2). He says this in order for the reader to understand that the society in which Winston resides is not a beautiful one. It is common for a dystopian society to be colorless and ugly just like Orwell describes it. By adding just these few lines of text, the reader was already able to see that the totalitarian government that rules over Winston was nowhere near a perfect utopia. Its colorless streets proved not to be a desireable place to live.
“Now I will tell you the answer to my question. It is this. The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power. ” (185). Clearly, power is all a totalitarian government wants. This theme is very clear in 1984. Throughout the novel, the main character, Winston, has to watch his every step in order to ascertain that he does nothing that challenges Big Brother. In the morning he has to do the morning exercises (24), and during work, when socializing with his ‘comrades’, he has to make sure that he says nothing that might make Big Brother suspicious. Because of the fact that these telescreen are everywhere, he has to be extra careful as to what he says. Telescreens are essentially two way monitors, that projects whatever the government wants it to, but in addition, it is also a camera so that Big Brother can watch a citizens’ every move (2). In my opinion, a telescreen could symbolize a spy. During World War II, there were many spies so world leaders, such as Winston Churchill, had to be careful of what they said, when they said it, and who they said it to.
In addition, as stated before, telescreens are still more or less present in modern day society.
However, they’re much more subtle as compared to how Orwell had described it. It is not surprising that the average American significantly relies on the internet for an abundance of things such as entertainment, education, work, etc. By obtaining a copy of someone’s internet data, one could theoretically access things such as bank funds and private information that they should never be allowed to look at. In 2012, Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA had secretly been collecting the data of every American, and could access it if necessary. Basically, even in today’s society, the government can track you, and have a record of the things you say, and the things you do just using data they’ve collected from emails or social …show more content…
media.
Another important idea in 1984 was the idea of fabrication and censorship of the media. During Hitler’s regime, he censored all media. Anything from books to newspapers that had threatened the belief of the Nazi’s was eliminated and censored. “The messages he had received referred to articles or news items which for one reason or another it was thought necessary to alter, or, as the official phrase had it, to rectify… Winston's job was to rectify the original figures by making them agree with the later ones” (27). Clearly, the government in the novel did the same thing. Winston’s job itself was to ‘rectify’ articles in attempt to make them agree with the policies of Big Brother. Orwell seemed to use real life examples of things he’s seen in his lifetime, and that is again expressed in his thoughts toward books. “Books, also, were recalled and rewritten again and again, and were invariably reissued without any admission that any alteration had been made.” (28). Hitler was very radical and just burned books, but similar to Big Brother, Stalin had just rewritten books, and redistributed them to the public. Similar to the book, Stalin had edited Soviet textbooks in order for them to conform to the information he wanted. In a system of government like this, there is no room for people to have thoughts that oppose that of the government, and everyone should be as ignorant as possible, because knowledge means power.
One of the most common ways to manipulate the public is to unify them against a cause. By antagonizing Yugoslavia, Mussolini was able to distract the people from what was happening. This was also a major theme in the novel. It is evident that throughout the book Orwell talks about how Oceania is constantly at war with either Eastasia or Eurasia, and eventually, Winston starts to question: are they even really at war, or is it just party propaganda to keep the public riled up and frightened (107). This tactic is not only used in the book and in historical events however, because even the United States is guilty of using these methods in order to distract the public. It seems as if we are always at war with something or another in order to keep society in fear. For as long as I can remember, it has always been the war against terror. Just like in the novel, the war is very vague; not much is known as to what’s going on, and there is no visible end. Similarly, it is impossible to tell when this war on terror is going to end, and it seems to frighten the public more to know that there could be a terrorist within their own neighborhood. In addition, during the 1950’s, instead of the war on terror, it was the war against communism. The Red Scare affected millions of Americans nationwide, and the thought of communism spreading was enough to frighten the public. The war that Oceania was participating in wasn’t the only form of rallying in the book. Everyday, the citizens of this dystopian society had to watch a video of Emmanuel Goldstein and the rest of the party’s enemies, and express their hatred (2). Against their will, people had to hate this man because the party said so. It just goes to show, in a society like this, there is no thinking for yourself. The government tells you what to do, and you either comply or die. If you even thought about rebelling against the government, that was your certain demise. After all, like Winston said “Thoughtcrime does not entail death: thoughtcrime IS death.” (19).
During Mussolini’s regime, he was very particular about the lives of children. To ensure the success of a totalitarian government, it is not the mind of the adults that have to be molded, but the mind of the future adults, the children, which need to be taught that the dictator must be obeyed at all costs. Mussolini made sure that they were taught to obey. Discipline, duty, and obedience were the three major keys that he instilled in all children. In addition, they were raised with religious and military training, and were expected to go to school 6 days of the week. Stalin also did something very similar: children were all expected to join youth organizations, and they were taught to be good communist citizens. This idea is heavily portrayed in 1984 when children are all junior spies who reported suspicious behavior to the thought police (17). They adored the party, and everything related to it, so reporting people was like their duty (17). They were proud to be serving Big Brother, and they wanted to be loyal to the state, so in the future, they themselves could work for the thought police. It was also not uncommon for parents to be reported to the thought police by their own children. “It was almost normal for people over thirty to be frightened of their own children. And with good reason, for hardly a week passed in which The Times did not carry a paragraph describing how some eavesdropping little sneak -- 'child hero' was the phrase generally used -- had overheard some compromising remark and denounced its parents to the Thought Police.” This is significant because the bond between a child and his or her parents are sacred. It is supposed to be an emotional bond full of love and trust, but in this society, a parent can’t even trust their own child.
Lastly, in this society, it is all about conformity.
There is no individuality, no uniqueness in a sense, every one follows the people around them. “But still more it was an act of self-hypnosis, a deliberate drowning of consciousness by means of rhythmic noise… Of course he chanted with the rest: it was impossible to do otherwise. To dissemble your feelings, to control your face, to do what everyone else was doing, was an instinctive reaction” (11). By doing this, it made people think they believed something that they may not. Similarly, Hitler had his own rallies in which he convinced the people that Jews were the cause of all the problems. Even though one person might not have believed it, he saw the people around him all worshipping Hitler, and he just wanted to fit in. Clearly, in a totalitarian government, fitting in is not always the best idea, because the default characteristics will most likely be
bad.
In conclusion, George Orwell was trying to establish in his readers the fact that a totalitarian style of government was detrimental to the well being of a society. Because of the characteristics of this type of government, it will never be successful. The novel 1984 accurately portrays what the world might have been like had this style of government taken over, and it is not a pretty sight. There is no love in between citizens, the people live in fear every day, there is no chance for success, and everyone is essentially the same person. A society like this, even on paper sounds like a terrible place to live, but contrary to popular belief, we live in a society fairly similar to that one the one in the novel. There are aspects in the novel that can be related to time periods like the 1930’s but even the 21st century. This is all the more reason that more people should familiarize themselves with the novel, so they can be aware of the dangers in this type of government. Differences are not a division in society, but rather it is the bond that holds a successfully society together.