...In 1949, George Orwell wrote and published his final novel 1984 about a utopian society, Oceania, on the surface and a dystopian society when looked into further into through Winston Smith’s perspective. This character goes against the totalitarianism government ran by the Inner Party and Big Brother. Orwell gave a dramatic utopian and dystopian fiction book that is also political and social science fiction because Orwell often wrote about going against totalitarianism. Utopia is defined as ‘an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect.’ which is exactly how George Orwell portrayed Oceania to be for a majority of the citizens or Party members. Oceania’s government or Big Brother can do no wrong, especially in the eyes...
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...1984 Essay Rewrite George Orwell wrote 1984 as a warning about the dangers of a totalitarian government, as he didn’t want to see it become a reality in the future. In the novel, a young man named Winston Smith struggles to find truth about society while living under a totalitarian government. Through the use of imagery, parallel structure, and diction, he is able to demonstrate to the reader how a totalitarian government asserts its power and the impact it has on dissenting viewpoints by examining the tactics of the inner party. George Orwell showcases to the reader how a totalitarian government asserts its power. For example, O’Brien tells Winston, “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—for ever.” O’Brien explains to Winston that there is no promising future in store for him. Orwell uses the imagery of a boot stamping a face to demonstrate how a totalitarian government distills fear into its citizens to keep them under control. This evokes fear into both the reader and the citizens as it reveals the sheer power of the Inner Party. Furthermore, the Party’s slogan is, “He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.” Orwell uses parallel structure to emphasize the necessity of the Party controlling the past, present, and future. This reveals how the Party wants complete control over everything. They claim they have control of the past but in reality they are rewriting it. By asserting their...
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...Mrs. Schroeder English IV 26 April 2018 Symbolism in 1984 In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, Orwell utilizes many symbols that help develop the storyline, introduce and help build characters description for the reader to better understand the novel. Orwell wrote 1984 as a political message and to warn the future generations about dangerous societies watching over their people. Orwell created a fictional dystopia with a psychological and physical control over its people and the rebellious in the society who want a way out of the life they are living. Through the overflowing use of symbols such as Big Brother, Winston’s journal, glass paperweight, and doublethink Orwell is able to create a connection to the major themes in the novel...
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...George Orwell’s 1984 was written to inform his audience of the dangers of totalitarian governments. The society George Orwell creates, can be very easily compared to that of Hitler’s time. In Oceania, the minority has absolute power just like the Nazi Party had absolute power in and Germany. The Nazi’s were there to make sure that no rebellions took place just as Big Brother is there to stop any acts of rebellion in Oceania. Control is necessary in society up to a specific point where the government takes control of every aspect of life; beyond that it is no longer effective. Winston Smith is in a society in which the people like himself are under complete control physically and psychologically through use of technology and senior party members. The Thought Police stop any citizens thinking about rebelling with telescreens, hidden microphones, and children spies. Firstly, Big Brother, the fictional character, is described to be the dictator of Oceania, has the most powerful role in society as head of the party. The people are constantly reminded that “Big Brother is Watching You (Orwell 3).” They persistently watch the people for any act of rebellion. Control is being achieved however, it is not effective as public and private life is diminished. Next, the telescreen plays another effective role in helping the party manipulate the people by blasting out propaganda. The information they provide the people with is all lies to make the party look good. Winston works...
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...Modern Totalitarianism. In the 1940s through the 1960s, the world lived in a time of war. In September 1939 World War II broke out , and was followed by the Cold War of 1947 that lasted up until 1991. The historic wars of these times influenced literature and the writers of the time, as they shaped their novels and books around these events. Writers such as George Orwell and Kurt Vonnegut created novels of dystopian societies to alert nations that communism was not as great as it sounded. British writer George Orwell wrote the novel 1984 published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. in 1949. 1984 is a political novel written with the purpose of warning readers in the West of the dangers of totalitarian government. In 1949, the Cold War had not yet escalated, and many Americans supported communism as possible political systems for the west. Therefore, Orwell wrote his novel in order to expose the cruelty and oppression of communist countries. In his dystopian nation, Orwell gave a sneak peak of what a country could become if the people gave all the power to the government. In 1984, Orwell portrays the perfect totalitarian society in which the government monitors and controls every aspect of human life to the extent that having a disloyal thought is against the law. They do so with the use of technology such as tele screens and microphones across the city which allowed the government to monitor all the citizens almost all of the times. In order to keep the citizens of London...
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...Elliot and George Orwell have created masterpieces, which embellish the meaning and structure of modernity to create modernist texts. Their pieces, Metropolis, Preludes and 1984 display some key features that reflect the ideas of modernity and the situation in the modern era. In the film Metropolis by Lang, there are messages coded into the movie that must be picked out to provide the full understanding of the ideas portrayed by this film. Some of the messages hidden within the foils of the film are futility, loss of identity and power. These three conceptual ideas influence our understanding of the film and our interpretations of its purpose. The aim of this film was to critique aspects of modernity such as the ideas previously listed. Firstly, futility and loss of identity play a major role in this film. These themes combine in one section but have completely different effects on the viewers opinion. Futility is shown by the lack of choice the workers have and how they all must obey the upper classes and act like a machine. Where as the case of lost identity is rather presented in different light but on the same stage. It is portrayed by the fact that all these individual humans (laborers) have now just become one large group and function in one way losing their individuality and identity. This refers to the time that this movie was produced in because it symbolizes the machine that society was becoming to be able to introduce industrialization into their culture. Power is the...
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...George Orwell uses 1984 to show how the government can control everyone in the country and remain in control by exploiting the people’s right to privacy, their right to social life, the right to access accurate information to have an opinion. When the government can maintain absolute power over the people, it is possible to stop any kind of revolution against them. In the today’s world, technology is the same as the government from 1984. The government exploits the right of privacy by watching over everyone at every moment, having children to be loyal to the government and controlling people’s thoughts. The government watches over everyone by an electronic object called telescreen. When Winston is at his home, “Any sound that Winston made,...
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...The theme of Political Strife in Orwell’s 1984 Student’s name Institution name Abstract Orwell’s 1984 is another masterfully done piece of work that captures the political scenario across the world. Having written it in 1964, the book foretells the political events of the coming 1984 generations. This is a purely prophetic book that is inspired by Orwell’s sharp observation and political analytical skills. In this book, the life of the characters is purely determined by the political happenings of the time. (Bloom, 2007). Many literary and political analysts have found a place to refer to in interpreting political realities of the world in George Orwell’s works. Orwell is remembered for his other book Animal Farm that continues to spark emotional reactions from all over the world every day. A look at how the political theme gets manifested can help one to understand better the happenings in the story and their general applicability to the world we are living in. The Theme of Political Strife There are a number of themes that Orwell (1964) brings out in his book 1984. It is a prediction of the coming political sceneries in future since its publication came earlier before the year 1984. Among the major themes that can be found in the story are betrayal...
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...Two Views of Totalitarianism George Orwell’s 1984 and James McTeigue’s “V for Vendetta” are very similar, but have some distinct differences in the plot. “V for Vendetta”, a futuristic version of a totalitarian government is taken over and destroyed by a masked man named V. Orwell’s 1984 is similar in this respect except that Winston, the protagonist of 1984, doesn’t seem to be as successful as V. Orwell was one to speak of how he sees the battle to be. Orwell has written several novels on the idea of revolutions against a superior government; one example would be 1984. He has inspired others to write there ideas on the thought of the future revolution from a dictatorship of extreme power. The film V for Vendetta is one example of an Orwell inspired story. In both Orwell's novel 1984 and the film V for Vendetta the protagonists Winston Smith and V live in similar difficult lives with extreme and controlling governments where they try to fight against there governments for the greater cause of freedom. There are many similar events and people in these two pieces of literature. In 1984, propaganda is broadcasted via telescreens. Similar to this, false news is broadcasted throughout the city of Oceania in 1984 by way of televisions. Both scenes have posters. 1984 has the posters with the phrase “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” similar to “STRENGTH THROUGH UNITY, UNITY THROUGH FAITH” in “V for Vendetta”.1984’s Winston and “V for Vendetta’s” Evey both experience the loss of their...
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...of writers who used the West as subject and symbol. Land became less available and the uses of land came into question. The environmental movement led to a reevaluation of humanity’s relationship to nature. As the region was settled a mix of cultures came into play. Writers now have come to emphasize the complexity of Western life, rather than its simplicity. Contemporary Westerns sound with more diverse voices than ever before. In George Orwell’s novel, 1984, he writes about his dark vision of the future. It may not just be of the future of the West, but the way of thinking and system portrayed are particularly Western in nature. A lot of terms coined in this novel are also use widely already in the modern day English language. It is a chilling depiction of how the power of the state could come to dominate the lives of individuals through cultural conditioning. Perhaps the most powerful science fiction novel of the twentieth century, this apocalyptic satire shows with grim conviction how Winston Smith's individual personality is wiped out and how he is recreated in the Party's image...
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...In a world controlled by a higher power, constantly living in fear of doing or saying something wrong, thoughts can be incriminating. Even worse, any unpure thoughts may make you disappear. Constantly being watched, and observed without knowing. A telescreen watching every facial expression and recording any abnormal body language and movement everywhere you go. Even in your home there is no escape. You are unable to get away or turn off the power of the Telescreen and "Big Brother". This novel is of a man's struggle against a totalitarian government that controls the ideas and thoughts of its citizens. In the novel 1984 by George Orwell the government used advanced mind reading techniques to discover the thoughts of the people and punish those who show signs of rebellion against the government. The novel is supposed to be a prophetic story, however, it was somewhat wrong in predicting the date when this government would rein. Although some themes described in the book are now realities, some are not going to happen for some time to come and this is why this novel continues to be overwhelming to us today. Perhaps Orwell's purpose for writing 1984 was to express his feelings of how the governments would come to control everything and anything they wished to do. It is also possible that he wanted to tell of how mind control and torture techniques could be used to make an individual or an entire nation do what the government wanted. This...
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...The totalitarianistic control that the Ingsoc government exercises over its citizens relies on the alteration of historical documents, terror, and brainwashing. In 1984, by George Orwell, the entire plot revolves around Winston and Julia’s actions to defy the Ingsoc government and attempt to enlighten the citizens and retake their freedom. The main opposition they face is is Big Brother’s influence over the citizens and themselves. Big Brother employs brainwashing tactics such as constantly stating altered and fake information over telescreens throughout the day, Hate Week, and limiting the amount of words people know to prevent them from any sort of free thought. These actions continuously oppress the citizens with just words. The Party...
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...1984 in 2014 In 1984, George Orwell describes life in a world with an ideal government that has society’s support and citizens that obey all laws. Otherwise known as a “negative utopia,” Oceania is ruled by The Party, composed of different Ministries to maintain their compliant citizens. Thought Police work for The Party to identify those who oppose The Party by monitoring every action taken and word spoken. “Telescreens" and hidden microphones allow for effective monitoring, but the only thing they cannot know for sure are the thoughts that citizens keep in the privacy of their mind. As Winston’s life progresses in 1984, he becomes more aware of his and other’s opposition to The Party, and accepts the memories that The Party does not want...
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...can influence and shape not only the way we think and feel but consequently, the way we react to the world. However, an individual within a fear stricken context has the ability to overcome this fear if they develop the right attitude towards it and this can ultimately allow them control over themselves and those around them. George Orwell’s novel 1984 and the poem Auschwitz-Birkenau by Patrick Simpson explore the ability fear has to control thought and action and the way in which individuals have the ability to achieve control over themselves and those within their context if they overcome this fear. 1984 presents to us a futuristic, dystopian society under what is an extreme communist rule. George Orwell explores the way in which fear can control the movement of an individual. In this text we are presented with a society of people who have had a spark of fear ignited within them. Fear to stray from the party, fear to think separately from the party’s philosophies, fear to act out. And this fear is ultimately what shapes the way they react to the world and their attitudes and actions. In the back of their head they know that the party is a higher power and that one stray move could lead to their vaporisation and so this leads them into an almost robotic state where they are under full control of the party. This idea is presented when Winton’s fear finally overpowers his independent thought. It is at this devastating point where the fear of pain evoked in him through the party’s...
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...Imagine a world where there is no freedom of speech or even thoughts. A world where all basic Constitutional rights are taken away. George Orwell, in his novel 1984, accurately depicts a destitute totalitarian society ruled by a figurehead named Big Brother. This book warns about the future of man and how unless history changes, citizens will lose all human qualities. Although Orwell wrote his book set in the future, our society today is close to his depiction. In a way, Orwell was able to predict some futures of our world. Many important themes in 1984 are relevant to our life now. Our world today relates to many of the themes talked about in 1984. "The instrument (the telescreen, it was called) could be dimmed, but there was no way of shutting...
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