...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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...In George Orwell’s, Nineteen Eighty Four, a totalitarian society seeks “limitless” power throughout England over a poor population in which society has an isolated nature by the use of dictatorship. As the isolated nature of the characters may be the genesis of the party’s power, this is only one factor. Telescreens, CCTV, and hidden microphones are situated in the ‘1984’ society, to manipulate the minds and alter the thoughts of the general population. The undeveloped, urban life and land of ‘1984’ portrays the dangers of totalitarianism. Furthermore, the novel is set in the future, which exposes the Party, a totalitarian government, and their control on the past and thriving strength. Truly then, the setting of the novel (isolated nature) affects the development of various themes such as psychological manipulation, dangers of totalitarianism, the party’s subversiveness, historical control leading to power. The party’s way of dealing with subversive people is to make them disappear, and eventually remove them from history, therefore giving the party absolute power to change the past and the future. In 1984, ‘people simply disappear’, their ‘name was removed from the register’ and their ‘one-time existence was denied and forgotten’. In a totalitarian society, Orwell illustrates that if citizens cast criticism or dissent, they are ‘abolished’ to conserve complete control and avoid a rebellion. Orwell’s view on this political concept was constructed through his experience of...
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...Rachel S. Stoker Mr. Saluga Honors English 10 20 April 2015 Government’s Humanity A government is a body of power used to control a nation. Different governments use different tactics. There’s democracy, socialism, monarchy, communism, and many more. Some rule with love, others rule with fear. The government portrayed in 1984 is known as “totalitarianism.” They control everyone and everything. In order to do so, the government manipulates humans by using their own traits against them. Some say this is dehumanizing them. However, you cannot dehumanize someone by using their human qualities, instincts, and natural survival tactics belonging to humans. For example, the number one instinct humans have is self-preservation. They will do whatever they can to survive, no matter what the case. To survive in the era of 1984, is to comply. The people of that time are forced to abide by every law and rule set by the totalitarianism style government. As a result of self-preservation is a natural tactic of survival for human beings, it’s something they will do subconsciously and automatically. Conforming, in this case, is requiring to “remove emotion” and individuality. In those places, they incorporate routine, acceptance, and – most importantly – taking away thought. They practically become robots in some ways. To self-preserve, people automatically conform. Whether they wish to or not, the human mind will do anything to preserve itself. It took a decent amount...
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...George Orwell in the novel “1984” by representing what it is like to have your freedoms taken away. The main protagonist, Winston Smith, often finds himself struggling with himself and others to find the truth. In Plato’s “The Allegory of a Cave”, the character struggles to get his point across to his friends who refuse to accept the truth. Plato and George Orwell use rhetoric to explain the importance of freedom, whether the oppressor is someone else or yourself. George Orwell’s “1984” represents what life is like under a strict totalitarian government through the use of rhetoric. In his document, “Why I Write”, Orwell describes himself as “Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for...
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...his many different facets and aspects. Orwell witnessed Stalin’s Soviet Russia, the dictatorships of Mussolini and Hitler, the Spanish civil war and World War 2. Orwell’s literary works such as 1984 and many others, touch on aspects of imperialism, anarchism, socialism, Nazism, capitalism and totalitarianism. “The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical” in 1984, is a text within a text that Winston reads to understand many things about the totalitarian world he lives in. The purpose of the text within a text is to parallel the corrupt socialist world of 1984 with that of Stalin’s USSR, expand on Orwell’s ideas of imperialism, and to sound an alarm to warn readers of what a worst case scenario totalitarian world could be like. Firstly, “The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical” was to provide greater insight, for Winston and the reader. Goldstein’s text takes apart each section of the party’s slogan “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is strength” (Orwell, 1), and explains what they mean to the party. After reading the text, Winston learned some new things, but the text mostly just reinforced things he already assumed or knew. Secondly, when thinking from a political standpoint, one could say that the point of this text within a text was to parallel the corrupt socialist world of 1984 with that of Stalin’s USSR (Stalin’s Capitalism). The party’s corrupt form of socialism is evident in “The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical” when Goldstein states, “the official ideology abounds...
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...Do you wish to be rule under totalitarianism ? Most people do not want to live in a country that is ruled by totalitarianism because it oppresses the human spirit. Human spirit or “Spirit of Man” can be defined as our mental part that includes our intellect, passions, fear and emotions. In the novel 1984, Winston believe that the spirit of man is strong enough to undermine a society and that the party of big brother will be defeated eventually. I agree that the “Spirit of man” is strong enough to undermine a society such as that created by The Party, and I believe Winston’s belief is applicable to the world we live in today. First of all, I total agree that “Spirit of man” is strong enough to undermine the society depicted in 1984 because...
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...Performance treatment Tongtong Zhang I believe the play 1984 by George Orwell is representational. According to the definition of representational acting, representational style of acting provide audience an illusion of watching a representation of life. A representational set generally form a type of reality setting. We need a lot of actors, costumes and props for representational acting. For example, the scene should be happened in a hard, bare room. Therefore, the stage is set up like a room. There are tables, chairs, one telescreen, and lots of posters. All these setups are trying to convince the audience what they see is a hard, bare room where the story happened. Also, there are 12 actors to play 12 different roles. Moreover, the representational set is more suitable for a realism play. Representational acting doesn’t require interaction between actors and audiences. It is as though the audience doesn’t even exist; they are separated from the stage and the actor is unaware of the audience’s presence. In contrast of representational acting, presentational is a term which use to emphasize theatricality and acknowledges the theatre as theatre. In presentational setting there is no illusion. In presentational theatre, epic stories can be told with a minimum number of actors and a few costumes and props. There are several conflicts exist in this play and I want to talk about the central conflict first. The central conflict in a play is the main problem in the story. The...
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...In 1984, George Orwell discusses the concept of doublethink, a major motif that appears throughout the story. In essence, doublethink is the ability to hold two contradictory ideas as equally true in one’s mind at the same time. Though this concept seems unachievable today, Orwell shows it in the story as an actual tool used by the people of Oceania to disregard the truth. The government of Oceania uses doublethink to brainwash their citizens into believing whatever is suitable to the government at the time. Orwell portrays doublethink as a real concept achievable by the residents of Oceania to show to the maximum degree, the dangers totalitarianism and human ignorance. Orwell exaggerates the extent to which humans can be ignorant to warn the reader about the dangers of this blind uniformity. In the very beginning of the story, the citizens of Oceania are forced to believe that the chocolate ration has been increased to be 20 grams, when the ration has actually...
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..."Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind." Though integrity is subjective, most can agree that it is admirable to have a strong moral code. The abstract concept of integrity contributes a great sum to the underlying message in George Orwell's 1984. The book follows, Winston Smith, who attempts (and fails) to rebel against his totalianist country, Oceania. Because the novel was written under heavy influence of World War II, it served as a warning against totalitarianism. By exhibiting the disestablishment of integrity through the set up of Oceanic government, the social structure of Oceanic society and most importantly the experiences of his characters in his book, Orwell proves that integrity is vital for democratic socialism. The Oceanic government is set up to to suppress all that would promote integrity. The government wants all members to adhere to Oceanic principals not ethical or moral ones. To assure that members’ loyalty lies with them, the party...
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...Orwell’s 1984 Totalitarian Regime “Totalitarianism as Orwell saw it, thrives on the blurring of judgement, on vagueness of thought, of feeling, and most of all, of language.” Firstly, the party is stimulated by loyalty; it demands that its people bear every action necessary to pursue a superior Oceania. Loyalty implies the blurring of judgement; accepting without question or hesitation. Party members are loyal to the Party, Big Brother, and Oceania alone. Personal relationships are of no importance. Paradoxically, Winston pledges his loyalty to the Brotherhood but, he also agrees to accept the goals and requirements of the Brotherhood without question or hesitation. Winston agrees to do anything the Brotherhood wants, even if that means murdering innocents. However, he is as well loyal to Julia, and refuses to be separated from her forever. This divided loyalty is what disconnects Winston from the other Party members. Sadly, in the end O’Brien sees this flaw in Winston and successfully removes it using painful physical torture, making blurry Winston’s judgement in account to the perspective towards the party, the party’s perspective is the correct perspective. Using carnivorous rats, loyalty to Julia is also broken. In the end Winston comes to love and be loyal to the party, there is no possible personal judgement that is not blurred out thanks to the party methods. Secondly, the Party destroys all common sense of freedom and individuality. Life is standardized and systematic...
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...‘Controlling the minds of the people translates to the control of the body’ how far do you agree? Totalitarianism is a common theme ground between ‘The Colour Purple’ and ‘1984’ where both protagonists seem to be ‘suspended’ and ‘were lost in a period that offered no hope of progress’ George Orwell’s ‘1984’ and Alice Walker’s ‘The Color Purple’ have a society where there is complete control and oppression, which eventually translates to the control of the body, we are presented with the party members and the black women protagonists being the proletariat of society, and never truly being free because ‘As long as the mind is enslaved, the body can never be free’ however, we are presented objects and behaviour that can be described as liberating,...
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...4 16 October 2014 A Warning from the Past In writing 1984, Orwell's main goal was to warn of the serious danger totalitarianism poses to society. He demonstrates the terrifying degree of power and control a totalitarian regime can acquire and maintain. In such regimes, notions of personal rights and freedoms and individual thought are pulverized under the all-powerful hand of the government. Orwell exercises contradictions and paradoxes to display the dangers that could come in the future. The world of 1984 is a dark and morbid place, this theme of darkness helps carry the dystopian feel throughout the book. Orwell takes the events he was living through and magnifies them to a dystopian setting. The Party slogan “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength” (pg. 26) appears several times throughout the book and it is an example of how opposite the society is. This slogan is a clear indicator of the mind corruption of the party but at the same time each phrase bears a terrifying truth. War is Peace, without war, there can be no peace. Freedom is Slavery, without slavery we would not know of and crave freedom. Ignorance is Strength, in ignorance, you find the ability to create your strength. These contradictions are accompanied by many others, such as the four Ministries. The Ministry of Truth focuses on bending the past through destroying and rebuilding it, this would be considered lying but what the party claims is the truth ends up becoming the truth. The...
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...King Lear and 1984 Power King Lear offers a reflection on power or, more accurately, the loss of power. After retiring and divvying up his kingdom among his ungrateful daughters, Lear discovers what it's like to lose the power and authority that come with the responsibilities of active rule. In addition to being a monarch, King Lear is also a family patriarch and Shakespeare asks us to consider the similarities between a father's relationship with his children and a king's relationship with his subjects. Sir, I love you more than words can wield the matter; Dearer than eyesight, space, and liberty;... 1984 is not just about totalitarianism; it makes us live through totalitarianism. The Party wants power for its own sake. The Party carefully monitors the behavior of all of its constituents. Morning group exercises are mandatory. The Party demands that all loyalty created in private be severed, and that the only acceptable loyalty is loyalty to the Party. The Party condemns sex, and brainwashes its constituents. The Party recognizes no concept of a "family" other than the collective family under rule by the Party. The Party controls everything – the past, the present, and the future – by controlling historical records, language, and even thought. The Party tortures and "vaporizes" those who harbor rebellious thoughts. The state suffers through constant warfare. The conditions are dilapidated, but the citizens do not know better. Classism exists everywhere, and different classes...
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...Zoë Ganis 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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...Totalitarian governments, by their very nature demand control over the people, encompassing all aspects of their lives, and through the use of surveillance, this control is maintained. Through the works of Anthony Burgess in A Clockwork Orange, Tom Rob Smith in Child 44, and George Orwell in 1984, these authors take a closer look into the necessity of surveillance in the survival of any totalitarian government. To begin with, the motivation for using surveillance over the people stems from the concept of power, maintaining the power of the state is the ultimate goal, and as long as the state is maintained, any measure taken is worth it. In addition, through the use of surveillance, governments are capable of creating an environment where the...
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