1984 Compare And Contrast Essay

The dystopian novel 1984, written by George Orwell, features an oppressive government system, The Party, which dictates and constantly monitors the everyday activities of its citizens. Suzanne Collins, author of the dystopian novel The Hunger Games, creates a similarly oppressive government system in the nation of Panem. The Capitol forces the people of Panem to work to produce what is needed for those who live in the Capitol to flourish, while those in the districts suffer from poverty. These two dystopias share many commonalities in their government systems and societies, corrupt higher levels of government covering up past rebellions, psychological manipulation, surveillance technology, and poverty.
The Inner Party members in 1984 are the heads of Oceania who make all important decisions regarding the people and society, without input from the rest of the population. The Inner Party forces Outer Party members to create an intricate web of lies to make a fabricated history of the country, Oceania. Tasks that Outer Party members must carry out include replacing old documents to cover the past of Oceania before the rebellion. The majority of the population, the Proles, believe all of

the lies that the Inner and Outer Party members are telling them about the history of Oceania. Slowly the population begins to believe the lies The Party tells them are true, because no remnants of life before the rebellion exist. In Panem, President Snow and members of the Capitol live in a wealthy utopian society far more extravagant than any of the other twelve districts in Panem. The Capitol enforces its dominance over the rest of the population by having Peacekeepers in each district to punish anyone who disobeys the rules. The Capitol covers up the existence of District Thirteen, the one district that rebellion against the corrupt leaders of the Capitol. Capitol leaders tell the twelve districts that District Thirteen is uninhabitable from the toxins released after its bombing in the First Rebellion. In reality, District 13 still flourishes underground, but the Capitol withholds this information from the population to instill fear in them and prevent any other rebellions.
As The Capitol makes people fear rebellion by emphasizing what happened when District 13 rebelled, the Party in 1984 makes citizens fear disobeying Party rules. Members of the Inner Party watch members of the Outer Party, and listen to their conversations and thoughts. The Outer Party members are afraid that they accidentally think something or say something that goes against the party and be “vaporized” for this. The Party also outlaws any sexual relationships among members, taking away any distractions from the work they have to do. People who are accused of acting against the Party are taken to Room 101, which is basically a torture chamber when these violators are tortured and killed. The people of Panem fear that if they try to rebel and do not succeed their whole district will be bombed and everyone will be killed as a result. They are too afraid to try because of what the Capitol did to District 13. The people of Panem are also scared of the Hunger Games which occur each year. One female and one male from each district are randomly selected to participate. This “game” is when twenty-four tributes from the twelve districts fight each other to the death. People of Panem fear year after year that a friend or family member will be sacrificed for this inhumane form of “entertainment.” There is no way to run away from the selection day, there are cameras in the woods outside of the district, the Capitol would see you running away.
The Party and the Capitol use similar technological devices to spy on and monitor their citizens. The Party uses telescreens, which streams video and audio of it’s citizens to the Inner Party. Through these telescreens, the Inner Party monitors the Outer Party members’ thoughts, conversations, and actions. People are constantly monitored to ensure they are completely loyal and do not even have thoughts that go against the Party. Telescreens also broadcast propaganda to the Outer Party members. Similar to the telescreens, the Capital has cameras installed throughout each district to survey the poor inhabitants of Panem.
In both 1984 and The Hunger Games, there is a stark contrast between the wealth of the upper class government, and the majority of the citizens. The proles, the lowest and largest class of people in Oceania, suffer terribly from impoverished conditions. They wear torn, dirty rags for clothes, don’t wear shoes, and have very limited access to bathing. The people of Panem suffer from extreme poverty and have to work hard to support their families and have enough food to feed themselves. There are giant rats that hunt easy prey, and puddles of filthy water that children play in. The two novels share a theme of severe poverty, which the government is making no effort to attend to.
The two novels 1984 and The Hunger Games are both written about two futuristic societies which share many characteristics.

1984, a dystopian novel written by George Orwell tells of a society run by the Party, an oppressive government system which monitors and dictates the lives of its citizens. The novel The Hunger Games authored by Suzanne Collins features a particularly similar oppressive government run by The Capitol and President Snow. In this country Panem, people in the twelve districts work to help the Capitol flourish while they barely get by. These two dystopian novels share several similarities including corrupt government systems trying to hide past rebellions, psychological manipulation, technology used to spy on citizens, and a terribly impoverished

population.