The idea of control and fear dictates the freedoms and philosophies within a society. In George Orwell’s novel 1984, the party, Ingsoc, manipulate the characters’ lives with the creation of the Spies, establishment of the thought police, and dependence on mediums. Similarly, in Brian Percival’s film The Book Thief, the Nazi regime controls the characters’ lives through the Hitler’s Youth Movement, the fear of the Gestapo, and use of mediums. In both the novel and film, these governments focus on the manipulation of youth, fear of authority, and use of mediums influence the characters’ morals and beliefs. With the governments heavily influence on the characters’ lives, this ultimately leads to the loss of one’s individuality within the society. …show more content…
The manipulation of youth abolishes one’s individuality through the creation of youth organizations and political ceremonies. First of all, in George Orwell’s 1984, the Spies’ purpose focuses on the alteration of children’s minds and integration of the government’s political agenda. Children are manipulated into idolizing the party when Winston states “they were systematically turned into ungovernable little savages, and yet this produced in them no tendency whatever to rebel against the discipline of the Party.
On the contrary, they adored the Party and everything connected with it” (Orwell 26). This quote explains the introduction of the party’s ideologies early ensure the continuous support from the next generation, however limits the individuality amongst youth. In comparison, the influence of Hitler’s Youth movement in Brain Percival’s film The Book Thief introduces the core beliefs of loyalty desired by the Nazi party. With Franz’s integration of the party’s ideologies, Franz forces Liesel to burn a book when Franz exclaims “Burn a book. Go on, burn a book. Go on! I'll be watching” (Percival). This emphasizes the drastic alternation of one’s beliefs results in the loss of personal uniqueness and individuality. Furthermore, George Orwell’s 1984 uses the Two Minute Hate to promote further support for the party, but also denounce those opposed to the party’s ideals. This allows citizens to openly express hatred and disapproval for those opposed, but also worship Big Brother when Winston states “At those moments his secret loathing of Big Brother
changed into adoration, and Big Brother seemed to tower up, an invincible, fearless protector, standing like a rock against the hordes of Asia” (Orwell 17). The usage of the Two Minute Hate create hatred towards the opposition and help to change one’s perspective into adoration of the party, thus conforming to the party’s expectations. Likewise, Brian Percival’s film The Book Thief uses the book burning ceremony to unite the citizens and express the love for Hitler. The citizens express passion and patriotism towards the Nazi regime when the citizens exclaims “To our great German Empire and to our beloved Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler! Sieg! Heil” (Percival). This ceremony ultimately creates a particular behaviour, thus eliminated the idea of individuality. In summary, the manipulation of the youth through construction of youth organizations and public ceremonies leads to the loss of individuality and trust. The authorities’ enforcement of the law influences the characters’ lives caused by the fear of secret police and the characters’ forced public involvement. Firstly, George Orwell’s 1984 illustrates how the thought police amplifies the fear and creates orders within the society. This fear shows Winston’s regret for committing a thought crime when Winston writes “theyll shoot me i don't care theyll shoot me in the back of the neck i dont care down with big brother they always shoot you in the back of the neck i dont care down with big brother” (Orwell 21). This pinpoints the fear of being caught suppresses the ideas of rebellion and one’s personal opinions. Similarity, Brian Percival’s film The Book Thief exhibits the fear of Gestapo leads to the suppression of unorthodox ideas opposing the government. This fear drives Hans to make a promise with Liesel about keeping Max a secret when Hans states “I need you to give me your word that you will not tell anyone about our visitor” (Percival). This quote reveals the fear of the Gestapo pushes Hans’ family to live cautiously, which makes the character’s conform to prevent any suspicious. In addition, his daily routine of attending the community center in George Orwell’s 1984 shows how the government monitors citizens. At the community center, Winston fear of being exposed of thought crime make Winston pay close attention to the facial expression displayed when Winston mentions “Never show dismay! Never show resentment! A single flicker of the eyes could give you away” (Orwell 39). This quote explains the fear of being caught supressing rebellious thoughts and one’s opinions. In a like manner, Conscription in Brian Percival’s film The Book Thief influences how citizens serve the party. Han’s conscription makes Liesel change political views when Liesel mentions “I hate Hitler” (Percival). This showcase the result of Han’s conscription results in Liesel’s hatred of Hitler, but Hans losing his ability to express his beliefs while in the war. To sum up, the authorities’ enforcement of the law through the fear of the secret police and mandatory community involvement leads to the loss of one’s individuality.
The novel 1984, by George Orwell, made me paranoid. It made me suspicious of our government's power and intentions. I became aware of the potential manipulation which the government could impose upon us. I came to see that the people I believe to be wholly dedicated to the well-being of society, the people I rely so heavily on to provide protection and security have the power to betray us at any given time. I realised that in my naivety I had gravely overlooked the powerful grip government has over society, and what it can do with that power.
In the novel The Book Thief, setting and point of view affect the theme and book a lot. The point of view of this novel is third person omniscient and a little bit of second and first person when the narrator talks about himself or to the reader. The setting of the story is Nazi Germany and it is based on a young girl named Liesel Meminger and what her life was like during this time. Her story is told by the narrator, death. Mark Zusak, the author, uses setting and point of view to express the theme of the novel because there was so much death happening, Liesel encountered him so many times, causing him to be able to tell her story; without this setting and the narrator, the theme story would have been different.
Liesel’s slow development of the power of words causes her to experience the negative effects of words and misery on many occasions throughout her lifetime.
Much can happen in a matter of minutes; a man can go from thinking he is happy to thinking his life is falling apart, or can change from hating someone to loving them. These experiences sound outlandish, but they happened to Guy Montag, the main character in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, and Winston Smith, the main character in George Orwell’s 1984. These two dystopian novels are about the characters discovering major problems in their societies, and then trying to fix them. Montag lives in a society where television controls people’s lives and books have become illegal. On the other hand Smith lives in Oceania, a territory led by a totalitarian regime. This regime is headed by Big Brother and is referred to as the Party. By examining Fahrenheit 451 and 1984, it is seen, not only through the dehumanized nature of society, but also through the theme of lies and manipulation that both Orwell and Bradbury wish to warn of a horrifying future society.
Control is worth wanting. It gives one a sense of superiority over another person. But is the use of fear a reasonable way of obtaining control. The movie Divergent directed by Neil Burger and the novel 1984 written by George Orwell, both depict the extreme persecution methods used by totalitarian governments to control their citizens. The use of brute force and psychological torture on its citizens, helps the governments to stay in power. The fear of losing their lives in constantly on the minds of the people who live under the control of these oppressive governments. Immorality is out of the question, the governments do what is necessary for power. Anyone who wanders away from the path the government has chosen for them is subject to dangerous persecution. These persecution methods are also used by
The film The Matrix, directed by Andy and Lana Wachowski, may seem to be a unique, original storyline to the untrained viewer, but the story of a totalitarian government and a hero who attempts to save the people is far from this. In reality, there are so many similarities that can be seen in other texts that were written and filmed before that it cannot be ignored. In particular, George Orwell’s 1984 has a similar government that controls its people and a “hero”, Winston, who is also searching for the truth. Winston lives Oceania where Big-Brother and “The Party” schedule your entire lives telling when to sleep, eat, and work and keep you under constant surveillance. This is similar in The Matrix, where most of the humans lived in a computer-programmed world which is also constantly surveyed by government authorities. The Wachowski siblings’ film, The Matrix, connects with the concept of dystopia as expressed in George Orwell’s novel, 1984, by referring to a totalitarian government and the lack of choices, which it accomplishes through the introduction of new surveillance technology, comparing two worlds, and a hero’s journey to liberate the people.
Imagine living in a world of complete rejection of liberal ideas and absolute conformity. Citizens of this world do not have the freedom to choose their occupation. In fact, these citizens have no rights. They cannot speak freely, they do not enjoy any personal freedoms or privacy, and the media is aggressively censored. This is the world of George Orwell’s 1984 and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. The protagonist of Fahrenheit 451 is Guy Montag, and he is a fireman. His job is to destroy books completely by setting fire to them. Winston Smith is the main character in 1984, where he works as a civil servant in the lower class ruling party. Both of these men become entranced with the past and how life was before a totalitarian government. This fascination gives rise to a rebellion inside both men. Both societies that are revealed in these books face loss of freedoms, and are very highly controlled. The loss of personal freedoms allows a totalitarian government to instill loyalty in its citizens by using propaganda to condition the thinking of the citizens, stealing away the privacy of individuals, subjecting them to poverty, and constant fear of punishment as demonstrated by the novels Fahrenheit 451 and 1984.
Everyone is obviously different, but the personal qualities of a person and external situations that are occurring in the world around them can create similarities between people who have vast differences. In The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, this idea is very clearly shown through the lives of Liesel and Max. Although they come from vastly different backgrounds, the situations around them and their personal qualities reveal similarities between their lives. In The Book Thief, Max and Liesel’s lives have much in common, such as their love of literature and the impact on their lives as a result of Nazi persecution. However, they also differ in many aspects of their lives such as the degree of freedom that they were able to exercise and their attitudes toward life.
In The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, beauty and brutality is seen in many of the characters. Rudy, Liesel, and Rosa display examples of beauty and brutality often without realizing what exactly they are doing, because it is a part of their human nature. Zusak not only uses his characters, but also the setting of the novel in Nazi Germany to allude to his theme of the beauty and brutality of human nature. The time in which the novel is set, during World War II, displays great examples of beauty and brutality, such as the mistreatment of the Jews. As a result of this time period, the characters have to go through troubling times, which reveals their beautiful and brutal nature in certain circumstances. Zusak uses his characters and their experiences to demonstrate the theme of the beauty and brutality of human nature in the novel.
In 1984, George Orwell presents an overly controlled society that is run by Big Brother. The protagonist, Winston, attempts to “stay human” in the face of a dehumanizing, totalitarian regime. Big Brother possesses so much control over these people that even the most natural thoughts such as love and sex are considered taboo and are punishable. Big Brother has taken this society and turned each individual against one another. Parents distrust their own offspring, husband and wife turn on one another, and some people turn on their own selves entirely. The people of Oceania become brainwashed by Big Brother. Punishment for any uprising rebellions is punishable harshly.
The novel 1984 by George Orwell presents the readers an image of a totalitarian society that explores a world of control, power, and corruption. The main idea of government control presents itself in the novel by protecting and listening to the people of Oceania. However, Orwell suggests giving too much power to the government is a mistake because eventually the decisions they make will not be about the people anymore but rather themselves. In 1984, the power and corruption the party has is overwhelming for the people. There are no ways around the beliefs of the Party, the party attempts to control and eventually destroy any mental or physical resistance against their beliefs. The agenda for the party is to obtain mind control over its people and force them to adore their leader. The methods the Party uses to achieve its goal are: the use of constant propaganda and surveillance, the rewriting of history, and Room 101.
The famous author, George Orwell, once wrote, “In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief tells the story of a girl named Liesel Meminger in Nazi Germany whose relationships and words define her. Upon Liesel’s arrival on Himmel Street, she is inspired to learn to read because all of her life before, words controlled her but she wanted to have the power over those words. While Liesel learns how to read, she spends an ample amount of time with her neighbor, Rudy Steiner, the boy with the hair of lemons. Rudy soon becomes Liesel’s best friend and partner in crime when they embark on their thieving escapades. While all the main characters of Himmel Street are memorable in their own right, Rudy Steiner is the most memorable character because he lives his life to the fullest every single day and has courage that most adults do not have.
The Book Thief takes place during the World War II era, in Munich, Germany. The Book Thief shows what it was like for the Germans during World War II. This book shows what they also went through during this awful time. The Help takes place in 1960’s, where segregation was a prominent thing in Jackson, Mississippi. The Help puts a twist on what it was like to live in the 1960’s. The twist was that it was being told by the maids of Jackson, Mississippi.
thinks his father is a coward because he doesn’t belong to the Nazi Party. He is anything but right when it comes to this claim because of how much bravery it takes to oppose Hitler in Nazi Germany, where non accordance can result in death.
Many of the sources that I have researched speak on relatively the same themes: very original. Even that phrase, that phrase I just used, “very original” has been stated a plethora of times. It is a bit ironic, right? Or is that not ironic? I read somewhere that, like, anything funny is, in some way, ironic. But I don’t know if it’s funny or not. I don’t think my brain owns ‘funny,’ you know,” to think that pointing out someone else’s unoriginality would also expose one’s own. Classic.