Examples Of Dystopian Society In George Orwell's '1984'

Dystopian societies are characterized by a flawed government that can exercise total authority over its people. In George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, the people are indoctrinated into obeying an over powerful government, creating the perfect situation for a dystopian society to become reality. The government keeps this control and order by using advanced types of technology to monitor and restrict its citizens through the different ministries established: Ministry of Truth, Ministry of Peace, Ministry of Plenty, and Ministry of Love. The Ministry of Truth “concerns itself with news, entertainment, education and the fine arts” (Orwell 6). This department has smaller sections like the Fiction Department, the Records of Documents, and a department

War, however, is no longer the desperate, annihilating struggle that it was in the early decades of the twentieth century. It is a warfare to destroy one another, have no material cause for fighting and are not divided by any genuine ideological difference… More exactly, the reasons for which war is waged have changed in their order or importance. (Orwell 193-194).
This is important because Goldstein is pointing out that the motives that drive these wars changed and that these wars are mainly just to distract from more important parts of the society.
He then goes on to state, “The primary aim of modern warfare (in accordance with the principles, of doublethink, this aim is simultaneously recognized and not recognized by the directing brains of the Inner Party) is to use up the products of the machine without raising the general standard of living… The essential act of war is destruction, not necessarily of human lives, but of the products of human labour. Wari is a way of shattering to pieces, or pouring into the stratosphere, or sinking in the depths of the sea, materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too comfortable, and hence, in the long run, too intelligent” (Orwell

This branch is not really mentioned much throughout Nineteen Eighty-Four but it is mentioned when Winston is working one day. “The ministry issued a promise that there would be no reduction of the chocolate ration during 1984. In reality, however, the ration was reduced from thirty grammes to twenty at the end of the present week” (Orwell 42). This branch works through the media to control any mistakes that were falsely estimated and covers these mistakes with half right predictions to make themselves look good. Working alongside the Ministry of Peace, the branch uses war to control the economy. To keep people from getting too comfortable, they destroy the products being created by throwing them into the war effort. When working with the Ministry of Plenty, this branch has more control, but alone, its effects are not very