More handpicked essays just for you.
Essay about totalitarianism in 1984
What is a totalitarian government essay
What is a totalitarian government essay
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Throughout history there has been a presence of totalitarianism in countries like Germany and Russia during World War II. With totalitarianism, the government control citizens’ actions and lives. The dystopian 1984 by George Orwell is about a totalitarian government and reveal the historical influences of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin on Orwell’s 1984.
In 1984, Oceania is under The Party’s control. Big Brother is the core totalitarian element in Orwell’s novel. Big Brother represents a symbol and somewhat of a security blanket for the Inner Party. Big Brother is watching twenty-four seven and limiting how people feel, act, and think. Orwell explains, “You had to live- did live, from habit that became extinct- in the assumption that every sound
…show more content…
you made was overhead, and except in darkness, every movement was scrutinized”(3).
Party Members are suppose to appreciate Big Brother as he is a protector and savior.
Orwell used Adolf Hitler as an inspiration for Big Brother. With both power hungry leaders there is no room or freedom and the government controlled every aspect of one’s life. Orwell writes, “The Power seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are uninterested in the good of others; we are interest solely in power” (263). Like in the novel, Hitler used propaganda extensively as brainwashing mechanism. His vision was to create a pure Aryan race which eliminated anyone who was not a blue eye, blonde hair German. In 1984, the government uses the motto “Big Brother Is Watching You” as propaganda to keep party members in a constant state of fear of being caught guilty of a thoughtcrime or facecrime. Oceania’s propaganda carries on to the Two Minutes Hate to provoke hatred for Emmanuel Goldstein and Eurasia and Eastasia. Hitler’s Youth was a program created to brainwash children with advertising and train them to be future leaders. The children pursued the ideology of the party and distanced
…show more content…
themselves with their families. This method was also used to train The Spies in 1984. Both groups manipulated the children to denounce their own parents. The leaders of the Inner Party and Hitler used similar war tactics. In 1984, Oceania is at war with Eurasia at the beginning of the novel but, during Hate Week the superstate remained allies with Eurasia and now at battle with Eastasia. This is similar to how German and the Soviet Union attacked Poland, but then Germany turned against their ally which caused them to be defeated later on. During the year at power, Hitler enforced laws that took away fundamental human rights. For example, he limited the relationships and marriages between certain people in the country. This is in relation to Big Brother making marriage and intimate relationships as a duty to the party. Big Brother took away the emotion behind the relationships and causing people to be dehumanized. Like the conditions in Oceania, the Soviet Union went through purges, labor camps and censorship under the rule of a harsh dictator.
Under Joseph Stalin’s rule, the Soviet Union transformed into an industrial power. Labor camps became the result of the economic boom. Forced labor costed million of deaths in the Soviet Union,all in order to achieve Stalin’s economic vision. Those imprisoned had to work in freezing, unclean conditions for prolonged periods of time. It is revealed in 1984, that crimes like keeping a diary are punishable by death or twenty-five years in a labor camp. Stalin conducted the “Great Purge” to target rival politician and enemies of the Party. Those who were captured were either imprisoned in labor camps or sentenced to death. Like Stalin, Big Brother used purges to eliminate party members charged with treason. Those arrested by the Thought Police are taken to the Ministry of Love, where they will be tortured into submission to love Big Brother. Big Brother has continually enforced censorship to rewrite history. The Ministry of Truth’s mission is to get rid of any evidence in articles of the Party ever been wrong and then revise them. Orwell describes, “If the Party could thrust its hand into the past and say of this or that event, it never happened- that, surely, was more terrifying than mere torture and death” (134). Using Big Brother’s methods, Stalin erased the fact that him and Adolf Hitler were at one time
alliances. After analyzing 1984 and the past, the suppressing effects of totalitarianism can be seen. Tyrants like Hitler and Stalin are the true Big Brothers of history, and this is displayed in their similarities. To prevent a totalitarian government from coming into power, the causes need to be understood first.
In the book “1984” by George Orwell, Big Brother has the power to decide what is real and what is not. The citizens of Oceania are told not to use their own knowledge to gather facts or information, but to get their information from Big Brother, and the party. This show that the party has great control over its citizens. Big Brother’s power can decide what is real and what is not.
Big Brother - Big Brother is the enigmatic dictator of Oceania. In the society that Orwell describes, everyone is under complete surveillance by the authorities. The people are constantly reminded of this by the phrase "Big Brother is watching you", which is the core "truth" of the propaganda system in this state. In the novel, it is unclear if Big Brother is a man or an image crafted by the Party. In a book supposedly written by the rebel Emmanuel Goldstein, it is stated that nobody has ever seen Big Brother. His function is to act as a focusing point for love, fear, and reverence.
In George Orwell’s novel, 1984 the theme is a totalitarian government has the capability to physically and mentally break down individuals and then rebuild them the way they want by using torture and the destruction of emotions and personal thought.
In 1984 they have a perfect world that Big Brother has created. That everyone loves their leader. Also a perfect system where people have jobs in each section and it never changes. They have the total control of everyone. In their system they teach their children to love Big Brother to listen to what they say to hope that we win the war. If they don’t trust Big Brother they are beaten and kept for many months and sometimes years it depends on how long it take to make them love Big Brother. They control more of the people in the book. Orwell, George. 1984. Harlow: Pearson Education, 2003. Print. Divergent. Eagle Pictures, 2014.
Demonstrated in the book, Big Brother is known as an embodiment of the Party. A group of powerful white men who take a totalitarian approach to running their country. They control every aspect of life as a government that is dominant in political, economic and social activities. Unlike the book, Canada is a democratic society with multiple acts, codes and doctrines that allow us to have freedoms and rights. If someone goes against the law, then they may have to face the consequences of what law they broke.
Big Brother and modern day government have been able to control its citizens through surveillance equipment, and fear all for a little more power. There is much to learn from such an undesirable form of society, much like the one of Oceania in 1984. Examining Big Brother government closely, alarming connections can be made to real-world government actions in the United States and the cruel world within Orwell's book.
Although Hitler was responsible for the lives of many people and was a real human being, him and Big Brother have many similarities. A few examples of how they are similar include their security, power, and leadership. The party in 1984 kept surveillance of their people and everything they did. Meanwhile, Hitler used guards to keep an eye on the Jews. Even though the Jews had direct supervision, both the Jews and the citizens of Oceania were closely being watched. Both Big Brother and Adolf Hitler used their power to control the people. On page (??) “Always eyes watching you and the voice enveloping you. Asleep or awake, indoors or out of doors, in the bath or bed- no escape. Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimeters in your skull.” This quote refers to the eyes of Big Brother watching you. However, people of Oceania feared Big Brother more than the people of Germany feared Adolf. This is because of the fact that, despite Hitler’s violence, people still looked up to him because he tried to gain back their pride and cooperation following Germany's defeat in World War 1. Many German people felt that other nations were treating them badly. Therefore, they looked to Hitler to gain their pride and power back. “Some days in the camp you prayed to live; some days you prayed to die quick. Some days you didn't bother praying, knowing there was no sense
The fictional world of 1984 is best described as bleak. In the aftermath of the fall of capitalism and nuclear war, the world has been divided among three practically identical totalitarian nation-states. The novel takes place in London, which has become a part of Oceania, the nation state comprising the Americas and western Europe. A state of perpetual war and poverty is the rule in Oceania. However, this is merely a backdrop, far from the most terrifying aspect of life in 1984. Oceania is governed by a totalitarian bureaucracy, personified in the image of Big Brother, the all-knowing/ all-seeing godlike figure that represents the government. Big Brother is best described as a "totalitarian socialist dictator, a political demagogue and religious cult leader all rolled into one." So great is the power of Big Brother that the reader is unsure whether he actually exists or is simply a propaganda tool of the government. The party of Big Brother, Ingsoc (English Social...
In any society, there is an expectation that everyone follows the laws and rules set out for them. However, such power in the wrong hands can change the circumstances drastically, leading to a totalitarian civilization. In George Orwell’s 1984, Big Brother controls his people into obedience through a variety of methods. First, Big Brother destroys and censors the dictionary for Oceania and creates Newspeak to defeat the purpose of articulating oneself. Secondly, he monitors his citizens to assure that no one is going against the Party and its government. Thirdly, if all else fails, Big Brother imposes torture that reshapes and rebuilds one’s mind into conformity. In George Orwell’s 1984, obedience to authority is a key idea to this dystopia
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 year 1984 has long passed, but the novel still illustrates a possibility for the future of society. It still remains a powerful influence in all sorts of literature, music, and social theory. George Orwell envisioned a nightmarish utopia that could have very easily become a possibility in 1949 ? the year the novel was written. He managed to create such a realistic view of humanity?s future, that this story has been deemed timeless. There will always be the threat of totalitarianism, and at some moments civilization is only a step away from it. Orwell hated the thought of it, and 1984 shows that. From his work, readers who live in prevailing democratic society have a chance to consider about these very different political systems, democracy and totalitarianism.
In George Orwell’s political satire, 1984, Big Brother’s totalitarian regime controls the dystopian society in which Winston Smith, the protagonist, is part of. The Party, the name of the government, controls people through oppression, psychological manipulation, and the use of technology to suppress individuality.
Identity, in today’s society, is often taken for granted. We have the ability to be anything we wish to be and act in any way we wish to act, but in the novel 1984 by George Orwell, identity is not taken for granted because it does not exist at all. Winston Smith, the narrator, lives in a dystopian society based on the idea of totalitarian government rule. This government is known as Big Brother. In order for Big Brother to stay in power, a few things are necessary: identity cannot exist; everything and everyone must be uniform; the past must be controlled in order to regulate the present; and the people must constantly be practicing the ideas of Newspeak and Doublethink, a form of control the government holds over the people. By enforcing these simple laws and regulations, the government is able to keep a tight grip on its people, with few ever releasing themselves from its grasp. Winston Smith on the other hand, seeks to know the truth behind the government, he is constantly questioning everything and repressing all the ideas forced upon him. Winston “seeks truth and sanity, his only resources being the long denied and repressed processes of selfhood” (Feder 398). All identity is gone in this place called Oceania, and for the sake of Big Brother and its continuous control of the people, it will never exist again. In 1984, the absence of identity strips the people of all creativity and diversity, as well as takes away any chance the society has to advance as a people or in the area of technology.
The book 1984 written by George Orwell is about Big Brother’s ways or methods of control in the novel.This novel George created a bad controlled society, more of a non corrupted one where the people were people stripped of their humanity and they do not matter or even exist. It takes place in a fictional place called “Oceania” where The Party and Big Brother are in control.