Similarities Between 1984 And North Korea

North Korea’s Big Brother

Since the beginning of the early 1800’s, communism has captivated many nations. Communism has destroyed countless lives due to the lack of freedom millions of people faced. In 1984, George Orwell relates his novel to issues in the real world. The main characters include Winston Smith, Julia, O’Brien, Big Brother, and Emmanuel Goldstein. In his dystopian novel, Orwell perfectly illustrates the reality of a totalitarian government. Throughout the story, there are clear examples of brainwashing, torture, and freedom deprivation. In North Korea, Kim Jong Un rules as Big Brother did in Orwell’s dystopian Oceania.

One similarity that 1984 and North Korea both strictly share is the surveillance of their populations. Oceania

and North Korea share the mutual interest of watching their people to make sure they don’t go against the regime in charge. This simply proves how controlling North Korea really is. When Julia and Winston were talking about their relationship, including confessing, in their rented apartment above the store, Winston reflects on the telescreen. “He thought of the telescreen with its never-sleeping ear. They could spy upon you night and day” (Orwell 166). When Winston talks about how the people are constantly being under supervision by the telescreens, this confirms that North Korea does the same thing that Oceania does, watching their people. The government of North Korea “purchased 101,570 surveillance cameras to provide public safety” (Patel 1) meaning that every single person living in North Korea is under the government’s watch and control. North Korea spying on their citizens also verifies that they are brainwashed to the point where if they rebel their great leader, Kim Jong Un, they are to be forced to a labor camp, prison, or worse, death. This could result in other countries following North Korea’s actions. “How often, or on what system, the thought police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork” (Orwell 3). North Koreans are so brainwashed that they don’t even acknowledge that they are being spied on with their every move. The regime in charge is the main figure behind all this surveillance to protect his people from escaping their communist home-country. In 1984, the people of Oceania are under constant watch by the telescreens, which is ruled by the government, monitoring their every move and what they say. North Korea is the modern day definition of a totalitarian government.
The communities of North Korea and Orwell’s Oceania both suffer from the loss of basic human rights.

Both populations experience the lack of freedom of speech and the way they think for themselves in their everyday lives. In Oceania, the society is basically controlled by their great leader, Big Brother. When Winston is sitting in the windowless cell, he is surprised to see Parsons enter. Parson then cries out to him, “thoughtcrime is a dreadful thing, old man. It’s insidious. It can get hold of you without your even knowing it” (Orwell 233). Thoughtcrime is the description of having socially unacceptable thoughts that might relate to going against the great leader. Thoughtcrime validates that the people in Oceania are not allowed to have their own thoughts. They are only allowed to think highly of Big Brother and the love that they have for him, and are forced to believe everything they are told by him. If they were to go against their leader, they would be sent to a labor camp, prison, or even death. The citizens of North Korea don’t even have the right to their own emotions. “…the fakeness of the grieving is obvious” (Hartenstein 1). North Koreans are basically forced by the government to mourn whenever their great leader is mourning. If Kim Jong Un is mourning for a month, then his people must mourn with him for a month. For example, when Kim Jong Il passed away, everyone was at a loss for words. Everyone in North Korea was mourning in the streets, including Kim Jong Un. If the citizens of North Korea did not obey what they were told, then they were forced to a labor camp or punished by death. In 1984, Big Brother controls his peoples’ language, minds, and emotions just like Kim Jong Un does. Oceania’s government enforces laws on their people to love and worship Big Brother because he is the only figure in their society that they need to look up to and love. As Winston explained aloud to Julia, “the proles are human beings. We are not human” (Orwell 165). In

1984, only the Party members are treated with a higher respect than others. They are not allowed to love anyone except Big Brother, and they are not allowed to have their own thoughts or emotions. In North Korea, the residents are far from being treated like human beings. They are under constant surveillance, their thoughts and emotions are monitored and controlled (just like Oceania’s society), and they are not allowed to worship another leader other than Kim Jong Un. As a result of their controlled thoughts and emotions, and being under constant watch, North Koreans are deprived of their own freedom.
The proles are humans, but are not treated as respectable humans in Oceania. The proles are treated in ways that they are completely brainwashed to worship and love Big Brother, they are tortured, they have a very limited selection of language, and the fact that the people are under serious surveillance so the government makes sure they they don’t do anything against their leader. Vaporization is an example of how the residents of Oceania are treated. When Winston and others at his work discovered that their friend Syme had disappeared, they were concerned. “Syme had vanished. It was enough. Syme had ceased to exist; he had never existed” (147). This meant that Syme had been accused of doing activities that went against Big Brother, and his punishment was to be vaporized. It’s as if Syme had never existed in Oceania’s history at all. The similarities of vaporization between North Korea and dystopian Oceania prove that, “opponents are to be similarly marginalized and shunned, destroyed personally and professionally” (Krauthammer 1). Loss of existence from history is very similar to North Korea because recently, Kim Jong Un removed a defense minister from a movie all because he had fallen asleep during a meeting, resulting in him being executed and vaporized. Brainwashing is an example of how the people of Oceania are treated. Citizens are brainwashed past the point of a normal life. In Orwell’s 1984, “it appeared that there had even been demonstrations to thank Big Brother for raising the chocolate ration to 20 grams a week” (Orwell 58). The population of Oceania are brainwashed enough to believe that they think the chocolate ration is increasing, when in reality it’s decreasing. They are also brainwashed so badly that they are forced to believe that Big Brother exists when he does not. In North Korea, the nation was devastated when they found out about the death of Kim Jong Il. “Millions of North Koreans were engulfed in an indescribable sadness and convulsing with pain and despair at the news” (Hartenstein 1). The community of North Korea is brainwashed, just like the people in Oceania. North Koreans are forced to feel the same emotion their great leader is feeling. “…North Korea kidnapped their loved ones to steal their identities…or to be brainwashed and become spies themselves” (Jacinto 1). In Oceania, Winston is kidnapped by the thought police and Parsons’ children are spies. Children in families are forced to become spies to make sure their parents won’t go against Big Brother. Life in Oceania predicts the realistic outcome to the rest of the world. The citizens of North Korea live their lives with the North Korean Big Brother, while the citizens of Oceania live under the control of their Big Brother.
North Korea is very much like Oceania in ways that it could potentially spread to the rest of the nation. In Oceania, the food is very scarce and hard to access; in North Korea they face a widespread shortage of food and are always suffering from starvation and desperation. George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984 basically predicted the future. Many countries deal with what Oceania’s population had to face. Many countries still encounter starvation, no basic human rights, torture, and brainwashing. The reality has become clear that even today, people are still unfortunately living under the conditions of a harsh and tyrannical government.