“The Dictatorship of Joseph Stalin and Big Brother and the Effects” Brooke Gounaris Our Lady of Mercy Academy Honors Literature II Mr. Spalding 24 May 2024 Introduction George Orwell’s 1984 describes a dystopian society in which the government has total control over the function of society. In the novel, the government, led by figurehead Big Brother, extends extreme control over citizens through constant surveillance, manipulating history by altering records, and creating a new language eliminating rebellious terminology. However, this description, seemingly too malevolent to be realistic, may not be dissimilar from the existing world. Orwell drew inspiration for the novel from real-life events that he witnessed, such as the …show more content…
Historians argue that a large portion of the executed citizens were most likely not guilty, rather forced to confess during their trial because of the immense amount of torture they went through. The result of this movement was a society paralyzed by fear and bound by totalitarian control, where escaping was nearly impossible and Stalin's leadership remained unchallenged until he died in 1953. Big Brother and Joseph Stalin’s Totalitarian Control Both Big Brother from George Orwell’s 1984 and Joseph Stalin exhibit similarities in their use of dictatorship to achieve a society that they believe is “perfect.” The leaders both fostered an environment where their names and images were idolized and praised. This ensured that any political treason against them would not even be a thought. By gaslighting citizens into believing that their fear was love for their leader, Stalin and Big Brother developed a society where they were praised for any action they took. Stalin's leadership was characterized by extensive use of state propaganda to rewrite history and glorify his achievements, much like Big Brother, whose regime constantly altered historical records to suit the Party's ever-changing narrative and maintain the illusion of perpetual correctness and omnipotence. Altering the historical documents is a
George Orwell’s novel, 1984, is a dystopian literary text that illuminates the tenets of totalitarian and authoritarian governance in most areas where the leaders seek total loyalty and near hero worship. It was published in 1949, but has since remained relevant because its details promoted authoritarian political constructs and the political leadership concepts that evolved in the globe over time. Set at Oceania province in Airstrip One, formerly known as Great Britain, the book displays an omnipresent government that institutes constant state surveillance on the people that it suspects to be a threat to its regime and agitators of rebellion. It infringes on human rights
“We believe in ordinary acts of bravery in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another,” said a dauntless manifesto from the movie Divergent. I will be comparing dystopian characteristics present in 1984 by George Orwell to the movie Divergent based on the book by Veronica Roth to determine which subject most accurately represents Dystopia. A futuristic, imagined universe in which oppressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through control. Dystopias, though an exaggerated worst-case scenario, make a criticism about a current trend, societal norm, or political system.
Benito Mussolini once said, “We do not argue with those who disagree with us, we destroy them” (Benito). This quote from Mussolini perfectly illustrates his aggressive leadership style and fierce personality. George Orwell was clearly inspired by Benito Mussolini whose characteristics are evident in the character of Big Brother in Orwell’s brilliant novel 1984. Benito Mussolini and Big Brother are considered dictators who have sole control of their countries, Italy and Oceania. Mussolini runs his Italian National Fascist party and Big Brother runs his ‘Party’. Both dictators have some slight differences, but Mussolini and Big Brother have similarities in leadership style, propaganda use, and enforcement of order through secret police.
George Orwell’s key objective throughout his novel, 1984, was to convey to his readers the imminent threat of the severe danger that totalitarianism could mean for the world. Orwell takes great measures to display the horrifying effects that come along with complete and dominant control that actually comes along with totalitarian government. In Orwell’s novel, personal liberties and individual freedoms that are protected and granted to many Americans today, are taken away and ripped from the citizen’s lives. The government takes away freedom and rights from the people so that the ruling class (which makes up the government), while reign with complete supremacy and possess all power.
Communism, as Karl Marx puts it, is a world where everyone is equal, where there are no social class, where there are no private ownership, where work is used only to produce the necessities, the people are under a control in which allows them to be on the same level as everyone else. What Stalin wanted to do was create and fulfill the governmental system of Karl Marx and create and envision the utopia that Karl Marx was led to believe. Under Stalin’s rule we come to see that his vision of a utopia quickly warps into a dystopia.
For just over half a century, George Orwell’s 1984, lauded as one of the most monolithic examples of a dystopian novel, echoes its values to this day. Orwell’s tale of a totalitarian society gone too far continues to epitomize the meaning of a cautionary tale even now. The novel begins with Winston, a worker for the Outer Party in the Ministry of Truth. When Winston begins to doubt the Party after witnessing discrepancies in the Party’s story, he discovers more than he ever imagined. From the first few pages of 1984, Orwell creates a world filled with paradoxes, irony, and fills the world with a very austere tone.
In George Orwell’s 1984, the strategies used by Oceania’s Political Party to achieve total control over the population are similar to the ones employed by Joseph Stalin during his reign. Indeed, the tactics used by Oceania’s Party truly depicts the brutal totalitarian society of Stalin’s Russia. In making a connection between Stalin’s Russia and Big Brothers’ Oceania, each Political Party implements a psychological and physical manipulation over society by controlling the information and the language with the help of technology.
The novel 1984, written by George Orwell in 1949, details the life of a one Winston Smith and his constant, life long battle to defeat Big Brother. This dystopian vision of the future serves as a reminder to the reader that anything can happen, but it is up to humanity to shape what kind of future is wanted in the end. Although Orwell’s novel is rather convincing to the people of this time, it serves only as a warning to one of many outcomes that the world could face. This book was Orwell’s idea of how life could have ended up; had people not realized that there is always a way to change what we do not like in life. Through the author’s many literary techniques, he was able to weave in meaning and importance to simple everyday objects
In George Orwell’s dystopian novel, the government blocks almost all forms of self-expression in order to assert its authority over the people. Those within the society who show signs of defiance against the set rules, even those who act unwillingly, are seen as a threat to the success of the regime are wiped from existence. In Orwell’s 1984, the government uses different forms of propaganda and brainwashing to achieve complete control of society for their own personal benefit.
Ultimately, common ideas found in the novel 1984, totalitarianism, surveillance, and lack of privacy are also ubiquitous in modern society and government. 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.
When writing his novel 1984, George Orwell was conveying his disapproving thoughts about the actions of the fascist dictators that were attempting their rise to power during World War II. The dystopian society created in the novel was created as a warning to those who supported the dictators at the time, including Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini, and the negative effects that their power would bring. Although Orwell’s intentions were not to prophesy what the world would be like, society today is beginning to closely resemble that of 1984. The similarities between George Orwell’s novel 1984 and society today are becoming increasingly more significant because of an excess use of technology, a lack of privacy, and the extreme measures taken by the government.
These examples display the inevitable fact that all over the world subtle but significant events are taking place that appear to signify a shifting toward a totalitarian government, much like the one present in 1984. This is extremely disturbing because most people will agree that the life lived by the characters in 1984, is not one of any value. Though they are “protected” from several of the problems that many of the free world citizens and officials face, they have no control over their thoughts or actions. This leads to unbearable uniformity. It is chilling to know that though George Orwell’s book was written as fiction, portions of it are becoming factual.
Even though many of Orwell’s ideas in his novel 1984 seemed completely fictional, several of the concepts throughout his book have a common link to today’s society. For instance in the same way telescreens monitor people every second of their li...
Orwell was a Socialist and believed in the ability for a rebellion to change society, but unfortunately too often he witnessed such rebellions go wrong and develop into totalitarian rule. 1984 warns us against the idea of absolute powerthrough the analysis of the dangers of Big Brother and statist roots. 1984 remains an important work of literature because the ills of totalitarianism in all forms are still relevant in this day and age. Freedom and authoritarianism resonate with us those of us who live beyond the 20th century and those who lived around that time. In 1984, Orwell uses irony and paradox to show the difference between the novel’s major conundrums: Emmanuel Goldstein, who is the enemy of the state bt doesn’t pose any real
tragic and to show what it’s like to be part of the Cultural Revolution. For example, Ji-li tried out for the audition and succeeded, but her grandparents denied about this situation because they have seen the past. This shows the diversity between now and back then. Ji-li’s grandparents did this to make sure Ji-li doesn't want to end up as the people in the past. For their grandparents time period can be very stressful whenever the Cultural Revolution starts. Ji-li’s inspiration can be very thoughtful and curious to figure out what it likes to be going back to the Cultural Revolution. Ji-li’s grandparents has a big effect and plays a huge role on the Cultural Revolution