Totalitarianism at the Expense of Human Nature

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Recommended: George Orwell 1984 political satire

Total governmental control is what countries have been seeking since the beginning of civilization. With the complete control over governmental affairs a totalitarian government can function to an exemplary degree of efficiency. The people are left out of the decisions and they are not to be worried about worldly affairs because the government makes all the decisions and gets objectives completed quickly and without hesitation. In George Orwell’s “1984” the dangers of a corrupted totalitarian government are illustrated through the plot of Winston Smith, the main character whom decides to challenge The Party’s power and authority after he commits a thoughtcrime. Also when Orwell published his novel he released this statement to protect his intentions, “My recent novel is NOT intended as an attack on Socialism or the British Labour Party (of which I am a supporter) but as a show-up of the perversions to which a centralized economy is liable and which have already been partly realized in Communism and Fascism” (Bloom 44). As Orwell states, he is not attacking any forms of government or countries that seem similar, he is simply alerting us to the dangers of a totalitarian government and the effects it can have on society. George Orwell uses contradictions throughout his novel and these contradictions seem to be the very backbone of The Party. The totalitarian government in the novel, otherwise known as The Party, achieves the goal of absolute power of their kingdom at the expense of the attributes that set human beings apart from animals. The Party achieves this goal through the destruction of history, language, and intimacy. The manipulation of history allows The Party complete control over the past, which the government uses to d... ... middle of paper ... ...ndoubtedly prevails as the only means of dominance over the human population. Works Cited Bloom, Harold. Bloom’s Guides: George Orwell’s 1984. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2004. Print. Deery, June. “George Orwell. Nineteen Eighty-Four.” Utopian Studies. Winter 2005. Literature Resource Center. 27 Oct. 2009. Web. Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four, A Novel. New York: Harcourt, Blake & Co., 1949. Print. Place, Troy. “Orwell’s ‘1984.’ (George Orwell)(Critical Essay).” The Explicator. Winter 2003. Literature Resource Center. 27 Oct. 2009. Web. Varricchio, Mario. “Power of Images/Images of Power in Brand New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four.” Utopian Studies. Winter 1999. Literature Resource Center. 27 Oct. 2009. Web. Whittall, Gertrude Clarke. George Orwell & Nineteen Eighty-Four. Washington: Library of Congress, 1985. Print.

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