1984 Totalitarianism

This is a literary analysis on the novel 1984 by George Orwell. 1984 is a more recent classic dystopian novel. Written in 1949, it's based in the future year of what is presumed to be 1984. It focuses on the life of Winston Smith, a member of the newly established Party that rules over a territory called Oceania and that is led by a man called Big Brother. This novel provides a rather frightening insight into a dystopian socialist environment. Although it is based in 1984, the social commentary it provides is most definitely applicable in this day and age. This novel analysis will touch briefly upon a few different subjects, such as symbolism and style, and the theme of the novel.

Living through the first half of the twentieth century, George Orwell watched the rise of totalitarian regimes in Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Soviet Union. Fighting in Spain, he witnessed the brutalities of the fascists and Stalinists first hand. His experiences awakened him to the evils of a totalitarian government. In his novel 1984, Orwell paints a dark and pessimistic vision of the future where society is completely controlled by a totalitarian government. He uses symbolism and the character’s developments to show the nature of total power in a government and the extremes it will go through to retain that power by repressing individual freedom and the truth.

George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four depicts a dystopian totalitarian society and explores the interlinking concepts of time, memory and history through the examination of the ability to manipulate by censoring information and via propaganda. It also examines the power of memory and history in influencing and controlling people’s lives. This essay will explore these themes through the disillusioned protagonist Winston and his life under dictator rule. In the novel the Party controls every aspect of their citizen’s lives. They tell them what to think, how to behave and who to love all through the help of the Ministries of Truth, Peace and Love. The Party manipulate history and alter the truth so much so that Winston loses track of time and is unable to accurately recall past events or rationalize his own history. This constant manipulation also results in a loss of faith in his own memory and the unreliability of his own thoughts. Eventually culminating in Winston becoming brainwashed and wholly devoted to the Party.

George Orwell’s classic 1984 written in the year 1949 tells the story of a dystopian society under a totalitarian regime. The novel is set in Airstrip One, formerly known as Great Britain, which is a province of the super-state called Oceania. The throne of power is epitomized by Big Brother, the quasi-divine cult leader who is at the same time infallible as well as invisible. Orwell in 1984 depicts a dystopia which is riddled by perpetual wars, omnipresent government surveillance, manipulation and historical revisionism.

A way that they used lies is when O’Brien and Mr.Charrington betrayed Winston and Julia. "Shortly after waking up from a long nap, Winston and Julia hear a voice from a hidden telescreen which suddenly commands them to stand in the middle of the room. Mr. Charrington enters with a crew of stormtroopers who beat Winston and Julia, then hurry them separately away" (Orwell 235-236). This is the first act of betrayal that is shown in the novel 1984. Another way that the party used lying as a way to control the citizens is by the ministry of truth. This is the Ministry that Winston works at, and his job is to correct and edit documents. "This process of continuous alteration was applied not only to newspapers but to books, periodicals, pamphlets, posters, leaflets, films, soundtracks, cartoons, photographs to every kind of literature or documentation which might conceivably hold any political or ideological significance" (Orwell 40). This passage refers to the process of changing the past, which is Winston's job. By controlling the past, the Party is able to manipulate the minds of the citizens. This is an example of how the party lies to the people. Hitler did the same thing during the

George Orwell’s 1984 is a precautionary tale of what happens when the government has too much control in our lives. The protagonist, Winston Smith, is at odds in a world in which he is not allowed to counter the government’s surveillance and control. Perhaps more striking is the noticeable relationship between the novel and modern society. In George Orwell’s novel 1984 the book predicts the surveillance of Big Brother in modern day societies.

George Orwell 's novel “1984” describes a dystopian future set 38 years from its time of writing (1946). Orwell created his vision of the future not by inventing a new world, but by showing already existing conditions. The novel’s protagonist, Winston Smith, struggles to live in the mega-nation Oceania, one of three superstates into which the world has become divided. Oceania is governed by “The Party”, represented by the tyrant Big Brother, whose image appears everywhere along with the warning “Big Brother is Watching You Winston must suppress his feelings and thoughts about the corrupt governing system, because

The novel 1984 by George Orwell reveals the destruction of all aspects of the universe. Orwell envisioned how he believes life would be like if a country were taken over by a totalitarian figure. Nineteen eighty-four effectively portrays a totalitarian style government, in which elected representatives maintain the integrity of a nation with very little citizen participation in the decision-making process of the legislative body. Although the authors ideas are inherently and completely fictional, several concepts throughout his book have common links to today’s society which is somehow a realist perspective. Orwell integrates devices such as irony, satire, and motifs to illustrate the life unfulfilling life of Winston Smith.

Being able to believe two paradoxical statements at one time sounds impossible but it is more common than believed. It is called doublethink, which is the ability to hold two contradictory beliefs on a topic and wholeheartedly believing them both at the same time. This term was coined by George Orwell and it becomes the main tool for control over the citizens of Oceania in his novel 1984. Orwell created a totalitarian future in hopes it would serve as a warning to preceding generations as to how the government can metamorphose into having complete power over a population to the point where they even control the thought process of the human mind. Through government

In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, the main theme is of conformity to the wants of society and the government. Themes of dehumanization of our species, as well as the danger of a totalitaristic state are repeatedly expressed. Orwell demonstrates this theme by using setting and characters in the novel. The setting helps to convey the theme because of the world and kind of city that the main character lives in. Winston’s every move is watched and controlled by the governmental figurehead known as “big brother”. The characters in the story are used to show the theme in the sense that most are essentially brainwashed by, and therefore loyal to and under control of, the overbearing government. The main conflict of the story is between the main

Many a literary critic claims that the strongest aspect of the book 1984 by George Orwell is its plot. Indeed, there is some merit in this conclusion, as the entire purpose of Orwell’s writing of this book was not to create a literary classic, but to warn the public about the dangers of communism if it got out of hand, and what better way to do this than to write an engaging plot? Others may claim that 1984’s greatest strength is in its character development. This aspect, too, is quite strong in the book, as not only are the minor characters effected in serving the dystopian theme, but the major characters are believable and very human in their failings. Winston’s transformation from an oppressed office worker to revolutionary and finally to

In 1949, a man predicted the domination of citizens by the totalitarian government and their custom of technologies to dictate the society. His name is George Orwell, a well-known British author, who wrote one of the most famous dystopian novels, 1984. The novel 1984 illustrates the totalitarian society and the life of Winston Smith, who works at the Ministry of truth and his humiliation by the party of the country, Oceania. George Orwell’s exaggeration and mockery of the totalitarian governments in the novel 1984 is now turning out to be one of the nightmare come true in our modern society.

George Orwell, through his novel, "1984" warns the readers of a country or a state of such a society where totalitarianism takes up. The progressing technology and the production of influential intellectuals and thinkers are positive aspects of a society but when the use of such produces are made in a wrong way then the world can become a horrible place. The emphasis is brought on by Winston being shot in the end and Big Brother continuing to rule Oceania in the same way. Where truth does not

The book 1984 describes a totalitarian society where citizens are forced to renounce all liberties for the sake of social order. They are guided by the rule of a single figurehead called Big Brother, whom the they are manipulated to entrust their lives to. This figurehead exercises his powers of governing every aspect of the people 's lives by observing and manipulating the populace. Big Brother also divides his subjects into classes as a means to keep the populace oppressed. Throughout this literary narrative the main character, Winston Smith, struggles to survive in this society as he struggles to fit the conventional mold that is preached. The economic and social class structure in 1984 reflects our own society through the similarities in

George Orwell’s 1984 has resonated with many who have experienced first-hand what life is like under a dictator. The novel describes how everything is controlled and monitored by the government and how even mere thoughts can be detected by ThoughtPolice. Readers get to experience Oceania’s system of ruling through the eyes of an Outer Party member, Winston Smith. At first, Winston is adamant to destroy The Party and its figurative leader Big Brother, but eventually is captured and converted into a lover of Oceania’s system of government. Children, although not playing a significant role in this book, are mentioned as devious little spies. They have the power to send even their own parents to the Ministry of Love to be tortured and converted back to orthodoxy. In 1984, George Orwell is effective in persuading younger generations of their power through the use of scare tactics, pathos, and ethos.