In the current political state of the United States of America, signs of totalitarianism are making a comeback in the political spectrum again. For example, the government is taking liberties and justifying its stripping of rights from people. People of different cultural and ethnic backgrounds are being demeaned for whom they are. And most importantly, the government that is supposed to be protecting its citizens, is withholding the truth from them. One of the newest coined phrases of this year, “Alternative Facts,” has made many people weary of the government’s truthful intentions. This case is similar to events in author George Orwell’s lifetime, which caused him to pen his novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four. He had similar thoughts towards a totalitarian-style …show more content…
Moreover, negative aspects of totalitarianism can be seen through the encouragement of hatred throughout the people. The most iconic symbol of hatred that the people demonstrate throughout this novel is the two minutes of hate. The entire process of it, shows just how much control the party has over the people. Winston details of that, “[t]he horrible thing about the two minutes of hate was not that one was obliged to act apart, but that it was impossible to avoid joining in … At those moments, [Winston’s] secret loathing of Big Brother changed into adoration” (Orwell 14-15). This in total shows how the people under the government 's control can unconsciously turn into puppets of hate for the rulers to use. People under the rule of totalitarian regimes are subject to becoming submissive to the government to the point that the government has extreme power over the all of the people (Zwerdling 75). This is true when Winston even finds himself joining in on the hate that the reader knows he does not condone. Therefore, further emphasizing in a reliable yet over dramatic view of totalitarianism’s negative attributes. In addition to the two minutes of hate, the people 's unknown hatred for both Eurasia and Eastasia further emphasizes the gripping control totalitarianism has on the people. The government has people assume false pretenses about the people of Eurasia and Eastasia, solely because of their eternal feud. It is shown that, “some Eurasian prisoners, guilty of war crimes, were to be hanged in the park that evening … this happened about once a month and was a popular spectacle” (Orwell 23). The people who are shouting about the prisoners coming from these civilizations are being told to hate. They have no preface as to why they hate them, but rather that it is what they have always known. In addition to the hate for both Eurasia and Eastasia, the people of Oceania also have an overwhelming amount of hatred for the people that are known enemies of Big Brother.
1984 Passage Analysis FRQ 2 The Two Minute Hate is an event planned by the Inner Party that stirs up a sense of patriotism and loathing against the common enemy for the people of Oceania. Winston, a member of the outer party, attends this event as a part of his daily routine. In the excerpt, George Orwell creates a violent, vivid imagery, and presents a descriptive comparison in order to achieve an atmosphere of madness and savagery through the narration of Winston. Orwell begins by presenting the sights that Winston sees during the event which illustrates the intense reactions of the people.
Throughout the novel, Winston constantly references the fact that ‘Today there were fear, hatred and pain’ and that in this society of Ingsoc ‘No emotion was pure, because everything was mixed up with fear and hatred’ and this is displayed in many, various ways. An example of this is when Winston writes about when he went to see a film stating that the ‘Audience were much amused by shots of a great huge fat man trying to swim away with a helicopter after him’ and that ‘there was a wonderful shot of a child’s arm going up up up right up into the air…and there was a lot of applause from the party seats’. This displays the extent to which
O’Brien’s use of starvation, the electric chair, and mental bullying serves as a crucial motivator for intelligent, problem causing citizens such as Winston to confess and repent willingly eventually. Finally, the use of cruelty by Big Brother reveals the inner and destructive conscience of the party in order to ensure that society is orderly and continually worshipping Big Brother. The suffering and eventual destruction of citizens such as Winston reveals that a free-thinking society is still intact, however, any government’s use of torture could and did destroy the will of a majority of those that were so horribly imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps across Europe. Therefore, the cruelty used throughout the novel “1984” functions in the work as an effective scare tactic that is able to exterminate an entire society while simultaneously creating a new master race that is intellectually void and completely subservient to Big
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.
Throughout history governments have evolved in their laws and ruling tactics. It has also changed the way literature has been portrayed to the readers. This essay is based on Totalitarian government. Totalitarianism is a form of government that whereabouts the fact that the ruler and government is an absolute control over the state. Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Benito Mussolini are some of the dictators that had total control over the people and state.
During a daily exercise known as the Two Minutes Hate, all Party members view a video usually featuring a speech denouncing the Party’s ideals and advocating for freedom and democracy. Even though Winston secretly supports these principles, he feels compelled to and even cannot avoid joining the frenzy of the Hate, entering a blind but abstract rage. He mentions that, “And yet that rage that one felt was an abstract, undirected emotion which could be switched from one object to another like the flame of a blowlamp. Thus, at one moment Winston’s hatred was not not turned against Goldstein at all, but, on the contrary, against Big Brother, the Party, and the Thought Police….(Orwell 14). This is how Winston’s fear differs from that of other people’s.
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.
Throughout the book the slogans of “war is peace, freedom is slavery, [and] ignorance is strength” is a forced acceptance by all citizens (Orwell 16). These particular slogans, that exemplify doublethink, are plastered everywhere. The illogicalness of doublethink completely surrounds the citizens, constantly exposing them to it. The second characteristic of monopoly over mass media is quite evident in Winston 's life. Government employees run the internet, newspapers, and radio/tv announcements.
The idea of freedom in 1984 In modern politics, we are very accustomed to word such as “fake news.” Politicians use statistics and make statements that are not based in any facts, present them as hard evidence for their stances, and watch as people instantly believe what they say, simply because they are in a position of power. That is why George Orwell’s novel, 1984, is more relevant today than it ever has been before. In the past, people have viewed this novel as simply a story, a different look at how history could have been changed.
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.
For example, President Donald Trump coined the term “alternative facts” to news networks reporting negatively on him. Consequently, some people have come to believe doublethink, not knowing the difference between truth and lies just as in 1984. Additionally, the totalitarian society compromises history books and newspapers to fabricate information. "Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past” (18). Big Brother changes history to control the present and future.
Throughout 1984, Winston is forced to confront a society which rejects the central tenets of humanity and independent thought, and which presides over society through the dissemination of propaganda. Orwell’s novel explores the dangers of totalitarian government and absolute control and is a prophetic tale of power and control that must be heeded in modern times. Totalitarianism is employed to grant absolute power to the Party and ensure the deference of the
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.
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.
In George Orwell’s novel 1984, A theme of violation of human rights is thoroughly present, from violation of privacy, violation of the freedom of speech and religion, and the loss of humanity in general from the ever present form of Big Brother. As the villain of the novel, Big Brother- who represents the government -has absolute control over the citizens’ lives. While 1984 effectively conveys the dangers of a totalitarian government, Orwell’s predicted society is not present in today’s world. Comparatively speaking, the United States of America has more rights and freedoms than Orwell’s Oceania, but in some cases the rights of the citizens must be violated for safety reasons and other justifiable causes. Orwell’s novel 1984 paints a picture