Joseph Stalin, born Josef Vissarionovich Djugashvili, was a totalitarian ruler of the Soviet Union from the 1920’s until his death in 1953. Stalin started his rise to power as General Secretary of the Communist Party. After the death of dictator Vladimir Lenin, he became the Soviet dictator. Stalin’s reign of terror, lasting over two decades, included thorough surveillance brainwashing of his countrymen which resulted in the deaths of millions of people. Just as Stalin left his mark as a totalitarian menace, so did Big Brother in George Orwell’s dystopian world of Oceania in his novel 1984. Stalin and Big Brother instilled fear upon their conglomerates by means of surveillance, propaganda, media control, sovereignty, and murder in order to remain in complete control of their countries. The two dictators had one focal, barbaric idea in common: the ability to access and control …show more content…
They were firm believers in the idea that “WAR IS PEACE FREEDOM IS SLAVERY IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH” (1.1.6).
Stalin and Big Brother both belong to two separate but very similar parties. The aims of both parties mirror each other in many ways: “The two aims of the Party are to conquer the whole surface of the earth and to extinguish once and for all the possibility of independent thought”(CITE). Stalin and Big Brother both focused their attention on complete and utter control of their own people. Just as Stalin uses ample resources to find a way to access and destroy independant thought, so does Big Brother by creating the thought police, spies, etc. The constant war against independent thought in the novel 1984 corresponds to the actions of USSR led by Stalin in the mid 1900’s. Joseph Stalin was a firm believer in communism that is a system in which “all
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.
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.
Big Brother - Big Brother is the enigmatic dictator of Oceania. In the society that Orwell describes, everyone is under complete surveillance by the authorities. The people are constantly reminded of this by the phrase "Big Brother is watching you", which is the core "truth" of the propaganda system in this state. In the novel, it is unclear if Big Brother is a man or an image crafted by the Party. In a book supposedly written by the rebel Emmanuel Goldstein, it is stated that nobody has ever seen Big Brother. His function is to act as a focusing point for love, fear, and reverence.
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
Following from the hierarchal system of 1984, Orwell also included ideologies of complete control. He created one dictator, Big Brother and a wide...
George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984 follows the psychological journey of main character Winston. Winston lives in a utopian society called Oceania. There, the citizens are constantly monitored by their government coined “Big Brother” or “The Party”. In Oceania, there is no form of individuality or privacy. Citizens are also coerced to believe everything and anything the government tells them, even if it contradicts reality and memory. The goal of Big Brother is to destroy individual loyalties and make its citizenry only loyal to the government. In Orwell's novel 1984, he uses Winston's psychological journey to stress the dangers of individuality in a totalitarian regime because it can result in death. Winston’s overwhelming desire to rebel
The idea behind Communism is simple, to share all of the resources gained by the working class amongst the working class. The concept is exemplar in terms of fairness, but is notably difficult to establish without some backwater form of corruption, as with Stalin and the Soviet Union. It has become the most difficult task presented to possible Communist states. In George Orwell’s 1984 it is painfully obvious to both Winston and the reader that the classes and social aspects of Big Brother have been completely twisted and corrupted to the core.
...ailed as a system of government. Perhaps in Orwell's socialist commentary he failed to take notice of the trends being embraced by capitalism. Behavioral psychology states that reward is a far greater incentive than punishment is a deterrent. In society today thought control is much more pleasant, subtle, and diverse than it was in Orwell's vision.The media, television, the internet, computer games, and movies serve to indoctrinate us into the norms of society in a way which is much more complex than Big Brother's propaganda. We are depoliticized, kept away from the real issues by superficial diversions, much like the proles. Big Brother may not exist, but his name is everywhere. Perhaps Aldus Huxley's Brave New World would have better served as a predictor of modern society's fall. Orwell predicted that the truth would be concealed and that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley thought that the truth would be drowned in irrelevance and that what we love will ruin us. Orwell's political commentary and philosophical issues are still relevant, but we live in a world far more complex than he could have ever predicted. Big Brother isn't watching. He doesn't need to. We're watching him.
The book, 1984 by George Orwell, is about the external conflict between Winston Smith and Big Brother; and the internal conflict between the two ideas, democracy and totalitarianism. Orwell wrote the novel to show society what it could become if things kept getting worse: he sensed of the expansion of communism when he wrote the novel. The conflict between democracy and totalitarianism at the year of 1945 created two characters, Winston Smith and Big Brother, in orwell's mind. Big Brother is the embodiment of all the ideals of the totalitarian party. In contrast to Big Brother, Winston Smith keeps the idea of democracy emphasizes freedom, he has to hide his own thought because the Big Brother's party will punish him by death if the party finds it out. George orwell criticizes of Big Brother's society by describing it as a dark and a gloomy place. It warns that people might believe that everyone must become slaves to the government in order to have an orderly society, but at the expense of the freedom of the people.
Stalin’s prestigious strategies to gain power were so famous that Orwell created Big Brother, the leader of the Oceania in the novel 1984, to mirror the strategies and dominance Stalin represented. Leaders of nations will go to whatever extent they need to, to gain power and control of their people.
In 1984, George Orwell presents an overly controlled society that is run by Big Brother. The protagonist, Winston, attempts to “stay human” in the face of a dehumanizing, totalitarian regime. Big Brother possesses so much control over these people that even the most natural thoughts such as love and sex are considered taboo and are punishable. Big Brother has taken this society and turned each individual against one another. Parents distrust their own offspring, husband and wife turn on one another, and some people turn on their own selves entirely. The people of Oceania become brainwashed by Big Brother. Punishment for any uprising rebellions is punishable harshly.
George Orwell’s haunting dystopian novel 1984 delves into the closely monitored lives of the citizens of Oceania as the Party tries to take control of society. In totalitarianism, propaganda and terrorism are ways of subjugation with a main goal: total obedience. He aimed to create a “what if” novel, what would happen if totalitarian regimes, such as the Nazis and Soviets, were to take over the world. If totalitarianism were to happen, the leader would be the brain of the whole system. Orwell emphasizes the theme of individualism versus collective identity through Winston, the protagonist, and his defiance to the Party and Big Brother, with a frightening tone, surreal imagery and a third person limited point of view.
“That is what has brought you here. You would not make the act of submission which is the price of sanity. You preferred to be a lunatic, a minority of one. Only the disciplined mind can see reality, Winston. […] Reality is not external. Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Not in the individual mind, which can make mistakes, and in any case soon perishes: only in the mind of the Party, which is collective and immortal. Whatever the Party holds to be the truth, is truth. It is impossible to see reality except by looking through the eyes of the Party.” This is how O’Brien, a high-ranking official of the world of Nineteen Eighty-Four, describes the worldview forced into the minds of its citizens. Demonstrated by Winston Smith’s nonconformist thinking, his unorthodox actions, and the deconstruction of his individuality, it is this world of O’Brien’s with which the concept of the individual is incompatible.
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.
... Therefore, Big Brother’s regime and Stalin’s regime are similar. In each scenario, each party implements a psychological and physical manipulation of society through the control of information and language with the help of technology. George Orwell’s 1984 psychologically and physically manipulate society through the control of language and information. The Party controls all the activities and all the information reaching the people.