The Means of Having Power

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Recommended: Power and corruption

“The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse”. This quotation stated by Edmund Burke demonstrates that the more capable a person or a group is to having the authority over something, corruption or misdeed is more likely to happen. Looking at George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four and Florian Henckel von Donnersmack’s Film The Lives of Others, both portrays a society wherein people are completely being watched and controlled by the government in charge of them. Both manifests the predominance the both parties have reflecting to the quote stated by Edmund and have full control. This then makes them more of a stronger government resulting to abuse their power at the same time. The two parties make similar choices on the way their system works however, the Party in Nineteen Eighty Four ends up to be too extreme than the other causing to be the worse yet a stronger party. This is shown through their abuse of power through surveillance, the way they hide history or facts from everyone and their sympathy with their citizens. Power is the most significant thing a government should have in order to control everyone. One way to control the citizens completely is through the use of surveillance. Winston, the main character of the novel, has a telescreen present in his home that would watch his every move: “Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it...he could be seen as well as heard” (pg. 3). The party in Nineteen Eighty Four has telescreens everywhere that could literally track every movement that a person makes wherever he or she goes and it is made for everyone. Similarly, there is also a surveillance system in The Lives of others however, it is not as stern as the one in Nine... ... middle of paper ... ... way they hide history or facts from everyone and their sympathy with their citizens. Power is an important thing especially in a world where people needs someone or a group to govern them. However, too much power leads to abuse wherein citizens start to become scared of the government that rules them. On the other hand, if a government is too much lenient, then there is a possibility of losing their power and would easily fall apart. Given these points, a better leadership would be an equal distribution of power between society and the government. Works Cited Orwell, George: 1984. United States: New American Library, 1961. Print "NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR." Nineteen Eighty-Four, by George Orwell. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2014. "Watch The Lives of Others Online." Free Putlocker. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2014. "The Lives of Others." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2014.

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