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dystopian texts essay
1984 and dystopian society
1984 and dystopian society
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1984 demonstrates a dystopian society in Oceania by presenting a relentless dictator, Big Brother, who uses his power to control the minds of his people and to ensure that his power never exhausts. Aspects of 1984 are evidently established in components of society in North Korea. With both of these society’s under a dictator’s rule, there are many similarities that are distinguished between the two. Orwell’s 1984 becomes parallel to the world of dystopia in North Korea by illustrating a nation that remains isolated under an almighty ruler. North Korea profoundly corresponds with Oceania by being a highly militarized nation. Although it has been decades since the Korean war, there has been an everlasting tension between North Korea and the nations surrounding it. Every minute of everyday the North Korean army remains armed on its border. Whether it is a South Korean or Chinese citizen trying to cross the border, they will be shot at. This highly militarized state of society was influenced by Kim Il Sung, the tenacious tyrant of North Korea from 1912 to 1994. Kim Il Sung was so paranoid about other nations intervening, that he used the conception of violence and war to prevent outsiders from entering, or even North Koreans from leaving. This strange sense of constant tension between North Korea and other nations reflects an important issue occurring in Oceania. The people of Oceania are to believe that Oceania is constantly at war with one of two nation’s, Eurasia and Eastasia. Big Brother uses the word war in the same calculating way to influence the minds of his people. “The very word ‘war,’ therefore, has become misleading... A peace that was truly permanent would be the same as a permanent war. This... is the inner ... ... middle of paper ... ... Magill’s Survey Of World Literature, Revised Edition (2009): 1-2. Literary Refrence Center. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. Horvitz, Leslie Alan, and Christopher Catherwood. “human rights violations in North Korea.” Encyclopedia of War Crimes and Genocide. New York: Facts On File., 2006. Modern World History Online. Facts On File, Inc. 13 Apr. 2014. Orwell, George. 1984. New York: Penguin, 1950. Peterson, Mark, and Phillip Margulies. “North Korea, 1945-2009.” A Brief History of Korea, Brief History. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2010. Modern World History Online. Facts On File, Inc. 13 Apr. 2014. Varricchio, Mario. “Power of Images/Images of Power in Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty- Four.” Utopian Studies 10.1 (Winter 1999): 98-114. Rpt. in Children’s Literature Review. Ed. Dana Ferguson. Vol. 151. Detriot: Gale, 2010. Literature Resource Center. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.
Blaine Harden, former national correspondent and writer for the New York Times, delivers an agonizing and heartbreaking story of one man’s extremely conflicted life in a labor camp and an endeavor of escaping this place he grew up in. This man’s name is Shin Dong-hyuk. Together, Blaine Harden and Shin Dong-hyuk tell us the story of this man’s imprisonment and escape into South Korea and eventually, the United States, from North Korea. This biography that takes place from 1982-2011, reports to its readers on what is really going on in “one of the world’s darkest nations” (back cover of the book), that is run under a communist state and totalitarian dictatorship that was lead by Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, and currently lead by Kim-Jong un. In Escape from Camp 14, Shin shows us the adaptation of his life and how one man can truly evolve from an animal, into a real human being.
In a documentary video “Inside undercover in North Korea” by Lisa Ling, the leader of North Korea, which was a dictatorship, was treated like a god. Even though they are isolated by everyone outside of the country, they believe that their leader is their savior and that without the leader with them they can't survive. When they are born they are trained to love their leader without any judgments or any concerns about it. That way North Korea are easily influenced to do what the leaders says to. Just like in the story “Harrison Bergeron”, the society is controlled by the Constitution and also by the United States Handicapper General. They believe that everyone should be equal and nobody should have any higher quality. These societies are a utopian society. These two societies are holding ideas of a perfect
Salter, Christopher L., and Charles F. Gritzner. "Introducing North Korea,." North Korea. 2nd ed. New York: Chelsea House, 2007. . Print.
In addition, the leader’s death was around two decades ago, yet there are over 500 statues of him (Bristow). It is remarkable that North Korea’s life and culture are different from South Korea’s. Bristow writes about these cultural differences between the isolated North and allows the reader to compare and contrast with the developed South. It is true that status symbolizes respect and honor for their past leaders, but North Korea’s massive erection of statues – coupled with the belief that the leader is still alive today – is an uncommon idea that is rooted in an isolated and repressive country. In terms of religion, North Koreans believe in Buddhism and Confucianism, whereas South Koreans believe in Buddhism and Christianity. The differences show that both of these countries stand on the opposite sides of the religious pole. North Korea favors a religion that is widely held by the Chinese, while South Korea embodies a religion that is expressed by the West. Confucianism, at its most basic principles, includes a leader ruling over its people, whereas Christianity pushes for individuals in a society to make important decisions. While
In my opinion North Korea's government is currently the most similar compared to the government displayed in Orwell's novel. Just like Oceania, North Korea is run under a dictatorship that's cult like. Just like Big Brother in 1984, Kim Jung-un censors most information from his citizens, he punishes people for criticising his government, and he constantly advertises propaganda about war and how North Korea's the best country. The citizens of North Korea have no choice but to believe the information their leaders telling them. The Big Brother of North Korea (Kim Jung-un) is the ultimate decider of whats real and fake in his country. It's like he's erasing apart of history by keeping so much information from his people and the outside world.
In the book 1984, George Orwell demonstrates that a society can turn into a totalitarian regime if a Dictator such as Kim Jong Un takes over the nation by manipulating the military, media and government. In 1984 Big brother leads the government to control the past and the future through the manipulation of the present. “Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past” (Orwell, 37) this is exemplified through the manipulation of social values and beliefs through the revision of history. Big brother controls society, the party eliminates the teaching of the past; the party re-writes history to help them control the future. Some may argue that there is still hope and there are people out there who have the thoughts of freedom to change the nation to a better place.
Adam Johnson’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Orphan Master's Son, depicts the tumultuous government of North Korea. Jun Do, the protagonist of the story, experiences multiple fatalities through life such as the struggle of finding his true identity. Although, the novel does not fully represent what goes on within the country's borders. Even so, Johnson has his readers immersed in the topic of North Korean lifestyle and government. The Orphan Master’s Son provides its readers with a only light depiction of Jun Do’s life in present North Korea. Johnson’s description of North Korea is just a small section of what we cannot see due to minimal exposure and censorship of the country's actions, yet it does give some intel on the encounters experienced
Fahrenheit 451 can be connected to history on many occasions. The most evident parallel is the direct comparison of the controlling government and the dictating government of, North Korea. In this novel, books are totally illegal, no exceptions. People that are caught with books have no choice but to let their house be burned and spend time in prison. Books are illegal for the simple fact that the government wants their people to stay uneducated. This way, the people are ignorant and happy and there are no reasons for them to rebel or start riots. This same method is used by the supreme leaders of North Korea. These dictators don’t give their people the leisure of reading anything they want; instead, citizens of North Korea can only read books that their former leader, Kim Jong Un wrote. This prohibits North Koreans from becoming curious about the world outside of their tiny cities.
The corruption is modeled after the very real corruption in North Korea and is used as a lens to examine the country’s governing style and its effect on the North Korean people. The oppression of these people is a direct result of the ghost of the original leader of North Korea, Kim Il-sung, manifesting as a personality cult that brainwashes many powerful people, in the same way the First King brainwashes and controls the Central Military Police, leading to the oppression of the common
North Korean society is just like a dystopian society, when you hear the word dystopia you would think of a society where the government controls its citizens, a society where there is no freedom, no independence, and no personal thought, where the citizens are not to question the government.
In the book, society is under strict rules to keep them conforming. Clarisse, while talking to Montag, states, “If you showed a driver a green blur, Oh yes! he’d say, that’s grass! A pink blur! That’s a rose garden!...My uncle drove slowly on a highway once. He drove forty miles an hour and they jailed him for two days” (Bradbury 9). The government of this society did not allow their people to drive slowly on the highway in order to keep them from finding out what grass, roses, and other things actually look like. Keeping knowledge of certain things from people is what allowed this society to function the way it did. In present society, North Korea has similar regulations. North Koreans are tracked by authorities that “seek to catch and punish, persons using Chinese mobile phones to make unauthorized calls to people outside North Korea” (Human Rights Watch). Strict rules do not allow Koreans to talk to outside populations. Kim Jong Un wants to make sure his people are fully under his control and he does this by having strict laws and regulations over them. Koreans are also “systematically denied freedom of association and the right to organize and collectively bargain. The only authorized trade union organization, the General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea, is controlled by the government” (Human Rights Watch). The government of North Korea has complete control over everything and has denied
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.
The North Korean government is known as authoritarian socialist; one-man dictatorship. North Korea could be considered a start of a dystopia. Dystopia is a community or society where people are unhappy and usually not treated fairly. This relates how Ray Bradbury's 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451 shows the readers how a lost of connections with people and think for themselves can lead to a corrupt and violent society known as a dystopia.
North and South Korea were not very different politically or culturally from one another before mid 1940’s (White, Bradshaw, Dymond, Chacko, Scheidt, 2014, p. 125). However, North Korea started the Korean War when they invaded South Korea in 1950. These two countries, which were once the same, are vastly different in the areas of politics and culture The Koreas’ continue to disagree and not be at peace with each other since the Korean War despite small steps toward progress over the
John F. Kennedy once noted: “Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind.” Rising tensions between two opposing forces can lead to intense conflict. Provided that China and Japan have struggles of their own, North and South Korea have had struggles since 1950 (“Korean War”, 1) and continue to hold their conflicts, which seem to be increasing. South Korea, a democratic nation, is the exact opposite of North Korea; a hyper-nationalist nation - seemingly creating a “personality clash” between the two. Much like World War I, there may be, sometime in the future, a full blown war because of North Korea’s hyper-nationalist secretive rule. North Korea’s isolation, internal struggles, and Kim Jong-un’s intention of proving leadership will increase tensions between North and South Korea and may result in an outbreak of war in the near future.