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What is a totalitarian government essay
What is a totalitarian government essay
What is a totalitarian government essay
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Comparing Oceania in 1984 and the USA
This paper will discuss the similarities and differences between the Oceanic society of Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four and the society of the United States. First I will talk about the similarities and then I will finish off with the differences, all of which will be based on factual information that I have gathered both, from the book and the mainstream media. Then I will finish by coming to a conclusion to an opinion I have and whether the government systems are more similar or different.
In order to do so, I had to ask myself some important questions like: Is the telescreen in the book the same as the cameras at work watching us or the satellites the government has in space that can see you move about in your home or record your vehicles license plates? Is this just a mere coincidence or is the story a true telling of what has and is to come in the future? There are things in the book that will not be exactly as something that we have in our country today though it might serve the same purpose and they will be defined through logic and simple explanations. The three most obvious similarities that I will talk about are the classes differences, the slogan ?War is Piece? and the fact that even though with different intensity, both governments have their hands and control in every aspect of society?s life. The three differences that I will write about are the legal systems of the societies, the privacy people have or don?t have and love and emotions between people.
The first similarity I would like to discuss is the different classes of people. In the Oceanic society Orwell explained that there were three classes of citizens: the Inner Party members like O?Brien, who had all the power, the Outer Party members like Winston and Julia, who worked for the government in one of the four Ministries and the ?proles? the so-called lower class people who did not actually qualify to belong to the Inner or Outer Party. These people were put on the same level with animals. The similarities that I see in our society are that we also have three different classes of people. We have the Upper Class which are Senators and Generals who can basically do as they please and get what they want, then we have the Middle Class which are people who work for other people or for the government, people who have to work hard to reach near the ...
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...e government does not interfere in sex and eroticism between two consenting adults. They also do not interfere in marriage of an adult male and female. Although the United States government refuses to recognize same sex marriages, they do not charge a couple that have a marriage with a partner of the same sex. The United States also promotes families supporting each other and does not get involved in family matters. The United States government would only get involved in these matters if there were crimes committed, such as sex with minors, domestic violence against your husband or wife, marrying more then one partner, or cases of fraud.
In conclusion I want to say that there are many more similarities and differences between the two societies. In general I think that our society today does not really resembles the society of Oceania, even though in my opinion I believe that they may someday be equal in techniques and policies. The government and its duty changes every day and I think that they are taking more and more control over people?s lives. This is why we should be careful and take part in the development of our great nation no matter how small the contribution may be.
Two of the most iconic dystopian novels are 1984 by George Orwell and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. These novels expanded the genre significantly and while having different details about Dystopian life, share remarkable similarities. Throughout the novels, similar themes such as media control and war demonstrate that both authors share common ideas about what would be important in Dystopian life. On the other hand, the way in which the authors approach each issue highlights a difference in both time period and values.
Perfect societies, which work flawlessly, could not be possible without some sort of government involvement such in communism. In these two novels, despotism caused by an authority or totalitarian regime brings about a society which conforms to these governments’ norms and doctrines. Their main purpose is to control people and restrict their freedom to execute certain acts. For example, the government controls relationships by creating an authoritarian atmosphere and removes the basic must for a relationship, which is love, between men and women. Also, there is hardly any proper family life which consists of solidarity and unity. In terms of totalitarian governments, A Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451 have a number of important differences. In the A Brave New World, the World State controls the society thoroughly even before the birth. Test tube babies and hypnopaedia (sleep learning) are utilized throughout the creation of the lives. In this
Through out the course of history there have been several events that have been a pivotal point which has molded the behaviors and thoughts of this century. A lot of notable activist and authors wrote stories and speeches about how they believed that this day and time would be like. A lot of these views were very accurate surprisingly. In the novel 1984 author George Orwell gives his vision on how he believed that the countries would be like if they kept going the way they were.This report will give you a brief rundown of the characters, theories and principles of this novel along with some of my personal insight of the novel.
Consider how the natural development of narrative techniques in George Orwell’s 1984 creates a theme of individualism verses state. What was the point in writing such an obvious theme, since a dystopia is the prime example of an imperfect world? He uses extremely well-developed techniques to demonstrate the dystopian society. Specifically, Orwell uses symbols as well as the setting to thoroughly contribute to the idea of a totalitarian state in his dystopian society; the ideas are in symbolic objects, themes, and characters. Orwell clearly suggests that are flaws in the world that he has created, and, more importantly, Orwell the possibility of the characteristics becoming reality.
When writing his novel 1984, George Orwell was conveying his disapproving thoughts about the actions of the fascist dictators that were attempting their rise to power during World War II. The dystopian society created in the novel was created as a warning to those who supported the dictators at the time, including Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini, and the negative effects that their power would bring. Although Orwell’s intentions were not to prophesy what the world would be like, society today is beginning to closely resemble that of 1984. The similarities between George Orwell’s novel 1984 and society today are becoming increasingly more significant because of an excess use of technology, a lack of privacy, and the extreme measures taken by the government.
Thus making allusions to things that happened within the Cold War. There is many allusions to the Cold War in Nineteen Eighty – Four because it is believed that Orwell wrote Nineteen Eighty – Four as an “anti – socialism and anti – communist propaganda campaigns” (Shaw 2). Just like Hitler the Cold War was caused by the socialism Stalin created in Soviet Union; which helped create the idea of Big Brother. Along with, Nineteen Eighty Four shows three nations who are constantly at war. In the war, the nations create fear in the people of their country, they do this through propaganda and terrorizing the people for fear what the country would be if everything changed. Orwell created this allusion based off of the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. In the Cold War, both countries created fear in their people of what the other country might do creating fear of becoming like that country. They created this fear through propaganda and censoring photographs. Soviet Union censoring photographs is similar to Big Brother rewriting the past in its favor. Further, there is an allusion to the spying that happens in Oceania to the spying that happened in the Cold War. Due to both countries spying on each other, the governments began to spy on its people to see if any of them were against their government. Possibly the biggest connection to the Cold War in Orwell’s novel is the idea that people cannot make their own decisions. Nineteen Eighty – Four depicts society where the government controls everything and makes the decisions for everyone. Wealth is not evenly spread, in fact wealth is decided upon your social standing with the government, much like the Inner and Outer
The book “1984” by George Orwell is a fictional work that was penned as a discourse on Orwell’s views of what it would be like to live in a totalitarianism society. It is my belief that his views were based on his personal life experiences as he witnessed first hand many of the violent crimes perpetuated by those in positions of authority. Often, these crimes against one segment of society were carried out by other members of the same society in the name of political advancement or at other times out of fear for one’s life. Due to his experiences, Orwell began to write of his hatred of political power and the concept of a totalitarianism society. “1984” serves as a warning to readers of how a government can become abusive when seeking total control of it’s population. Furthermore, it showcases in great detail how a society can allow itself to be controlled through a series of psychological abuses and manipulation of historical information.
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell portrays a dystopian society that is controlled by a totalitarian dictatorship. Through his book, Orwell describes many aspects of society that existed in the late 40’s when he was writing. He used his book to make statements about the serious problems that people were facing in countries that were living under actual totalitarian rule. Through the writing of Nineteen Eighty-Four, Orwell clearly depicts the negative aspects of the post-war period and what totalitarianism would look like when taken to its absolute extreme.
A utopian society represents a perfect, idealistic civilization, while a dystopian society describes an unpleasant environment for the individuals living within it. George Orwell’s 1984 portrays many characteristics of a dystopian society. Very similarly, Veronica Roth’s Divergent tells the story of a government that forcefully separates and controls its citizens. 1984 and Divergent both share the presence of harsh regulation and control from their respective governments. Orwell and Roth’s novels compare Ministries and Factions, conformity and obedience, Proles and the Factionless, and government regulation, in a similar, yet negative way.
In the novel 1984, George Orwell elaborates on the idea of an autocratic government. This novel describes Orwell’s views on the dark, twisted form of government that he believes will develop in future years. The culture he created for this story was the most horrifying, troubling place a person could reside. The goals of the Party consisted of keeping the citizens squared away and oblivious to the unethical actions taking place around them. This unrealistic society gave Orwell the opportunity to create a vision of what a future communist nation might resemble. The purpose of this work is believed to be informative to citizens of how the government impacts our way of thinking, living, and believing. Fear from the citizens is used as manipulation by the government; this means the government shapes the citizens that will not conform to their society. Throughout this writing, the author remains in a dark, cold mood; thus, creating the feeling of negativity and opposition to the government. Ethical appeal is revealed in this
This dream of forming and maintaining a utopian society was immortalized in two novels dealing with the same basic ideas, 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Both of these novels deal with the lives of main characters that inadvertently become subversives in a totalitarian government. These two books differ greatly however with the manner in which the government controls the population and the strictness of the measures taken to maintain this stability. This essay with compare and contrast the message and tone of each novel as well as consider whether the utopia is a positive or negative one.
Howe, Irving, and George Orwell. 1984 Revisited Totalitarianism in Our Century. New York: Harper & Row, 1983.
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.
In George Orwell’s 1984, the strategies used by Oceania’s Political Party to achieve total control over the population are similar to the ones employed by Joseph Stalin during his reign. Indeed, the tactics used by Oceania’s Party truly depict the brutal totalitarian society of Stalin’s Russia. In making a connection between Stalin’s Russia and Big Brothers’ Oceania, each Political Party implements a psychological and physical manipulation of society by controlling the information and the language with the help of technology. Many features of Orwell's imaginary super-state Oceania are ironic translations from Stalin’s Russia. In Oceania, the Party mainly uses technology as the chief ingredient to implement psychological manipulation over society by controlling the information they receive.
The novel 1984, written by George Orwell, portrays views on sex and gender in an authoritative government. Oceanic government aims to maintain their power by asserting their dominance over society. This is done through outlawing sex, with the exception of reproduction of more Party members. Two characters, Winston and Julia, have sex for pleasure and also as a form of rebellion against Big Brother. The government takes them both as punishment for their sex crimes. During imprisonment, the relationship between Winston and O’Brien develops. Along with sex, gender is relevant throughout the novel. The party’s attempt at making gender a non-issue is valiant but it makes gender roles more evident in other aspects of the book. While depicting the future in 1984, George Orwell carefully analyzes sex and gender in Oceanic society through government manipulation, character rebellion, and natural human instinct.