Consequences Of Totalitarianism In 1984

Orwell so vividly illustrates the crushing brutality of the Party in order to warn the reader that an absolute government with the power to drive a citizen to his or her breaking point will inevitably destroy the core of human drive and independence. Those with the power to exploit personal fears and control levels of commitment through torture can crush anyone, for “in the face of pain, there are no heroes” (Orwell 213). Throughout the novel, the government is notorious for torturing citizens of Oceania in the Ministry of Love. In order to exact true conversion to the Party, various forms of torture, both physical and psychological, are used. During the initial period of conditioning, fear, unpredictable bursts of pain, and repetition are used to destroy Winston's rebellious mindset.

had overheard some compromising remark and denounced his parents to the Thought Police” (24). By using the children of Oceania the Party is able to simultaneously find more people who could possibly try to rebel and create a new generation of citizens where the only alliance they feel is that towards Big Brother and the Party. The government has suppressed all basic human connections: “The terrible thing that the Party had done was to persuade you that mere impulses, mere feelings, were of no account, while at the same time robbing you of all power over the material world” (136). The government knows that human nature can overcome the influence of the Party, therefore they encourage the suppression of feelings so they have better control of the population. The bond Winston and Julia create evolves their disdain towards the regime gives them courage to fight against the government: “They can’t get inside you.

However, the fear that this imaginery person/ organization imposed on society was real. Winston Smith, the protagonist, feels like the only person who sees what Big Brother is doing to society- watching thier every movements, limiting their freedoms, lying through the news, and distracting people from the real problems that were at hand. The underlying problem was that Big Brother tried to instill fear in people so that they do not rebel. Fear was his tool for taking control of society. I believe that this book was a result of a premonintion that George Orwell had about the future; this book was a warning, but this warning was and is overlooked.

Through his compliance to Big Brother, Winston forms a hate for its manipulation of the past and society. As Winston slowly becomes aware to his lack of identity and how the Party is manipulating the past, he finds himself to be one of the monsters helping Big Brother. Orwell illuminates the oppressiveness of the city through the regime with a motif of isolation, from Winston wondering if anyone felt the way he did. The Party’s total control and ever watching eye creates a hopeless that Winston can ever find another person that feels that way he does toward the dictatorship. The motif of isolation connects with the metaphors of Winston being an unimaginable monster lost in a sea bottom forest because of the culture of fear the regime has created.

The dangers of totalitarianism are prominent in the novel 1984 and in the film Brave New World through symbolism, the suppression of natural human emotions and orthodoxy of the characters. Symbolism is used to show how the ruling powers exercise total control and keep watch over their citizens’ lives t... ... middle of paper ... ...cal manipulation, abuse of technology, the hallucinogen soma and conditioning. The Party forbids all intimacy for its members whereas the World State encourages the pursuit of pleasure, such as lust, while banning any relationships involving true love. Winston and Julia learn to love Big Brother after undergoing intensive physical torture, whilst Lenina and Bernard realize they love each other, which leads them to become rejected by their society. The Party and the World State maintained fake façades to appear as though they were all perfect, but in reality they were flawed, dangerous, power hungry oppressors that suppressed individual free will and the fundamental emotion love.

In the novel 1984 by Orwell, an extremely controlling totalitarian government called The Party, rules the society. They have introduced Telescreens which monitor your every movement, conversations and any other action. The citizens of Oceania, located on Air Strip One, are psychologically manipulated to believe in the three main slogans of the party: ‘War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength’ (1948, Orwell). The citizens of Oceania are so brainwashed that they don’t question anything the party tells them or any new law they make. Thought crime occurs when someone does not fully agree and follow what the Party has said.

In order to gain this quantity and quality of control, the politicians in “1984” control the citizen’s thinking and destroy their freedom by creating fear with propaganda, laws and continual surveillance. Propaganda in “1984” is an unforgivable method of misguiding the attitudes of a person to believe an alternate reality. Chances of propaganda being the best method of control utilized by authorities are ranked the most effective. With this notion, politicians are capable of manipulating the residents of Oceania’s minds. The main character, Winston Smith, himself alters the news, history books, personas and other various documents in accordance to the party’s desires and demands.

He shows that he enjoys releasing the rock that killed Piggy showing that indeed he had developed into an evil monster under the chaotic environment. The events of the death of Piggy clearly demonstrates that with the abandonment of civilisation the boys decent into anarchy. In the end, Golding uses the dark and gruesome events leading to the death of Simon and Piggy as well as the savagery developing in the character of Jack to prove that when civilisation falls away and individuals are left to their own immediate desires, anarchy ensues in its most evil form. However, though Lord of the Flies displays the problems of humanity, there are plenty of pieces of literature that depicts the bright side of humanity, which hopefully outnumbers the negatives.

During the 1940’s, it was not only WWII, but also the time of the dictators Stalin and Hitler, who used brainwashing techniques to take advantage of their vulnerable societies. The Machiavellian Theorem becomes the sole tactic to survival in Oceania. In order to become a member of the Brotherhood, Winston agrees to commit all the carnage that Big Brother has raged on his people. (Orwell, p.180) With angst to be rid of his oppression, Winston has lost his sense of humanity. He now believes that his end justifies his means.

In George Orwell’s 1984, readers are faced with a cruel, most dehumanizing form of violence: psychological torture. Mind control is the Party’s ammunition as, bit by bit, Big Brother strips man of his very essence. “Nothing was your own,” reads the novel, “except the few cubic centimetres inside your skull” – and in the end, even that has been usurped by the Party. Ultimately, 1984’s antagonist, O’Brien, refuses Winston Smith the right to die an individual by dealing him a punishment far worse than execution: life as a puppet of the Party. Winston is not allowed to die a martyr, for this would be a personal victory and Oceania can only have one victor.