Revolution in the Air

Oppression - an unfortunate occurrence that has happened in society as long as there have been people to oppress. The history of the world, also understood as a history of oppression, is simply a series of events that have happened because of the exploitation of people. Most of the time oppression happens because a government feels unstable and desires to remain in power. When a government oppresses its people, the oppressed tend to try to revolt. During World War I, the Russians revolted against their government and created a communist society. In the novel, 1984, Winston and Julia sought after a revolution, but revolution seemed unthinkable because of the power of Big Brother. In A Tale of Two Cities, the oppressed citizens revolted against the government and aristocracy. In the case of World War II, the Jews became incapable of revolution because they got cut down to focus on survival only. Oppression is at the root of all of the problems people faced in those events and books.

In World War I, the Russians revolted against their czar and created a communist country. Czar Nicholas II caused some of the most disastrous and bloody wars Russia had ever seen, so the people wanted him out. I learned that they had success because revolutionaries sought after a common goal, the communist manifesto. Although the new communist reign seemed good for a while, eventually certain members of society edged their way to the top of the pyramid, negating the communist manifesto. People will permanently have that desire and lust for power and status, only because that’s engrained into human nature. The Russian communist society may have fought a successful revolution from the czar, but in the end equality did not grow to become an a...

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...alnourished that they needed to put all of their effort towards surviving until their next meal, leaving out any possible thoughts of starting a revolution. I learned how far people can go in order to survive. The Jews literally existed on the brink of death every day they continued on in the camps, and yet somehow they managed to survive. People fought against their own families for food. That goes to show that if someone gets stuck in a situation where the odds favor death, that person will do anything to get out.

When a government oppresses its people, the oppressed tend to try to revolt. Oppression evolved throughout our history and literature, and through World War I, World War II, 1984, and A Tale of Two Cities, we see different types of revolutions against that oppression. Some may have failed, but the knowledge we learned from them remains infinite.