1984, by George Orwell, is a novel that is ultimately about a totalitarian form of government and it's negative aspects that it imposes on society. The readers clearly see that George Orwell opposes this form of government because it limits not only freedoms, but the idea of freedom itself. The idea of pure freedom is shattered as we see the protagonist's mission to overthrow Big Brother fail. Big Brother may have not even been real. However, the fear that this imaginery person/ organization imposed on society was real.
Miller is saying that even today extremes end up bad- communism, like strict puritans, was restrictive and extreme. It only made people suffer. Afraid of communism, Americans looked for “hidden” communists, just like the secret “witches”. He was also speaking to his 1950s audience here by explaining the paradox today: “It is a paradox in whose grip we still live […].” “Keeping the community together” also refers to Americans in the 1950s when the government tried to purify America from communism in order to keep Americans “together”. Response: I think that neither communism nor puritanism are good, because both of them are restrictive in many ways- anyone who comes out of the set frames becomes guilty.
As Orwell said, they key danger to the system is “the growth of liberalism and skepticism in their own ranks” (Orwell 171). For example, in the novel it was the desire of the Party to eliminate love and sex, in order to channel this pent-up passion towards the love of Big Brother. Similarly, Stalin used propaganda and extreme nationalism to brainwash the peoples of Russia. He channeled their beliefs into a passion for Soviet ideals and a love of Stalin. In both cases, love for anything but the Party is the biggest threat to the regime.
The author warns about the dangers of totalitarian havocs and reminds the reader of the dark side of history. Interestingly, Orwell's character not only develops the theme, but also symbolizes places. First, Orwell divides the imaginary superpowers that existed during the cold war, i.e.... ... middle of paper ... ... Winston and Julia were searching for this freedom. Orwell wants the reader to see the disadvantages and the lack of liberty given to the people in the totalitarian society. He wants the reader to see what's going to happen to the freedom of a common man.
1984 was published in 19... ... middle of paper ... ...ng thought really drives home Orwell’s point that if we allow totalitarianism it will overwhelm anyone and drive out any concept of free will. This world Orwell creates casts light on the psychological manipulation in totalitarian societies that leads to so many other infringements of human nature such as the ability to think for oneself and form your own opinions. This novel does not apply to today’s geopolitical state, however at the time of its original publication it was a great weapon in the fight against Communism. Works Cited Karolides, Nicholas J. Literature Suppressed on Political Grounds.
According to Lyotard, Stalin and his Communism tried to give the proletariat a reality beyond that of the working class still bound to national traditions and differential claims, but unfortunately it would never be recognized for the legitimacy of any local power. Stalin to maintain power in his totalitarian regime, he purged his party of those who might oppose him and opportunists who might make the attempt to replace his regime. His use of terror was able to deceive people as long as it did because it seemed to be working toward the realization of the socialist republic. Terror became one of the key features of the government. Stalin, through his totalitarian power, got Russian workers many benefits like free education, free medical services and pension.
Knowledge is a strong aspect of a dystopian society because people will go out of their way to use their abilities to control the lives of others. In Fahrenheit 451, the government controls civilians’ ability to think by banning books. While in Oryx and Crake, one of the main characters uses his knowledge to fix the overcrowded world, but in the end he destroys humanity. While both novels focus on wisdom and characters fight for knowledge, the truth of knowledge is shown to be dangerous since in both novels knowledge leads to the destruction of society. In Fahrenheit 451, the theme of wisdom is gained through experience and knowledge.
Vladimir Nabokov once said “It is hard, I submit, to loathe bloodshed, including war, more than I do, but it is still harder to exceed my loathing of the very nature of totalitarian states in which massacre is only an administrative detail”. This quote connects to the themes of both 1984 and Brave New World. 1984 and Brave New World are both books about a totalitarian ran state. This also shows that neither of these novels care if there are lives taken as long as the world is perfect and everything is the same. Both governments in 1984 and Brave New World express how government control negatively impacts the lives of everyone.
Why would the US support a horrible dictator like Mao Zedong? To prevent a collaboration of communist superpowers that could overrun the world overnight. And second, The Allies simply had no real proof of the atrocities being committed by Stalin during his reign. Solzhenitsyn does express the evils of his own nation clearly, which becomes eerie when looking through the same lens upon which we see our own nation slipping into. He makes remarks about the soviet government controlling everything.
Kennan accentuates this when he mentions “[Stalin] wanted to hide his fear of foreign socialism and communism, and to disguise the measures he took to defend himself against this danger, behind an apparent concern for the security of the Soviet Union…to this end that he constantly and systematically exaggerated the possibility of hostile military intervention against the soviet state…” (p.251). Joseph Stalin was a ruthless man that disfigured the image of the Soviet Union and destroyed the lives of many people.