A dictatorship is a form of government characterized by the absolute rule of one person or small group of people who hold all political power, leaving citizens without a voice on how they are ruled. In the novel “The Queue”, the Gate serves as the authoritarian state, where an invisible government aims to rigidly control its citizens. This surveillance and control has different psychological impacts on the every day existence of people trying to navigate this oppressive and deceptive regime, leading to a slow disintegration of mental and physical health for some characters. In “The Queue”, citizens must line up at the Gate in order to receive bureaucratic permission for almost all daily activities. However, as the queue swells with people, …show more content…
These characters are concerned with their survival, or the survival of those they love. The study done by Yasser Abdel Razek Elsayed states, “Countries torn by dictatorship face higher levels of distress, and yet they are most in need of productive, healthy citizens”(130), supporting the notion that the strict dictatorship the characters are under has created hardships, yet these places where hardships are most prevalent are in great need of mentally healthy citizens. In the past, Egyptians have been characterized as simple, warm-hearted, and brave people yet, Egyptians became afraid to speak up, and began adopting traits such as pessimism and lack of self-confidence (Razek-Elsayed 128), which is shown through the characters in the novel. In the novel, Tarek's fear of breaking the law compromises his ethical duty to save lives. A schoolteacher named Ines initially speaks her mind, joining with ″the short-haired woman″ (Abdel Aziz 46), and other rebels. Yet, after people begin disappearing from the line, Ines grows afraid and finds safety in marrying herself off to a pro-regime propagandist in order to save her. Nagy observes of the queue and the people waiting in it, “It drew people towards it, holding them captive as individuals and in their little groups, and it stripped them of everything, even the sense that their previous lives had been stolen from them.”(Abdel Aziz 96). He then laments that he, too, has become like the others in the queue, otherwise he’d argue “that if everyone took just a single step, that single step alone could destroy the Gate’s walls and shake off this stagnation” (Abdel Aziz 96). These characters are emotionally exhausted and are stagnant in their efforts to fight back against the repression they are under. The mental health of these characters has slowly deteriorated over time, making them compliant to the orders they receive from
Authoritarian rule forms the underlying theme of the novel. It should also be noted that human conflict as a major theme that helps to upstage the former authoritarian rule theme. One experiences the satirical self-glorified human thirst for control, often driven by greed and corrupt ideologies, to build and gain total control over the populace under them. This thought is held to the effect that the Big Brother party is an epitome of authoritarian and dictatorial governance in the modern world founded on deception and lies. Deception and a blatant contradiction of facts in the spirit of impunity form the foundation of the construct of modern dictatorship and draconian governance.
The novel 1984, by George Orwell, made me paranoid. It made me suspicious of our government's power and intentions. I became aware of the potential manipulation which the government could impose upon us. I came to see that the people I believe to be wholly dedicated to the well-being of society, the people I rely so heavily on to provide protection and security have the power to betray us at any given time. I realised that in my naivety I had gravely overlooked the powerful grip government has over society, and what it can do with that power.
First, political Islam has rogue Egypt and held it down, suffocating the country, not allowing it to stand a chance. President Hosni Mubarak was ousted and people thought that Egypt was getting better. It has not been the case. While Zaki lives in faded luxury and chases women, Bothayna endures sexual harassment while working as a shop assistant to provide for her poor family after the death of her father. Meanwhile her boyfriend, Taha, son of the building's janitor, is rejected by the police and decides to join a radical Islamic group. Egypt is heading towards a bottomless abyss. Everything is controlled by the elite. Jobs are no more; it is preserved for the top. This increases the plight of the people and leads them into committing some of the acts seen in Islam as bad or as a taboo. The political elite are crashing its opponents and ensuring that whoever com...
While government as an institution can be used for benevolent purposes, George Orwell’s novel 1984 contends that when taken to an excess in the form of totalitarianism, government becomes dangerously self-serving.
At the crudest level, the collectivist dictatorship is able to maintain power and control over its subjects by the use of force. Disobedient members can be sent to the Palace of Corrective Detention and lashed, as is the case with Prometheus, or, for extreme infringements, can be burned alive like the Transgressor of the Unspeakable Word. The wielding of such brutal force helps the dictatorship uphold its authority.
Throughout the world, failures seem to occur all around. Whether it be in the form of losing oneself or losing the people around the individual, many failures commonly occurs with the accumulation of power. In George Orwell’s dystopian novel, 1984, Winston Smith is a low-ranking government official under the oppressive reign of his leaders, Big Brother. He is just one example of the many characters in written works that will eventually be defeated in one way or another. In British literature, it has become evident that characters affected by tyrannies have ultimately experienced loneliness, paranoia, and defeat.
Earlier this year, I became the government. Everyday, for the next few days, I woke up before the sun rose and filled my hotel room with light. In business professional attire, I would walk down the halls of the California State Capitol and into the Assembly Chambers. I experienced firsthand how the administration of our society works. There came a day, a cloudy day with rain falling momentarily, in which a protest was gathered in the streets. A man spoke, asking for the government to remove its mask. I failed to understand. What did this man want? Deep in my gut, I knew a life of terror, a life a darkness, and a life of despair could only be the outcome of the absence of government. This ideal is explained by the classic novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, which explores the universal theme that civilization is significant, regarding its role in securing that man does not return to his primitive nature of savagery.
...n a government is the group that states what is to be socially acceptable and what is not, it greatly hinders a person ability to act as an individual. Whether it is the fear of being classified as abnormal, false or unjust imprisonment, or making a show out of large groups of the abnormal people, it is all in order for the government to maintain control. Within both of these contexts it is more important for there to be a strong central government than to allow a person to truly be an unique, which in return takes away what is considered to be a persons right.
In this particular story, the author’s emotions in Persepolis are not just her own, but also the feelings,emotions, and opinions of her people and their country. Throughout the expressiveness can not only be felt but they can visually be seen. The opinions of the Iranian people is expressive of their emotions which led them to demand that their voices be heard to the point where they cannot be ignored. The demonstrations shown on page five, first frame shows the strong opinions that the people have regarding the addition of veils. Their opinions are filled with so much emotions that it eventually lead them to protest publicly. On one side of the protest were those for the veil and on the other side were those who opposed it. Those against the veil felt as though it took away their freedom and the visual representation of their personality; those for the veil felt as though the veil was a representation of order which to them was what their country needed. The author’s emotions are seen throughout the story on various occasions. The year of the revolution was a very difficult time for Iran; even though she knew very little about the dangers of the revolution, she still very much wanted to be apart of it. After speaking with her parents and being told that she could not participate in it she began very upset and somewhat angry. This made her feel as though God had abandoned her which hurt her little heart very much. Emotions are expressions that are a way to show who people are on a deeper level and different situations present different
Similarly, the book’s three leading protagonists ultimately possess a common objective, escaping their unjust circumstances in pursuit of seeking the “warmth of other suns.” For this reason, they abandon the laws of Jim Crow and the familiarity of their hometowns as they flee to a better life. In the process, they all assume a level of risk in their decisions to rebel against the system. For example, Ida decides to embark on a precarious journey while in the beginning stages of a clandestine pregnancy. Any number of unpredictable events could have resulted from this judgment, including fatality. All of the migrants shared an unspoken agreement that the rewards would far outweigh the dangers involved.
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
In 1984, George Orwell explores the many facets of a negative utopia. Orwell seems to focus on the measures that the government takes to maintain a public of plebeians who have no personality or identity and believe that they are not unique individuals, but instead are part of a greater senseless mob of people who constantly work for a hostile and oppressive government which is involved in incessant wars. These people are taught to love. They then learn to fear their government because they believe all of the propaganda that is constantly instilled into their minds. They willing follow their government without contest for the duration of their meaningless lives. The government controls all forms of the media (thus denying the people the basic right of free speech) and use it to personify the government (known as “big brother”) .The government therefore seems omnipotent, or all knowing and always correct. Forecasts are changed from one week to the next always proving the government was correct. As was mentioned before, many of the rights that present day Westerners take for gran...
In the book “1984” by George Orwell, the book deals with government power. In the book, it debates about how the power of the government affected the people. Too much power by the state creates a dystopian world where everyone is forced to follow the government’s rules.
Imagine being watched by your own government every single second of the day with not even the bathroom, bedroom, kitchen and all the above to yourself. George Orwell’s 1984 is based on a totalitarian government where the party has complete access over the citizens thoughts to the point where anything they think they can access it, and control over the citizens actions, in a sense that they cannot perform what they really want to or else Big Brother, which is the name of the government in the book 1984, will “take matters into their own hands.” No one acts the same when they are being watched, as they do when they are completely alone.
Many citizens today are truly unaware of how much of their private lives are made public. With new technological advances, the modern democratic government can easily track and survey citizens without their knowledge. While the government depicted in 1984 may use gadgets such as telescreens and moderators such as the Thought Police, these ideas depicted can be seen today in the ever evolving democratic government known to be the "equivalent" of the people's voice. Orwell may have depicted a clearer insight into modern day surveillance than one may have imagined from this "fictional" novel. Furthermore, a totalitarianism based government is a dictatorship, in which the dictator is not limited by constitutional laws or further opposition.