The Importance Of Totalitarian Government In 1984

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Recommended: Analysis of the book 1984

The totalitarian government in the novel “1984” is well-known for going to extreme measures to control its citizens. The party is capable of doing so by controlling how citizens communicate, employing technology and even dictating how their time is spent. One of the novel’s many themes is: the party believes a human being can be broken down psychologically until one is easily fooled or robot-like. However, regardless of how harsh a government treats its citizens the novel also suggests that it is significantly hard to brainwash someone. The government has to go to incredible lengths to get into one’s mind to that extent. This creates a difficult task because the Party’s methods are subtle and take time. Winston, throughout the entirety of 1984, …show more content…

Winston describes the telescreen as “an oblong metal plaque like a dulled mirror,” he also mentions, “the instrument could be dimmed, but there was no way of shutting it off completely” (Orwell 2). The Party employs technology like telescreens to create fear and paranoia from a lack of privacy which all human-life craves at some point or another. This device also causes paranoia when Winston and Julia are sitting in the golden country and they believe a bird is watching them. The Party has employed technology so well that when Julia and Winston are away from telescreens do they not feel save. Later we find, it is always possible for one to be watched by the ThoughtPolice. Ironically, even the betrayal of Mr. Charrington had subtle clues that Winston obviously did not foresee. According to Carpentier, “the signs from Mr. Charrington also come in triplicate: globe, church, song” …show more content…

Clocks are set in military time which Winston does not admire. The Newspeak term “ownlife” defines individualism, which is incredibly dangerous or risky to take part of. When a Party member is not working, eating, or sleeping, they are expected to be a part of communal recreations. These consist of evenings at the Community Center, community hikes, volunteer work, meetings and a myriad of other “exciting events”. Alone time is not acceptable and common for busy members. The Party expects nothing else but devotion to Big Brother and any sign of disobedience can result in immediate death or

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