We think this is crazy and could never happen, but George Orwell illustrates, throughout his novel 1984, the possible dangers of complete government control. Even though this exaggerated society seems farfetched, many of his fictional governmental qualities are starting to line up with our government today. Throughout the novel the totalitarian government, called Big Brother, is constantly attacking the people psychologically. One of the first things that strikes protagonist Winston Smith is a poster in the street, reading “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” (Orwell 5). From the very beginning of the book, the government is already shoving fear down on top of the citizens of Oceana.
1984 was first published in 1949 by George Orwell, during which was a crucial time in world history leading up to the Cold War. Orwell, having lived in Spain and Russia communst run countries while growing up, wrote the political novel to warn the Western world of the dangers of a totalitarian government. Although the book can be considered a social commentary on many subjects, I chose the following three to focus on: Power, Media Manipulation and Language. In the book 1984, Orwell uses the ominous Big Brother to depict what a government with all control would feel like; giving the reader a real sense of how powerless a population would really be under an all-controlling regime. Winston, the main character in the novel, sees posters throughout London with a man gazing down underneath contains the words “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU.” Even though Big Brother is virtually everywhere, Winston secretly questions whether or not he actually exists.
Orwell may have depicted a clearer insight into modern day surveillance then one may have imagined from this "fictional" novel. Furthermore, a totalitarianism based government is a dictatorship, on in which the dictator is not limited by constitutional laws or further opposition. "Big Brother is watching you" (Orwell 3). Why is Big Brother so concerned with the surveillance of its citizens? In 1984 the journey of one individual, Winston Smith is narrated.
1984 was based on the totalitarinism of the world during the World Wars condition of the human life and how the people were treated. 1984 is about the government controlling, watching every movement of the people; in this novel their is literrally nothing the government does not know about. Many films have attempted to vision George Orwell's ideas and his novel 1984, but had failed. One such film adaptation of 1984 by Micheal Radford was rather a much closer view of George Orwell's vision when compared to other movies and the book itself. This essay will prove that the adaptation of 1984 by Micheal Radfords is a good adaptation of the novel 1984.
Theme: Suppression/Government The novel entitled 1984 by George Orwell depicts a dystopian society where citizens are under complete control by an invisible yet superior force, labeled as “Big Brother.” In the story, the world had been divided into three assemblies, and although the novel focused on one–Oceania–it was evident that all of Earth was undergoing the same sort of totalitarian political system. It never became clear to readers or main characters just how the revolution from a Capitalist society to a dictatorship of sorts occurred, it was only clear that Big Brother was an almighty force; one not to be reckoned with. This government had gained complete control; the class system that consisted of the Inner and Outer Parties as well
Doublethink George Orwell’s novel 1984 is a famous dystopian novel set in a place called Oceania. Oceania is under the control of Big Brother the represented leader of the nation. Big Brother rules Oceania with an “all seeing eye” approach that keeps all of the citizens in line. The government closely resembles a totalitarian rule but with even more restrictions that are unimaginable. Big Brother’s surveillance is so intense it could even control an individual's thoughts and ideas.
Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We and George Orwell’s 1984 demonstrate totalitarianism in fictional countries. Totalitarianism is a system of government that is centralized, dictatorial, and requires complete subservience to the state. A totalitarian government manipulates human consciousness by the use of propaganda that implanted dogma, that is living with the results of the Benefactor’s perspectives and Big Brothers’ theories respectively as incontrovertibly true. This overall idea of mind control over the people evinces the millennial generation which believed that will take over the world. In point of fact, people nowadays have been technologically orchestrated by those contemporary theories used by mass media.
In the novel 1984, citizens are ruled by a totalitarian government, The face of this government is a symbolic authority figurehead labeled Big Brother who rules over 1984’s main location, Oceania. This abusive government gains control over its inhabitants by threatening torture or even execution to those who disobey it in any way. The citizens are constantly being informed of new wars between their country and others, making it seem as if they are always at war. Today we have the war on terror, a war that seemingly has no end in sight. In our modern day society it
Totalitarianism is achieved when the citizens have surrendered their free will to the government; they must choose to obey the Party’s teachings. The government encourages this mindset through propaganda. Winston describes, “On each landing, opposite the lift shaft, the poster with the enormous face gazed from the wall. It is one of those pictures which are so contrived that eyes follow you about when you move. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption beneath it ran,” (5).
In “1984”, "lies, myths and false information controls the thinking of the citizens. The Party uses propaganda as the worst weapon of control. Back in 1949, Orwell directs his irony towards the rise to power of dictators such as Adolf Hitler in Germany and Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union first through his masterpiece animal farm and later through "1984". The novel predicts the future of humanity in a few decades in hope that people rise against tyrants and enjoy living in freedom. The question of whether the world in "1984" existed or not has not become a rhetorical one.