The Real-Life Counterparts of 1984's Oceania

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.

Overall, Hitler’s Third Reich was concerned with preservation of power in order to ... ... middle of paper ... ...ng the Holocaust. Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984 warns against a future of “men all over the world [losing] their most human qualities, [becoming] soulless automatons” due to the corruption of modern politics (Fromm 324). The manipulation of truth through propaganda, purging of undesirable elements, and overwhelming desire for power that were expressed as fears in the novel became realities in Hitler’s Third Reich. Both governments imposed oppressive rule in pursuit of a supposed “greater good” but ultimately, the only thing both governments achieved was creating a society of fearful, imprisoned people who lost sight of truth due to the oppressive environments they were living in. Winston, who strongly desires to rebel against the government and despises Big Brother, speaks of the lack of privacy due to the massive amounts of technology monitoring his every move.

"Fascism is reaction," said Benito Mussolini, author of The Doctrine of Fascism, but reaction to what? Mussolini forged Fascism in post-World War I in Europe. The national aspirations of many European peoples nations without states, peoples arbitrarily assigned to political entities with little regard for custom or culture had been crushed after World War I. The humiliation imposed by the victors in the Great War, coupled with the hardship of the economic Depression, created bitterness and anger. That anger frequently found its outlet in an ideology that asserted not just the importance of the nation, but its unquestionable superiority and predestined role in history.

Because of the freedoms enjoyed in the United States, a dominate totalitarian government where thinking freely is penalized by death is difficult to envision or comprehend. In George Orwell's novel 1984, the main character, Winston Smith experiences firsthand the limitations imposed by the Inner Party on language and several other aspects of daily life in order to subdue Oceania' citizens and hamper any freedom of expression. The inclusion of thought-provoking themes concerning the manipulation of language, history, and minds serves as an admonition for the future. Through the manipulation of language, deception and control are facilitated. A clear demonstration is uttered by Syme to Smith: “Do you know that Newspeak is the only language in the world whose vocabulary gets smaller every year?...Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought?” (Orwell 46).

In 1984, Big Brother created what is called Newspeak, the official language of Oceania. Newspeak aims is to narrow the range of thought, to eliminate all words associated with Thought Crime so eventually it will not be possible to commit.4 With Hitler and Stalin limiting the free speech of their citizens, Orwell warned that if totalitarian dictators can control and manipulate what people think, they could eventually control the words of which they speak. If the government can control the people’s words, there is no way the people could ever think differently than the government. The world was in great trouble in the 1940s in the midst of a second World War and several totalitarian dictators threatening, among many things, the freedom of speech; a cornerstone of any free, democratic society. Many warned of the dangerous path these types of totalitarian societies could lead to.

Comparing Totalitarian Governments When thinking of George Orwell's 1984, Hitler's Germany comes to mind along with the other nations at war during World War two. The notion of the thought police and "Big brother" can be, and is a terrifying thing. Some Americans believe that something frightening similar is happening today with the biased media and the NSA groups. The term totalitarianism is used by some to describe a government system in which the state controls all aspects of public and private life. Having mentioned Hitler's Germany, the amount of control was the reason it was mentioned as communism could be described something similar to totalitarianism.

Web. 16 May 2014. . Orwell, George. 1984. NewYork: Signet, 1950.

Oceania comprises the Americas, the south of Africa and the British Isles; their driving political notion is called INGSOC, short for English Socialism. However, this socialist society is ruled cruelly by a totalitarian government that manifests itself as “Big Brother” while spying on citizens, eliminating dissenters and disseminating propaganda forcefully. The citizens rarely show emotion, save for the daily Two Minutes Hate, where they are purposely boiled into a rage against current enemies of the government, such as rebel leaders and the current enemy super-state. The two-way and ubiquitous telescreen perpetually receives communications from the government in the ... ... middle of paper ... ...hese are corporations, the government has allowed this breach of privacy. In short, similarities exists between the world in 1984 and ours.

This created the fascist regime under Mussolini. The fascist regime turned society into individuals who would just obey and distrust reason as well as understand violence as an essential tool to order. Ideally the country would transform into a totalitarian state; where the government would have total control over the lives of individuals and this would mean that anything is justified if it serves the states ands. Fascism emphasized victory, glorified war, is cruel to the weak, and is irrational and intolerant. Mussolini used the condition of the country to his advantage in his journey to becoming the dictator of Italy.

In 1984 the journey of one individual, Winston Smith is narrated. His life characterizes the recklessness and deprivation of totalitarian... ... middle of paper ... ...ctive polices in place but don't want those actions used against them. What government has done is manipulated this fear, while 1984 helps those who welcomed over intrusive surveillance question this as another form of government manipulation to bolster government power over its citizens. Ultimately, common ideas found in the novel 1984, totalitarianism, surveillance, and lack of privacy are also ubiquitous in modern society and government. Big Brother and modern day government have been able to control its citizens through surveillance equipment, and fear all for a little more power.