The Real-Life Counterparts of 1984's Oceania

Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin are household names, but what about the more obscure individuals Muammar Qaddafi, Xi Jinping, and Kim Jong-un? George Orwell used 1984 as a prediction of what could happen if the fascism in Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia persisted. The dystopian, fascist government that exists in 1984 resembles the governments in the real-life, modern-day countries of Libya, China, and North Korea.

The government in Orwell’s Oceania is fascist, causing citizens like Winston and Julia to hate the government. O’Brien explains the future of Oceania’s government to Winston, when he says: “’If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever’” (Orwell 240). This passage uses a metaphor to accurately define fascism. According to Dr. Lawrence Britt, there are fourteen defining characteristics of fascism, including: "a disdain for the recognition of human rights, controlled mass media, and the intertwining of religion and government " (Britt). These characteristics are all examples of the government stamping down on their citizens, thus keeping them from rising up. The image of “a boot stamping on a human face” metaphorically illustrates fascism. Specifically, the government has total control over the civilians. There is a dictator who has complete power over the nation and strongly, often violently, oppresses criticism and opposition. This is blatantly similar to “Big Brother”, the government that brainwashes its citizens to love their leaders and then punishes them, even to the point of murder, if they attempt to rebel in any way. The boot symbolizes the government because the government stamps down on the civilians, which prevents them from rising up against the government. The human...

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...of the world if fascism were to continue. In Orwell's day, the leading fascists were Hitler and Stalin, and today there are Muammar Qaddafi, Kim Sung-un, and Xi Jiaping, while in 1984 there is Big Brother. All of these governments are very similar to each other, as Orwell had predicted. These points reveal that even though those who live in free nations think that 1984 is dystopian science-fiction, in some places around the world, 1984 is almost a work of realistic fiction.

Works Cited

Cumings, Bruce. The Two Koreas. New York, NY: Foreign Policy Association, 1984. Print.

Lawson, Don. Libya and Qaddafi. New York, NY: F. Watts, 1987. Print.

Zurlo, Tony. China. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 2003. Print.

Britt, Lawrence. "Fourteen Defining Characteristics of Fascism." Rense. 2003. Web. 5 May 2014.

Orwell, George. 1984. New York, NY: Penguin Group, 1949. Print.