1984 By George Orwell: A Totalitarian Dystopian Society

George Orwell, a prominent writer in the late nineteenth century envisions a totalitarian dystopian society in his most famous novel 1984. In the super state of Oceania, the government and its ruling figurehead Big Brother imposes strict rules and sanctions upon the local populace. With telescreens in every room, watching and listening to one’s every move and with posters on every street corner saying “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” Orwell describes of a nation where the government has complete control over its own people. Aspects of Orwell’s novel can be found in the present, things such as: oppressive governments and violence can still be found in the world today. People are constantly kept up-to-date with news through media, internet and newspapers

The so-called Thought Police is the secret police force of the nation of Oceania; they are tasked with enforcing the power of the Party through fear. If one was to attempt to undermine the government, the Thought Police is known to take that individual from their sleep and the person would be vaporized from existence, all known information of that individual would be erased as if the person were to never have existed. Those “who have incurred the displeasure of the Party simply disappeared and were never heard of again” (Orwell, 44) courtesy of the actions of the Thought Police. Utilizing fear and violence, the Thought Police will eventually find those who resent the Party and despise Big Brother. This is a violation of human rights and similarly, in an article of the Philippine Reporter “…police forcibly opened their gates of the center and stormed with their truncheons and shields” In a civilized world, a figure of any authority would require a search warrant to enter one’s property, but in the article and also in the novel, authoritative figures use unnecessary force which results in harm and even

The concept of Newspeak is slowly integrating into the Oceanian populace and is set to succeed Oldspeak – or traditional English – by the year 2050, the objective of Newspeak is to “make thoughtcrime literally impossible” (Orwell, 52). Newspeak is the “only language in the world whose vocabulary gets smaller every year” (Orwell, 52), by doing this the government is limiting the the intellectual capacity of the human mind, which benefits the totalitarian dictatorship in a way that not one individual can rebel or even think of rebelling against the Party. In an article of the Philippine Reporter, a similar situation unfolds in front of the eyes of the people who are affected by oppression and violence; the people “are constantly silenced by the absence of services of education, historical discrimination, and outright oppression and terrorism”. By denying individuals basic educational rights, the people of Oceania and those affected by the educational embargo of the Philippines share the same dire