Oceania’s Resemblance to Nazi Germany A perfect society is something that everyone strives toward. A world where no one breaks the rules would be ideal. The strive for a utopia, though, can result in a loss of humanity. In the harsh fictional world of 1984, the people have lost the willpower to express themselves because they know that they will get punished for it. In the World-War-II-era of Nazi Germany, the people are scared to do what they want in fear of Adolf Hitler. The creator of 1984, George Orwell, creates a world where utopia was the only way of living. Adolf Hitler, a previous dictator of Germany, was singling out a certain group and was pushing for a ‘perfect’ race. Through government control and propaganda, George Orwell’s 1984 …show more content…
Hitler killed millions of innocent Jewish people during World War II. He had also blamed them for the economic suffering that Germany was going through before he got into office and called them dangerous. Previously, Hitler had been the Nazi Party leader for 7 years before becoming the country leader. Therefore, people had more opportunities to witness him and his hypnotic qualities. German citizens fell in love with the promises and the words that came out of Hitler’s mouth. (Bartoletti 14-21). It was the years worth of speeches that Hitler made in front of crowds to brainwash them into thinking what he was saying was right. In his mind, he had an idea of a ‘perfect’ Aryan race: blonde hair and blue eyes. He also had a plethora of propaganda that spread across the country like wildfire. Propaganda is a type of persuasion used to influence people's attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. There is one poster in specific that shows a young group of excited boys frolicking about with a Nazi flag in hand (Bartoletti 22). The point of showing this type of poster was to draw in the young by showing a promise of excitement and adventure. There was also another poster going around the country that basically said as long as the people stayed loyal, the Reich would never be destroyed (Altman 73). Overall, Hitler used his charm and his hypnotic matter to get millions on his side to support the Nazi …show more content…
Besides the obvious fact that one is a fictional world and one is a harsh reality. Everything from the use of propaganda to complete mind control is alike in both worlds. How the two societies kept control of citizens was even similar. At the end of the day, the meaning of control could have meant something different in Orwell’s eyes compared to Hitler. People could possibly see and remember things differently than everyone else. The evidence that was provided has proven that through government control and propaganda, George Orwell’s 1984 suggests that there is a connection between the leadership of Nazi Germany and Oceania.
Works Cited
Altman, Linda Jacobs. Adolf Hitler: Evil Mastermind of the Holocaust. Berkeley Heights, Enslow Publishers, 2005.
Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. Hitler Youth: Growing up in Hitler’s Shadow. New York, Scholastic Nonfiction, 2005.
Carpentier, Martha C. “The ‘Dark Power of Destiny’ in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four.” Mosaic: A Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature, vol. 47, no. 1, Mar. 2014, p. 179. Literature Resource Center. Accessed 5 Mar. 2018.
Glover, Beaird. “Nineteen Eighty-Four.” Masterplots, Fourth Edition, November 2010, pp. 1-3. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lfh&AN=103331MP423689320000231&site=lrc-live.6 March 2018.
Orwell, George, and Erich Fromm. 1984. New York, Signet Classics,