1984 Nazi Party Research Paper

“1984 The Party and The Nazi Party”

Mia Bongiorno

Honors Literature II Mr. Spalding 24 May 2024 Imagine living in a world where your individual freedom was taken away from you, your feelings, emotions, and independent thoughts were not allowed to be spoken freely. The government of Nazi Germany and the government in the novel 1984, by George Orwell, depicted this very type of government where its main agenda was maintaining complete control and power over the citizens it governed. The Nazi Party and the Communist Party in 1984 had many similar ways to maintain power and control over their citizens. Both parties used propaganda to brainwash their citizens into thinking that their beliefs were the way to live. Propaganda tools included

“He used intimidation to terrorize and even kill political opponents. Hitler took control of the police, arrested socialists, communist, trade union leaders, and others who had spoken out against the Nazi party.” (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum 2020) Adolf Hitler also created detention sites and camps to hold political opponents and those who were not German. The conditions at the camp were horrible and many Jewish people died and were murdered. In 1945, “the Nazi party came to an end and was banned. Its top leaders were convicted of crimes against peace and humanity.” (Ray 2022) In George Orwell's novel 1984, the main character Winston is a common man who sat on the lower social circle in the nation of Oceania. Everywhere Winston goes, he is being watched by The Party, which was a totalitarian government body that ruled Oceania. The Party’s leader was known as, “Big Brother” who nobody actually saw, but knew that he was always watching. “Big Brother is infallible and all-powerful. Every success, every achievement, every victory, every scientific discovery, all knowledge, all wisdom, all happiness, all virtue,

Nobody has ever seen Big Brother. He is a face on the hoardings, a voice on the screen. We may be reasonably sure that he will never die, and there is already considerable uncertainty as to when he was born. Big Brother is the guise in which the Party chooses to exhibit itself to the world.” (Orwell, “1984” 262) Under “Big Brother”, the inner party, which was also known as the ruling class, was run by the elites of Oceania and communicated Big Brother's messages to the lower class. The outer party held positions of trust, but did not make any governmental decisions. The party also had an organization called the Junior Spies, who were born into the party, brainwashed and taught that they must help protect the party and report any disloyalty from citizens, even their own family members. The goal of the party was to keep all citizens of Oceania under their control, including their cultural economy and political systems. Personal freedom does not exist. “The party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power. Power is not a means, it is an end. Not power over things, but power over men.” (Orwell, “1984” 332) The party used