ipl-logo

Examples Of Totalism In 1984 By George Orwell

1427 Words6 Pages

Juan Barreno
Ms.Alcaraz
ERWC
30 May, 2023
Dangers of Totalism

“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past”.This quote by George Orwell, an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic, shows the negative things that could happen if they allow the government to take absolute power over society. George Orwell sends a message to his audience in his novel book 1984, his main character being a man named Winston, demonstrating someone’s life in a totalism society. George Orwell uses Winston’s character to demonstrate how sad and lonely he feels because the government is in full control and he has no freedom.

Orwell’s message to his audience is how one would live in a society controlled by a government. …show more content…

Winston’s society lives with big telescreens that are placed in their homes to allow The Party to watch and hear over it’s citizens. In the graphic novel Winston quotes “The instrument (the telescreen) could be dimmed, but there was no way of shutting it off. And any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper would be picked up by it”(Pg 32 Panel 2). In other words, Winston can’t have small conversations and can’t do any actions without the government listening to you or hearing you. This is important because the use of technology in Winston’s society dominates his world and is one reason to why Winston and Oceania’s people have no freedom. Winston also quotes “Immediately beneath the telescreen, in such a position that anyone who was watching at the other end of the instrument could read what he was writing, he scribbled an address and tore out the page”(Pg 14 Panel 4). Basically, Winston is saying that even writing down a small note can still be reported to the authorities. Furthermore, Orwell wants his audience to know that technology is only controlled and used by evil. In short, technology will only be used to watch it’s citizens and be beneficial to make the government …show more content…

In the book, Big Brother is able to make people in Oceania believe his lies due to manipulation that he uses. Winston states “A few lines of print and a couple of faked photographs would soon bring him into existence”(Pg 45 Panel 2). Winston was referring to comrade Ogilvy, Ogilvy never existed and was only created to make the people of Oceania to believe that he was a war hero. Orwell’s claim in this part of the book was that if a government is able to control it’s history then it can manipulate people into believing such things and it also helps the government into keeping his authority over anyone he chooses. The book also states “And then the cell, or room, in which he now was and gradually materalised round him”(Pg 173 Panel 2). This quote refers to room 101, in which it is used by the thought police to brainwash people and in this case, Winston was sent to this room to change his mind after disobeying Big Brother. This is important because if the government is able to brainwash people at whatever cost then citizens have no point in going against Big Brother because this can result into death. Thus, Orwell wants his audience to know the dangers of manipulation if such thing falls into a corrupt government because this helps the government into desiring anything he

Show More
Related
939 Words | 4 Pages

Is a person more a product of his own environment or his genetics? It is really hard to answer this question until you trace the behavior and actions of a person in society during a certain period of time. Author, Octavia Butler, explores this idea in her novel Kindred. The novel’s protagonist Dana narrates her experiences as a black woman who travels back in time from 1976, California to Antebellum South in Maryland. She does so in order to save her white male ancestor Rufus Weylin.

Read More
348 Words | 2 Pages

He writes in the journal in a corner of his apartment where a telescreen would be unable to see him. This shows Winston’s motivations to do anything he can to defy the Party, and disobey

Read More
531 Words | 3 Pages

1984 is a dystopian novel written by George Orwell. Written in 1949, many of the actions of “the party” in the book function as an allegory for the actions of the Soviet Union, an authoritarian regime that was a wold superpower at the time of this book’s writing. An example is the “thought police” in the book that are symbolic of the secret police, which had been known to arrest people for nothing other than perceived “anti-soviet sentiment”. The book features themes of the threat of totalitarianism, and the near impossibility of resisting such an established regime, the limits of loyalty, and the downsides of technological advancement. Winston is a member of the outer party that works in the ministry of truth, modifying historical documents

Read More
300 Words | 2 Pages

(240). This quote shows that people will do almost anything to hide their secrets and truths, but to a certain extent. This relates to one of the several themes in 1984, which is totalitarianism. It relates to that theme because it is all about control and power, which is what is used against Winston in this specific

Read More
1404 Words | 6 Pages

In the novel 1984, written by George Orwell, an English novelist, a society in which people are taken advantage of is displayed. The story tracks Winston, a thin, frail, contemplative, and intellectual thirty-nine-year-old, who lives in a society where the government constantly watches the people, limits thoughts,

Read More
1323 Words | 6 Pages

In reading Orwell’s book, the character Winston is examined to show how his life reflects the society he lives in. Winston begins

Read More
789 Words | 4 Pages

In George Orwell’s novel 1984, Winston’s ability to have personal thoughts and feelings allows him to stand out in a world completely controlled by the government and enables him to want to rebel and live like he believes he once did; however, the leading power Big Brother strips the citizens of their personal thoughts and knowledge through torture and manipulation. While Winston

Read More
1112 Words | 5 Pages

George Orwell’s 1984 explores a government that wishes to eradicate expression and individual thought. The ideal society of the Party is for individuals to follow a given narrative and not pursue individuality. By taking away differences and subjecting all to the same status to “call everyone comrade,” allowing for a general term to address one another instead of personalized connections and thoughts (Orwell 21). As Winston remembers “to a time when thought is free,” he expresses how the government’s constant control and fear-inducing actions work to rewrite history and society’s present and future perspectives (Orwell 28).

Read More
1418 Words | 6 Pages

Consequently, Orwell’s warning of totalitarianism and slavery proves relevant

Read More
1748 Words | 7 Pages

Orwell wrote this story as a cautionary tale, warning its readers about the horrors of totalitarianism. The society in this story is one that runs on fear and the suppression of freedoms. The government in 1984 bares a resemblance to that of Soviet

Read More
884 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout 1984, Winston is forced to confront a society which rejects the central tenets of humanity and independent thought, and which presides over society through the dissemination of propaganda. Orwell’s novel explores the dangers of totalitarian government and absolute control and is a prophetic tale of power and control that must be heeded in modern times. Totalitarianism is employed to grant absolute power to the Party and ensure the deference of the

Read More
951 Words | 4 Pages

In 1949, a man predicted the domination of citizens by the totalitarian government and their custom of technologies to dictate the society. His name is George Orwell, a well-known British author, who wrote one of the most famous dystopian novels, 1984. The novel 1984 illustrates the totalitarian society and the life of Winston Smith, who works at the Ministry of truth and his humiliation by the party of the country, Oceania. George Orwell’s exaggeration and mockery of the totalitarian governments in the novel 1984 is now turning out to be one of the nightmare come true in our modern society.

Read More
1500 Words | 6 Pages

By looking deeper into the novel and analyzing specific details Orwell included it can be seen how Orwell used the setting of the story, the city itself as well as the workplace of Winston as a few examples, and also the characters themselves, such as the Parsons, to get readers to see the message he was trying to warn of. The idea of conformity was enforced throughout the story, as shown above, in the ways that all citizens are made to essentially be the same as all others around them, with deadly consequences if they refuse. The theme of dehumanization is also deeply explored as all personal feelings and emotions are outlawed by the Party in an attempt to create people who all are the same. As well the setting is used to present the theme of the dangers of totalitarianism as Winston’s job is to change and “fix” any document that is critical in anyway of the government or expresses free speech. This use of literary devices effectively delivers the theme Orwell was trying to

Read More
973 Words | 4 Pages

Living through the first half of the twentieth century, George Orwell watched the rise of totalitarian regimes in Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Soviet Union. Fighting in Spain, he witnessed the brutalities of the fascists and Stalinists first hand. His experiences awakened him to the evils of a totalitarian government. In his novel 1984, Orwell paints a dark and pessimistic vision of the future where society is completely controlled by a totalitarian government. He uses symbolism and the character’s developments to show the nature of total power in a government and the extremes it will go through to retain that power by repressing individual freedom and the truth.

Read More
1784 Words | 8 Pages

Totalitarianism in 1984 and the Real World The concept of a totalitarian society is a major theme throughout the novel 1984. This theme of totalitarianism can also be applied to the world today. The definition of totalitarianism, a concept used by some political scientists, is a state which holds total authority over the society and seeks to control all aspects of public and private life wherever possible. Totalitarianism can be related between the novel 1984 and current events in the real world. George Orwell incorporated the theme of totalitarianism into his novel 1984 to display the ever changing world around him during the time it was written.

Read More

More about Examples Of Totalism In 1984 By George Orwell

Related Topics

Open Document