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Examples Of Totalitarianism In 1984

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In a world of constant fear where citizens blindly obey their government, the 1984 novel by George Orwell shows examples of totalitarianism and controlling governments. The book includes many themes of manipulation, control, hope, and fear within the society of Oceania. The novel is written in the perspective of a middle class worker named Winston who wants to rebel against the corrupt government that rules Oceania. Throughout the novel Winston continues to go through trails of monitoring, toxic relationships, and torture in order to take down the evil government called the Party. At the very end, Winston does not get past all of his obstacles and falls down and becomes an ordinary and obedient citizen who blindly follows the Party. In 1984, the main government body called “The …show more content…

This power for creating unmanageable inner conflicts in the child must be compared with the power of the total state to create similar conflicts in the middle of its subject” (Bryfonski 75). The quote says that the only time when people have control over one another is when it is a parent-to-child relationship. This relationship is what’s shown with Winston and O’Brien. Where O’Brien subtly made Winston “believe” that he was a parental figure in his life. This leads Winston to listen to O’Brien more and trust him as a trustworthy person. This relationship is an example of a destructive relationship because in this case, O’Brien has fully taken advantage of Winston and Winston is showing his vulnerability to O’Brien. An example of this is “His disturbing response to O’Brien’s torture is a stage in this process: “For a moment he clung to O’Brien like a baby, curiously comforted by the heavy arm round his shoulder. There are only two characters in the novel who address Winston by his first name -- his mother, and

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