Examples Of Totalitarianism In 1984 By George Orwell

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War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength. These are the principles citizens of Oceania, in the novel 1984, by George Orwell, are forced to believe in. With the addition of literary devices, such as foreshadowing and diction, totalitarianism is exposed through the Party’s beliefs along with their love towards Big Brother. Warnings or foreshadowing of future events lead one to acknowledge the Party’s authority and regulations of every aspect of citizens’ lives. In the novel,Winston looks at a portrait of “Big Brother” and feels the power it contains, forcing him to say “[i]n the end the Party would announce that two plus two made five, and you would have to believe it,”then before the end of his rehabilitation with O’Brien in room …show more content…

When Syme is describing the purpose of newspeak to Winston and how a word contains an opposite in itself such as having “a word like ‘good,’ what need is there for a word like ‘bad’? ‘Ungood’ will do just as well-better, because it's an exact opposite, which the other is not” (Orwell 51).Orwell creates this word choice to correspond with the strict, society created in the novel. Positive diction is used to give the Party control over the citizen’s ability of free thought, which would make thoughtcrime impossible. Society narrows the people’s mindset. When Winston begins writing in his diary, he knows it can get him in trouble and writes “they'll shoot me I don't care down with Big Brother they always shoot you in the back of the neck I don't care down with Big Brother ”(Orwell 19).Orwell limited Winston’s vocabulary to show how the Party has their people thinking about the consequences when doing something they are not supposed to be doing. Citizens are controlled by the Party and know they must obey the rules. Religion is compared to the Party’s ideas. While O’Brien interrogates Winston, he says “‘we are the priests of power,’ ‘God is power. But at the present power is only a word so far as you are concerned. It is time for you to gather some idea of what power means. The first thing you must realize is that power is collective’” (Orwell 264).Religious concepts used by Orwell imply that Big Brother is compared to God, by being a large masculine face who is always watching over the people. Seeking to be powerful and control the minds of its people, the Party sees itself as a religion. Through sounding improving, controlling one’s mind, and seeking power, the Party has centralized control over its

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