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Examples Of Totalitarianism In 1984

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According to Merriam-Webster, totalitarianism is defined as “the political concept that the citizen should be totally subject to an absolute state authority.” This concept has been used in countries including North Korea, the Soviet Union, and Iraq, by the leaders, Kim Jong Un, Joseph Stalin, and Saddam Hussein, respectively. In addition, totalitarianism is a prevalent concept in George Orwell’s 1984, due to the repressive nature of the Party. This is exemplified in their use of censorship, indoctrination, secret police, and other methods of absolute control. The totalitarian government shown in North Korea, Iraq, the Soviet Union, as well as in George Orwell’s 1984, is unethical and infringes on the people’s basic rights as stated by “The …show more content…

In North Korea, citizens have no civil liberties and are constantly oppressed by the absolute government under which they are ruled. A prime example of the North Korean government’s totalitarian methods is the State Security Department. The State Security Department (SSD) is one of the chief agencies security and intelligence agencies in North Korea. Inside the SSD, are secret police forces, tasked with enforcing the views of the government, which promote the establishment of the Kim family rule. These secret police forces survey civilians, along with investigating political and economic crimes. In addition to the secret police, North Korea also uses heavy methods of censorship including the regime’s sole ownership of all domestic news outlets, the reservation of Internet for the elites, and restriction of arts. These autocratic practices greatly infringe on the basic rights of …show more content…

It shared key elements, including the methods of totalitarian control with which, citizens were deprived of basic rights and autocratic, oppressive views were enforced. For example, similar to the secret police forces in North Korea, the thought police was constantly surveying citizens, watching for political and economic crimes for which they were quick to punish. Next, parallelly to the USSR, in which children were indoctrinated into claiming loyalty to the government, the Party in 1984 changes information of the past to suit their false claims. This information is taught to students and children who grow up in a society of lies, unlike that of the USSR. Lastly, similar to Iran, brutal methods of torture and persecution were relied upon. Anyone who even posed interference with the maintenance of the Party’s absolute rule was tortured until their loyalty to Big Brother was unquestionable and reintegrated into society. This is not unlike Iran, under Saddam Hussein’s rule, as Saddam Hussein relied on torture to reaffirm beliefs of the government and only once that was accomplished could prisoners walk

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With technology comes knowledge, which comes power. In the documentary about North Korea, Kim Jong-un, the supreme leader, takes societies technology away. Without the technology, they must rely on the supreme leaders to relay information back to them. Thus, leading the citizens to believe anything the so-called leader says is true. Meaning that the leaders could and will tell the citizens whatever they please.

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The main way they do this is through destroying books and creating their own to make it look like the government is only doing this to help the people. Both 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 make it clear that the first thing a totalitarian government will do is corrupting the educational process. With a corrupt education, the youth will be brought up to believe that their government is perfect and there is no reason to question what they are doing and why. In 1984 the party altered history so much that it caused people to believe that the world was a terrible place before the government ever took control. In Fahrenheit 451 the government made the people believe that the only thing reading brought to the people was sorrow and depression.

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A totalitarian government requires its citizens to be recluse, fearful and hateful to remain in power. In 1984, a novel by George Orwell, the ruling party breaks conventional relationships such as families to refocus all the trust and love in those relationships to Big Brother. They also create fear and use it in excess to control the citizens and their actions but most importantly, the strongest emotion that the party uses in their favor is hate. Hate along with fear, and the lack of strength in traditional relationships allows the government to have absolute control over its citizens, which it needs to remain in power. First, the party disconnects traditional bonds and relationships in order redirect all love, devotion and trust

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The excerpts “Total Control in North Korea” and “1984” reveal the extreme methods that governments can use to control their citizens. Both texts explore the theme of government control and the impact it has on individuals and society as a whole. “Total Control in North Korea” describes the harsh reality of life under the North Korean regime. The government in North Korea exercises total control over its citizens, using propaganda, censorship, and surveillance to maintain power. The text explains that North Koreans are not allowed to access the internet, and only a select few have access to a state-controlled intranet that is heavily censored.

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The words of the Party’s doctrine cause a more painful effect than physical control because it has lasting outcome that destroys the citizens psychologically. By the Party falsifying history and making contradictions to reality, it makes its citizens suffer using mind control. In George Orwell’s 1984, the government uses both psychological manipulation and physical control to control its citizens, although psychological manipulation is more effective and can be a result of physical control. Psychological manipulation is “a type of social influence that aims to change the behavior or perception of others through abusive, deceptive, or underhanded tactics”(Lieurance 2). Slogans, mind control, propaganda, and psychological pain that stems from physical torture are all examples of psychological manipulation in 1984.

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