1984 Totalitarian Government

1271 Words6 Pages
Totalitarian Government’s Effect on Citizens in Nineteen Eighty-Four
According to a definition from dictionary, Totalitarianism is a system of government that is centralized and dictatorial and requires complete subservience to the state. How the social/physical regime of totalitarian government affects the society is well shown in the book Nineteen Eighty-Four written by George Orwell. Winston, the protagonist who is secretly against the party, falls in love with Julia and ends up getting caught by ‘the party,’ the totalitarian government. By looking closely at his experience in the book, aspects of totalitarian government can be organized in detail. The party in the book inspires their citizens to obey the party by monitoring , limiting consciousness, and torturing them.
Totalitarian government monitors its citizens so they don’t rebel. The three most useful ways to monitor them are to use telescreen, slogans, and Thought Police. Telescreen monitors citizens 24/7 and inspires fear. In that reason, Winston “kept his back turned to the telescreen. It was safer, though, as he well knew, even a back can be revealing” (Orwell 3). Winston fears the party and thinks that even turning the back from the telescreen can be ‘rebellious’. Winston often does things that are regarded as rebellious; he writes how the party is doing is wrong on his diary. But he tells no one about his thoughts because he is afraid of Thought Police who is a secret police in the book, they discover and