Love is a powerful emotion. It is a feeling that encourage strength and unity amongst people. In a totalitarian regime, unity amongst citizens is encouraged if all the devotedness is for one person, the totalitarian leader. To be loved is to have strength and control over the person who is providing the love. However, when different intimate relationships form, they impede the leader’s full control because other people and things become more important. Examples of love, or lack of love, in a totalitarian government is shown in the classic dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. Nineteen Eighty-Four, by George Orwell, is a story about Winston Smith, a low-ranking member of the dictating Party, and his struggles against a government who has control over his well-being, actions, and thoughts. The Party works to control physical and emotional sensations of love and pleasure in Oceania. The presence of these intimate feelings provides …show more content…
In Nineteen Eighty-Four, the Party does everything in their control to repress love and pleasure in order to direct those emotions into war-fever and admiration for Big Brother. The Party’s regime is all powerful, and ultimately wins against Winston’s defiance when he betrays his love for Julia. Written almost 70 years ago, Nineteen Eighty-Four remains significant as many speculate whether society is becoming the Party’s totalitarian regime. Technology has advanced to become drastically similar to Oceania’s surveillance system such as devices with cameras and the ability to track our locations at any point. However, American society is still very far away from the violent, nightmarish totalitarian regime that Orwell predicted (Crouch). One would hope that the world is still far off from the living standards of Oceania. But whether Big Brother will come into existence or 24-hour surveillance gains popularity is up to time to