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How Did George Orwell Become Totalitarians

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Sitting in a dark room, thoughts swirling about how all that is left is work, no family; the world is grey, and all brightness is long gone. In Orwell’s dystopian novel, 1984, he portrayed the society leaders as totalitarians. Rewriting history, constant surveillance, and the cutting of family ties were all examples of how the government system in the story, referred to as the Party, was able to dehumanize the people of Oceania.
The Party set standards to control people’s minds such as rewrite history and create their own laws. Eventually, it became an admitted part of life that reality did not exist. All of society became so ignorant that acceptance was second nature, “In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it… Not merely the validity of external reality was tacitly denied by their philosophy.” (Orwell 79). No benefit is given from being a human sponge, vulnerable to complete mind control. Doublethink was a way of speaking in society. It forced humans to rebut their own thoughts, but regardless say them anyway; “Doublethink means the …show more content…

The government took over the entirety of people, making them their slaves. Minds were controlled, souls were perished and bodies were taken advantage of. Humans were no longer humans when manipulated in such ways. Targeting every aspect of a human, the society in 1984 completely atomized all citizens. Having had this be the way of life since day one, there was no way to comprehend right from wrong, or reasonable from absurd. Ignorance is considered bliss? Manipulation is acceptable? Love is wrong? One may find it better to have your back turned to the person with the gun pointed at you, but as a human being it is more empowering to be able to look the shooter in the eyes before they pull the trigger, to challenge them with just a mere second of eye contact, to be able to have control of your mind, body and

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In 1984, George Orwell shows how a totalitarian dystopia can mentally control its citizens through devices such as indoctrination and abuse. The main character, Winston, spends the majority of the book trying to gain power back from the Big Brother, the supposed leader of Oceania and the face of the ruling Party. Despite his best efforts, Winston’s rebellion fails and he ends up back under the control of Big Brother. The Party psychologically oppresses the citizens of Oceania, forcing them to believe in their societal values. All rebellion is rendered void because all the people have become Big Brother’s spies.

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1984 follows a man named Winston Smith who resides in Oceania, a country ran by a totalitarian government called INGSOC. The government controls almost every aspect of peoples’ lives and going against the government results in elimination or torture. Surprisingly, 1984 relates significantly to several of today’s societies and governments, including the United States, Russia, Cuba, and North Korea in ways of mass mind control, electronic intrusion, and endless war. The USA PATRIOT Act allows the government to get a hold of an individual’s private records without a warrant.

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One of the most notable themes in 1984 is George Orwell’s depiction of conformity. Conformity means to behave in accordance with socially acceptable conventions. In 1984, the party sets laws and brings in technology that forces the population into conforming. This is done so that they can control the population easier, and manipulate them into believing the party’s ideals. To do this, they firstly make everyone wear the same clothes, eat the same food, and live in the same conditions.

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In the novel 1984, by George Orwell, he uses truth and reality as a theme throughout the novel to demonstrate the acts of betrayal and loyalty through the characters of Winston and Julia. Orwell expresses these themes through the Party, who controls and brainwashes the citizens of Oceania. The party is able to control its citizens through “Big Brother,” a fictional character who is the leader of Oceania. Big Brother is used to brainwash the citizens into whatever he says. Orwell uses truth and reality in this book to reflect on what has happened in the real world such as the Holocaust and slavery.

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In the book 1984 by George Orwell (1949) , the government uses physical and mental methods to control the citizens of Oceania. Orwell portrays an undemocratic government, INGSOC (English Socialism), ruled by a dictator they call big brother. Who seems to have the power to control and the right to anything possible. All the people in Oceania have no freedom at all. The government have physical and mental methods of controlling the population.

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Living through the first half of the twentieth century, George Orwell watched the rise of totalitarian regimes in Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Soviet Union. Fighting in Spain, he witnessed the brutalities of the fascists and Stalinists first hand. His experiences awakened him to the evils of a totalitarian government. In his novel 1984, Orwell paints a dark and pessimistic vision of the future where society is completely controlled by a totalitarian government. He uses symbolism and the character’s developments to show the nature of total power in a government and the extremes it will go through to retain that power by repressing individual freedom and the truth.

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