Kaylee Henderson Mrs. Cooper English 12 13 January 2023 The Resemblance Between 1984 and Today’s Societies Although George Orwell wrote the novel 1984 as a warning of what the world may become, the world still continued to develop in the way he predicted. The themes mentioned in the novel, 1984, are still extremely prevalent in today’s societies as seen in China, Turkey, North Korea, the United States of America, and Russia. The political structure of China is similar to the political structure of Oceania. This political structure is a basic one-party system. The ultimate goal of this system is to “cause more peace” and make a hard-working, reliable, society. When interviewed about the primary focus of China’s one party system, the President …show more content…
Continuous monitoring of citizens and filtering content they are able to digest is common in both Oceania and North Korea. This is proven when Orwell claims in his novel, 1984, “The invention of print, however, made it easier to manipulate public opinion, and the film and the radio carried the process further.” (Orwell 259). Orwell also further explains this strategy when he states, “Every citizen, or at least every citizen important enough to be worth watching, could be kept for twenty-four hours a day under the eyes of the police and in the sound of official propaganda, with all other channels of communication closed.“ (Orwell 260). This filtering and censoring keeps the victims under the effect of the propaganda and prevents them from forming differing opinions. North Korea participates in a similar procedure of having citizens under the influence of propaganda. In an article by the BBC, the anonymous author reports, “One radio network is wired into most residences and workplaces. This carries news and commentary that is considered too sensitive for consumption outside North Korea, such as criticizing economic activities that are inconsistent with national …show more content…
Both the United States and Oceania have used war as a tool to build their economies. Even though this method of using war is dangerous, it is extremely effective in seeing results of economic and social growth. “America's response to World War II was the most extraordinary mobilization of an idle economy in the history of the world. During the war 17 million new civilian jobs were created, industrial productivity increased by 96 percent, and corporate profits after taxes doubled.” (Goodwin). Orwell suggests in his novel 1984, “War, however, is no longer the desperate, annihilating struggle that it was in the early decades of the twentieth century.” (Orwell 235). Here Orwell implies that war is no longer for conflict but instead for economic and social