Similarities Between 1984 And Totalitarianism

Throughout history, governments have depended on the stability of society to maintain power. However, this stability often has consequences for citizens of the society. To ensure that the stability of society is maintained, many governments turn to totalitarianism and authoritarianism. As a result of either form of government, governments obtain stability at the expense of personal freedoms. By restricting personal freedoms, the government is able to enforce strict obedience, maintaining its control of power over society. In these situations, the cost of stability is the personal freedoms of the citizens. George Orwell explores the cost of stability in his novel 1984 which describes the totalitarian state of Oceania. In Oceania, the Party controls

Patriotism is instilled into the children of Oceania from a young age as they are taught to value the Party over their parents and direct all of their passion and love toward the Party. Similar to 1984, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World describes the World State, a totalitarian state in which the citizens are conditioned into ideal citizens of the State. The government of the State removes all traces of non-Fordian ideas such as Shakespearean literature because of their ability to cause instability. Not only does the State control the literature available in the World State but also the lives of the citizens. Starting from birth, all choices regarding their lives are made for them and they are psychologically manipulated until they are incapable of holding any thoughts other than those provided by the State. Additionally, the State prevents the citizens from feeling negative emotions through conditioning and soma, and the State also prohibits passion and love through discouraging monogamous relationships and the idea of

In 1984, the Party prevents rebellious thoughts from arising by limiting the vocabulary of the citizens. While Syme and Winston have lunch together, they discuss the recent punishments given to thought-criminals as well as Syme’s progress with the Newspeak Dictionary that he is compiling. Syme speaks of the destruction of unnecessary words and as an expert on Newspeak, he believes that “the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought[.] In the end [the Party] shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it . . . The Revolution will be complete when the language is perfect. Newspeak is Ingsoc and Ingsoc is Newspeak” (Orwell 67). Through the viewpoint of Syme, it is evident that the Party’s control over the language of the citizens ensures the stability of society since it “make[s] thoughtcrime literally impossible” (Orwell 67) through preventing thought-criminals from expressing rebellious thoughts or influencing others with their ideas. This idea is reinforced by the idea that “[t]he Revolution will be complete when the language is complete” (Orwell 67) which carries the meaning that only when the language of the citizens consists only of words approved by the Party can the stability of society be