The Man In The High Castle And 1984 Comparison Essay

The Man in The High Castle written by Philip K. Dick and 1984 written by George Orwell are two well known dystopian books that investigates the dangers of totalitarianism and authoritarian control. Both books take place in a society full of mayhem, where freedom and individuality is forbidden and the government exerts complete control over its citizens. The two stories differ in the way that they portray the government, the technology they use to control the populace, and the attitudes of the central characters.
In The Man In The High Castle, the author anticipates a future in which the Axis forces won World War II, splitting the United States into two parts: the Japanese-controlled West Coast and the Nazi-controlled East Coast, with a neutral

The government keeps individuals under observation using surveillance cameras and radio broadcasts. To further assert control over the public, the government also deploys a group of enforcers known as the Kempeitai, “We do not have the ideal world, such as we would like, where morality is easy because cognition is easy. Where one can do right with no effort because he can detect the obvious” (Dick, 260). This excerpt explains how the population is manipulated by the government. The citizens know that they do not live in an ideal world, but are yet unable to change it. Tagomi, Trade Minister of the Japanese Pacific States, has strongly negative feelings towards his government, and begins to question his own reality and societal role, “We're blind moles. Creeping through the soil, feeling with our snoots. We know nothing. I perceived this... now I don't know where to go. Screech with fear, only.

The main characters' attitudes towards the repressive governments they live under varies between the two novels. The characters in The Man in the High Castle are in constant quarrel with the authorities. Juliana Frink is dedicated to fighting for her independence, and joins a resistance organization. The Grasshopper Lies Heavy is a book (in-universe) which portrays an alternate reality in which the Axis powers are overthrown and defeated. Frink is eager to find the elusive author, known only as ‘the man in the high castle.’ In contrast to Juliana, Robert Childan continuously struggles with his feelings and emotions for the Japanese throughout the novel. He is torn between disliking them, because he must obey, and idolizing their absolute power, “Life is short, he thought. Art, or something not life, is long, stretching out endless, like a concrete worm. Flat, white, unsmoothed by any passage over or across it. Here I stand. But no longer. Taking the small box, he put the Edfrank Jewelry piece away in his coat pocket” (183). Childan is pushed over the edge when Paul, a client of his, unintentionally offends him by joking that the Edfrank Jewelry might be mass-produced and offered for sale as a lucky charm. Robert demands an apology from Paul for implying that American art is only useful for copying, which is a sharp departure from his customary