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Totalitarianism In 1984

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When one trusts completely in another, one will full heartedly believe anything the other has to say. This can be seen in relationships when couples trust one another. In families, mothers and fathers trust their daughters and sons. In the novel 1984, written by George Orwell, this idea of complete trust is exemplified in the trust of the citizens of Oceania in the Party. The majority of the individuals in the novel are completely devoted to the government that rules them. Orwell describes this government as a totalitarian one that should be disliked; however, it is almost untouched by any plots to overthrow it. Orwell shows how this is possible through the thoughts and events of the main character’s life. The totalitarian government of Oceania …show more content…

The citizens of Oceania are being monitored every second in at least some form. The Party is able to do this because of the technology that they have, such as the telescreens. These telescreens are placed in every household and any noise that is made can be picked up and any movement in view of the telescreen can be seen as well (3). This makes it impossible for any single person to conspire against Big Brother because they are always being watched. Eventually, the Party finds those who conspire against it because the surveillance the party has is impeccable. Because of this, not a soul was safe. An individual, like Winston, needed to be completely alert and focused to make sure that they could not be detected by the telescreens. Winston describes that “it was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away,” (62). This action of betraying the Party with the emotions of one’s face, which is called Facecrime, can be easily picked up by the telescreens and can lead to the total disappearance of an individual. Not only do the telescreens watch people, but the Thought Police is enlisted by the Party to seek out those that could be conspiring against Big Brother. They were unknown and “there was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment,” (3). These people that worked as the Thought Police were unknown by any citizen, making it so that it was impossible to trust whomever individual one spoke to. This made it so that all individuals would not think to conspire against the Party because it was impossible not to be detected by the telescreen or the Thought Police. Along with having the telescreens and the Thought Police physically watching every move an individual makes, the posters of Big Brother

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