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Totalitarianism In 1984 By George Orwell

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In his novel, “1984,” renowned author George Orwell expands on the extent to which an oppressive regime can affect the lives of people. Orwell's experiences with political turmoil during the Spanish Civil War would eventually evolve into a dislike for communists, fascists, and dishonest politicians. Orwell can be deemed a modern Democratic Socialist who urges people to be literate in language; he argued the mastery of language can reflect intelligence. Orwell warns the reader of the dangers of totalitarianism in 1984, through describing a dystopian future state of Oceania that has absolute control over the thoughts, language, and narratives of society and is characterized by perpetual warfare and government oppression. Orwell dictates the …show more content…

Despite the description of a society that lacks sophistication, the party uses modern technology in the form of telescreens to control the masses. Through the telescreen, which is placed in every household and public place, the party can monitor the activities of every citizen. In this society, there is no privacy. The government, in it's attempt to create a uniform and obedient society, prevents any acts that may resemble heresy. Using the telescreen, the government instills fear into the people, making them aware of whether or not their actions may come across as rebellious. In addition to the telescreens, the people are reminded of their constant monitoring through posters with images that remind them of how Big Brother is omniscient. This further causes citizens to become hyper-aware, having to constantly reconsider what they say and …show more content…

One's ability to speak affects the quality of the thought process. With this ideal in mind, the party is determined to limit vocabulary and speech. Words that may evoke certain thoughts and have different interpretations are removed and replaced with vocabulary that is more limited in number, but concrete in meaning.
Negative words such as “bad” are removed because they are considered superfluous when one can simply say “ungood”. Instead of developing a new language, Newspeak enables the government to reduce language to the point where it is only capable of expressing favorable ideas relating to the party. Newspeak, while limiting self expression, also limits the capacity of human thought; the spreading of ideas is eliminated and the developing of one's own ideas is severely limited because of the lack of means to develop knowledge. “1984” portrays a society where people have lost all personal freedom and unknowingly live in oppression. Through “1984,” Orwell argues that individuals should not give up their liberties in hopes that a government, through total control, can correct the issues of a society. Through describing how Big Brother utilizes telescreens, the Thought Police, Junior Spies, and other organizations, Orwell delineates the extremes to which totalitarian states will go in order to secure absolute uniformity and total

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(Orwell 3-4). In 1984, telescreens are everywhere, they speak, record, and scan all areas within its reach. These are designed to spy on people, never allowing anyone to ever be alone, lessening the number of people that will rebel against Big Brother. Society is constantly around technology (not much of a choice), people are thought police that will see that you are guilty of committing a thought crime (thinking any bad thought against Big Brother). In this novel, thoughts are not private anymore.

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The Party uses the telescreens to watch and listen to almost every room in every building in Oceania at all hours of the day. The Party observes everything the people do and will arrest them if the telescreen captures anything of which the Party disapproves. The Party sells the surveillance as a way to provide security and catch criminals, but actually uses it to capture anyone who may not fully support the Party which eliminates all freedom for the people of Oceania because Big Brother is always watching for any disloyalty. Party members accept the surveillance because they have nothing to hide and think it will help keep the Party safe, but this leads them to be found guilty of something they did not know was wrong; as Ben Franklin said, "Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” People have an absolute right to freedom of belief and a right to freedom of action, but the constant surveillance prevents that.

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The totalitarian government creates a great concern for the freedom of thought and expression where there is assumed all right-wing individuals that will accept ideas without question. In George Orwell’s, 1984, the Party controls everyone to make them live in a dictatorial regime where nothing done is doubted. The Ministry of Truth is responsible for the propaganda and historical revisionism, used to rewrite history and change information to fit into the Party’s system. The leader of the Party, Big Brother, is the God in Oceania and is well admired as the protector of the people, controlling the population. The Party has put into place a set dictionary that continues to be revised of words to limit the thought of the people of Oceania.

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Imagine being followed everywhere by a government agent. They’re watching your every move, and they’ll report you if you even make a wrong facial movement. This is essentially the case in George Orwell’s novel, 1984. Run by an English socialist government called the Party, the people’s every move is watched through telescreens. Citizens are not individual, but rather an extension of the Party.

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If words are removed that can be used in a negative way than once they all are removed there is only words that can be used positively. In 1984 we see this by Oldspeak turning into Newspeak. We see Winston work on the Old Speak to get rid of any words the government thinks can be used negatively towards them. The narrator stats, “ ake ‘good,’ for instance. If you have a word like ‘good,’ what need is there for a word like ‘bad’?

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George Orwell’s 1984 is a precautionary tale of what happens when the government has too much control in our lives. The protagonist, Winston Smith, is at odds in a world in which he is not allowed to counter the government’s surveillance and control. Perhaps more striking is the noticeable relationship between the novel and modern society. In George Orwell’s novel 1984 the book predicts the surveillance of Big Brother in modern day societies.

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Nowadays, we live in a democratic state, in which we can express ourselves, to act and to protest if we do not comply with the laws. We can move freely, without being anxious that we will be denounced to the police for breaking the rules. In ‘1984’ by George Orwell the situation is different: Big Brother is watching you, the Thought Police could be ubiquitous, even your children accuse you.

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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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Ingsoc as a totalitarian ideology Introduction George Orwell’s classic 1984 written in the year 1949 tells the story of a dystopian society under a totalitarian regime. The novel is set in Airstrip One, formerly known as Great Britain, which is a province of the super-state called Oceania. The throne of power is epitomized by Big Brother, the quasi-divine cult leader who is at the same time infallible as well as invisible. Orwell in 1984 depicts a dystopia which is riddled by perpetual wars, omnipresent government surveillance, manipulation and historical revisionism.

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By limiting the vocabulary, Newspeak is essentially “unintelligible” and hence controls the people’s understanding of the real world. Orwell emphasises that language is of utmost importance as it structures and limits the ideas individuals are capable of formulating and expressing. In 1984, language is used as a ‘mind control tool’. The party slogan, “war is peace, freedom is

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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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Comparisons between the world that Orwell described and current world activities can be made. The novel 1984 depicts a totalitarianistic government which can be related to historical events such as World War II, and to events that are currently happening today such as the NSA and the spying incidents that occurred in the United States. The novel of 1984 displays themes of totalitarianism. One example directly from the novel 1984 is this quote written by the author George Orwell; “Down in the street little eddies of wind were whirling dust and torn paper into spirals, and though the sun was shining and the sky a harsh blue, there seemed to be no color in anything, except the posters that were plastered everywhere.

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Language and thought were always seen as two different processes, where thought was always taken as the main process. Language was just seen as means of communication, a process of expressing our thoughts to other people, and so, a thought came first, which means that language was developed as that thought was put to words. But then, we later realized that the way a person speaks affects the way they think, and that people of different languages think in different ways. That is why in George Orwell’s 1984, the INGSOC Party used language to manipulate and eradicate personal thought for political purposes; they developed a new language called Newspeak, with the intention and aim of obtaining total control and make any other thought impossible. The Party’s replacement of Oldspeak by Newspeask made many thought words impossible and was therefore used as a mechanism of control.

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How Does 1984 Conform to, or Deviate From, the Conventions of Dystopia, and For What Purpose? 1984 was written by George Orwell in 1948 and it is a dystopian novel. The novel takes place in a futuristic time period in a section of the world called “Oceania”. Oceania is led by the Party, whose leader is Big Brother, and they control everything that happens in Oceania. The Party and Big Brother are constantly watching their citizens through telescreens, which are large screens that are placed throughout Oceania like modern day surveillance cameras.

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