V For Vendetta And 1984 Comparison Essay

The totalitarian societies present in 1984 and V for Vendetta are nearly parallelled in their government structures, propaganda and surveillance; however, the miniscule, subtle differences, easy to overlook, in the “heroes” and the ideologies of their governing officials--thought control and fear control--prove remarkably vital in why one revolution fails while the other prevails. London lays our Dystopian scenes in both 1984 and V for Vendetta. Oceania is subjected under the totalitarian rule of Big Brother, much akin to the Chancellor of England. The Chancellor keeps in contact with a panel of trusted men, second place in the hierarchical system of power present, and are comparable to the inner party members of Oceania. In the third tier of both works sits the Party members: government employees who serve

However, the last tier belongs to the citizens of Oceania and England, referred to in 1984 as “proles.” This group is the main subject of the totalitarian control and the source of these governments’ powers. The living conditions in both societies are equally bland. In 1984, Julia steals bread from the Inner Party: a luxury they were not able to enjoy. V actively steals butter and other ‘delicacies’ from the Chancellor himself. Under the Chancellor’s government, the “Ministry of Objectionable Materials” is responsible for harboring art and historical pieces in an effort to erase the past. In addition, Music may be “blacklisted” and banned from the government, the primary example being V’s favorite song, a work by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the 1812 overture, that is blacklisted after it is blasted through the streets of London during V’s first terrorist attack displayed in the film. The concept of these “ministries” that hold control of different aspects of, essentially, people’s lives is