Totalitarianism In 1984

For as long as humans have existed, stories have provided a foundation for morality. Classics are stories which are perennial, because they reveal aspects of the human condition, warning us about past mistakes. George Orwell’s 1984 is an example of a timeless classic. The book was created in 1949, following the rise of dictators such as Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. At the time, the rise of these dictators created a fear that right winged socialism would become a global phenomenon. In response to this, Orwell creates a dystopian society ruled by a totalitarian socialist group. Through the motifs in the book, Orwell illustrates to his audience about the dangers of a totalitarian state. In general, he warns society about a possible near future …show more content…
We need to take action before the horrible scenarios predicted by Orwell become more than a reality.
Orwell predicts the foreseeable future as empty. This is due to the suppression of a far right winged socialist party, under the guidance Big Brother. Humans are robotic, brainwashed into following the orders of an omnipotent deity named ‘Big Brother’. Rational individualist holding opinions opposing INSOC are ‘vaporised’ from existence. There is nothing but ‘Big Brother’ and the Party. Orwell uses motifs throughout the book such as ‘Newspeak’ and the Telescreens, to develop the dystopian future with the reader. Newspeak’ is a motif created by Orwell to foreground a future where information is controlled. Throughout the book, INGSOC propagates that ‘Newspeak’ will be of benefit to Oceania. In reality, ‘Newspeak’ is used as a tool by INGSOC to control thoughts and information. ‘Newspeak’ is a language made up of neutral words. Prefixes and suffixes are added onto words to negate or emphasize them, and expressive words are limited. INGSOC does this on purpose. By limiting expressive words, and refining vocabulary into neutral constructs, the party is able to …show more content…
In the modern world, technology has redefined our lifestyles. However, in the face of this centurial movement there is a dark side. Government agencies are using this technology as a medium for surveillance. In particular, smartphones are being used by the NSA and FBI to gather personal information without individual consent. The U.S. Commerce Department's security office warns that, "a cellular telephone can be turned into a microphone and transmitter for the purpose of listening to conversations in the vicinity of the phone” (McCullagh, 2006). Surveillance today is not confined to only mobile devices, it appears in CCTV cameras. There are an estimated 30 million surveillance cameras deployed in the United States shooting 4 billion hours of footage a week (Vlahos, 2009). An average American citizen can be caught on camera more than 75 times a day (feed, 2015). These disturbing facts illustrate a society under constant surveillance, similar to the Orwellian state in 1984. Realising the unethical motives of surveillance agencies, whistle-blowers have attempted to raise awareness on websites such as WikiLeaks. Activists such as Julian Assange and Edward Snowden are examples of individuals who have demonstrated awareness of personal surveillance. Both of them are now diplomatic prisoners due to exposing the unethical motives of Government agencies. Speaking from Moscow, where he is being held due to allegations from

Show More