The theme of totalitarianism is a prominent theme in this 20th century novel. 1984 by George Orwell features a futuristic dictatorship where humanity is controlled by the government. In Oceania, The Party is the ruling assembly, whose head is Big Brother, that controls all aspects of human life, from action to thought. Big Brother employs a vast army of informers, called the Thought Police, who monitor the people of Oceania and use devices such as telescreens to detect possible signs of unorthodoxy towards Big Brother and The Party. “Winston turned a switch and the voice sank somewhat, though the words were still distinguishable. The instrument (the telescreen it was called) could be dimmed, but there was no way of shutting it off completely.” (p. 4)
The Party’s aim is to demolish any potential unorthodoxy by destroying the language, history and cultu
The Party channels its citizens pent up frustration and emotion into hate for its enemies. The “Two Minutes Hate” exposed Emmanuel Goldstein as the ultimate traitor of The Party and during this two minutes, the citizens of Oceania let out all of their frustrations as hate towards the traitor. “Goldstien was the renegade and backslider who once, long ago (how long ago, nobody quite remembered), had been one of the leading figures of The Party, almost on a level with Big Brother himself, and then had engaged in counter-revolutionary activities, had been condemned to death and had mysteriously escaped and disappeared.” (p.13) This is a form of brainwashing to get the people to convert to The Party’s regime. If they refuse to convert or display negative thought or action towards The Party, the government uses torture to brainwash them. “We do not destro
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