Ms. Brown
10/20/14
The Dangers of Totalitarian Regimes
In the omnisciently ruled world of 1984’s Oceania, people are constantly living in fear of doing or saying something wrong, mere thoughts can be incriminating. Even worse, any bad thoughts may have you made into an “unperson”. All is seen by telescreens watching every facial expression and taking note of any and all movement. Even in your home there is no escape. You are incapable of getting away from Telescreen and "Big Brother". This is a novel depicting the dangers of totalitarian government and the power of knowledge.
The novel is supposed to be prophetic, Similar to Kubricks 2001, however, it struck out in predicting the date when we would see this totalitarian regime …show more content…
'Who controls the past' ran the Party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.'" (37)
Though this society is efficient, it means little since the people cannot enjoy freedom. This quote emphasizes how to forget the past is to forget one's mistakes and as such to never learn.
In this novel, Orwell used the image of a man standing in a shadow that covered his face. This was to make him anonymous. This figure was called "Big Brother", and was placed on posters everywhere with the saying "BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU." This was used to let the people know that no matter where they go, they could not escape omnipotent presence of government. "If the Party could thrust its hand into the past and say this or that even, it never happened-that, surely, was more terrifying than mere torture and death." (37)
The government was divided into four parts. The ministry of Truth, where Winston worked, where he was in charge of education of others and destruction of the past. The ministry of peace, which was in command of war. The ministry of plenty, which was controlled economic affairs and finally the ministry of love, which was focussed on law, order, and …show more content…
placed by the government in order to see what is being discussed by the citizens. He also tells of the daily occurrence, "The Two Minutes of hate." This event happens at a specified time in which people assembled in front of a large telescreen where pictures of terrible events in their history would be shown with the face of a man who is lothed by all. The mans name was Emmanuel Goldstein and was considered the number one enemy of the people. The people could have several different reactions without arousing suspicion. You could boo him, scream at him, or become