Nena Kaushal
Dr. Seyer
HWC 110
November 21, 2014
The Importance of History George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984 presents the role of history, or lack thereof, under the rule of a certain type of government. Totalitarianism and history are the two major themes of the novel and they go hand in hand with the message that Orwell tries to send to readers. Published in a time when WWII had just ended, 1984 carries a strong political message; totalitarianism must be crushed while democracy must be upheld. The world that Winston Smith lives in operates under a totalitarian style government simply known as the Party. The elite members of a sect known as the Inner Party hold all the influence on what the government does and how it rules the country …show more content…
Propaganda and surveillance are two of the biggest ways that the Party controlled its citizens. Citizens under Hitler's Nazi Germany regime were tricked in many ways into believing the ideas imposed upon them. For example, the Nazi euthanasia program Aktion T4, under the guise of hospitals, were used as killing centers for sick and disabled newborns, and eventually older disabled children and adults (lecture 11/18). German citizens blindly believed what the government told them about the hospitals until upon closer inspection they realized the truth. In the same way in 1984, people are constantly being spied on by the government for details which might give them away as being traitors to the party. The biggest crime one could commit was thoughtcrime. A new language was even being created to eliminate chance of intelligent thinking and communication by destroying the original language, "Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it" (1984, pg. 52). Located in most private and public places, are the two way telescreens used to spy on all citizens of Oceania, "The telescreens received and submitted simultaneously. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork. It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time" (1984, pg. 3). The Thought Police were a group whose goals were to spy on, scare, and arrest people guilty of crimes. Similar terror groups were also in the Italian fascist regime; they were known as the Blackshirts and they engaged in similar operations as the Thought Police (lecture 11/13). This notion of an ever-present and watchful leader helped to create fear in
Dr. Seyer
HWC 110
November 21, 2014
The Importance of History George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984 presents the role of history, or lack thereof, under the rule of a certain type of government. Totalitarianism and history are the two major themes of the novel and they go hand in hand with the message that Orwell tries to send to readers. Published in a time when WWII had just ended, 1984 carries a strong political message; totalitarianism must be crushed while democracy must be upheld. The world that Winston Smith lives in operates under a totalitarian style government simply known as the Party. The elite members of a sect known as the Inner Party hold all the influence on what the government does and how it rules the country …show more content…
Propaganda and surveillance are two of the biggest ways that the Party controlled its citizens. Citizens under Hitler's Nazi Germany regime were tricked in many ways into believing the ideas imposed upon them. For example, the Nazi euthanasia program Aktion T4, under the guise of hospitals, were used as killing centers for sick and disabled newborns, and eventually older disabled children and adults (lecture 11/18). German citizens blindly believed what the government told them about the hospitals until upon closer inspection they realized the truth. In the same way in 1984, people are constantly being spied on by the government for details which might give them away as being traitors to the party. The biggest crime one could commit was thoughtcrime. A new language was even being created to eliminate chance of intelligent thinking and communication by destroying the original language, "Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it" (1984, pg. 52). Located in most private and public places, are the two way telescreens used to spy on all citizens of Oceania, "The telescreens received and submitted simultaneously. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork. It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time" (1984, pg. 3). The Thought Police were a group whose goals were to spy on, scare, and arrest people guilty of crimes. Similar terror groups were also in the Italian fascist regime; they were known as the Blackshirts and they engaged in similar operations as the Thought Police (lecture 11/13). This notion of an ever-present and watchful leader helped to create fear in