It is easy to slip into a habit of ignorance. Biased sources, familiar opinions, and contrived “facts” make an idea easy to believe. People can be controlled through different tactics like massive propaganda, leader glorification, and perpetual war. Today, countries like North Korea are forced into states of orthodoxy--blind acceptance of a norm. Those in power work to perpetuate their holds on a people: power to perpetuate power. The world portrayed In 1984 by George Orwell plays off this power in a horrifying way. Orthodoxy so pure it has become thoughtlessness, perpetual war enough to keep people in fear, and unwavering submission to Big Brother all drive Orwell’s society, and many societies today hold glaring similarities to this dystopia.
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Reverence for Big Brother, their leader, is ingrained in the society. Whether it be in hate week or common speech, Big Brother is omnipresent. The citizens of Oceania’s reverence is most apparent in the daily two minutes of hate citizens must undergo as “an act of self-hypnosis” to favor Big Brother and revile his enemies (16). Similarly, in North Korea, all citizens are indoctrinated to love Kim Jong-Un. The two minutes of hate is replaced with a chant school children must complete at the beginning of each school week. Rather than hate week, the government mandated holiday in North Korea was Kim Jong-Un and Il’s birthdays (A State of Mind). Glorification of a state, or by extension, a leader of said state, however, is not limited to forcing positive image but extends to rooting out negative image. In both 1984 and North Korea there is action to stop those against the party in power. In 1984, "the Ministry of Love maintained law and order" by torturing criminals into submission (4). Winston as a thought criminal underwent this process. Likewise, rejection of the state in North Korea has dire consequences like extensive torture, public mutilation, or execution ("The Secret State of North Korea"). Often in North Korea, while families for generations are imprisoned as a result of the actions of one. This idea of glorification of a State is not new. Whereas in the US making fun of …show more content…
For instance, every couple years, the US seems to go to war for a different reason and with a different enemy. Oceania in 1984, "though strictly speaking it [was] not always the same war" had been “in one combination or another, [..] permanently at war” (33, 185). Furthermore, every couple of years, alliances shifted and Oceania was at war with someone else, only four years prior Oceania having been at peace with Eastasia and at war with Eurasia (34). In the same way, North Korea is always at war with the United States, citing the United States imperialists at fault for starvation and unrest within the state (A State of Mind). These wars work to direct the fear of the citizens to the enemy so they seek protection in the state. Both North Korea and Oceania use wartime techniques to put their citizens in fear. "The rocket bombs which fell daily on London [as an act of war from their present enemy] were [...] fired by the Government of Oceania itself, 'just to keep people frightened '" (153). Similarly, the North Korean government undergoes air raid drills as a means of keeping the citizens in fear of their contrived war against America (A State of Mind). These states use perpetual war as a method of controlling their people. When people
Reverence for Big Brother, their leader, is ingrained in the society. Whether it be in hate week or common speech, Big Brother is omnipresent. The citizens of Oceania’s reverence is most apparent in the daily two minutes of hate citizens must undergo as “an act of self-hypnosis” to favor Big Brother and revile his enemies (16). Similarly, in North Korea, all citizens are indoctrinated to love Kim Jong-Un. The two minutes of hate is replaced with a chant school children must complete at the beginning of each school week. Rather than hate week, the government mandated holiday in North Korea was Kim Jong-Un and Il’s birthdays (A State of Mind). Glorification of a state, or by extension, a leader of said state, however, is not limited to forcing positive image but extends to rooting out negative image. In both 1984 and North Korea there is action to stop those against the party in power. In 1984, "the Ministry of Love maintained law and order" by torturing criminals into submission (4). Winston as a thought criminal underwent this process. Likewise, rejection of the state in North Korea has dire consequences like extensive torture, public mutilation, or execution ("The Secret State of North Korea"). Often in North Korea, while families for generations are imprisoned as a result of the actions of one. This idea of glorification of a State is not new. Whereas in the US making fun of …show more content…
For instance, every couple years, the US seems to go to war for a different reason and with a different enemy. Oceania in 1984, "though strictly speaking it [was] not always the same war" had been “in one combination or another, [..] permanently at war” (33, 185). Furthermore, every couple of years, alliances shifted and Oceania was at war with someone else, only four years prior Oceania having been at peace with Eastasia and at war with Eurasia (34). In the same way, North Korea is always at war with the United States, citing the United States imperialists at fault for starvation and unrest within the state (A State of Mind). These wars work to direct the fear of the citizens to the enemy so they seek protection in the state. Both North Korea and Oceania use wartime techniques to put their citizens in fear. "The rocket bombs which fell daily on London [as an act of war from their present enemy] were [...] fired by the Government of Oceania itself, 'just to keep people frightened '" (153). Similarly, the North Korean government undergoes air raid drills as a means of keeping the citizens in fear of their contrived war against America (A State of Mind). These states use perpetual war as a method of controlling their people. When people