George Orwell’s 1984 and Ayn Rand’s Anthem both portray a future in which the leaders of their societies have become corrupt. Freedom and independence are not options without consequence in either novel. In 1984, there are three parties which rule over the party members (the citizens). These parties or ministries are called the Ministry of Peace, the Ministry of Truth, and The Ministry of Love. What makes these parties so inadmissible is the party leader, Big Brother. No one except the party itself can be sure that Big Brother actually exists, though he is everywhere. Posters are plastered all over the city of a powerful looking man with a large mustache known to be Big Brother himself. The caption on such posters, coins even, read “BIG BROTHER
…show more content…
Speaking out against the party, or even the smallest act of rebellion such as a twitch of one 's facial expression in front of telescreen, can end in the Thought Police arriving at your “home” in the dead of night and dragging you away on account of suspicious behavior. The main character, Winston, reveals that people disappear all the time and are never spoken of again. The leaders get into the heads of the people by constantly blaring propaganda on the telescreens, broadcasting the daily two minutes hate so as to focus everyone on a common enemy, forcing the party members into Newspeak (where words hinting towards rebellion don’t exist to avoid it altogether), and altering or “repairing” past historical documents to reveal “the truth”. The ranks are inner party, outer party, and proles. Inner party being the highest and the proles basically being the scum of the earth. The proles are ranked so low that they aren’t monitored as closely because the party believes that their ignorance is reassurance enough that the proles will never speak …show more content…
Equality as well as the others refer to themselves as “we”. From youth, the main character Equality 7-2521, (the names were chosen by the council) was disliked and treated poorly by his teachers and students for being taller, smarter, and quicker than the others. He was so convinced that he was cursed because of the way he was treated that he tried to change himself. “.... but it is evil to be superior…. So we fought against this curse. We tried to forget our lessons, but we always remembered. We tried not to understand what the teachers taught… we looked upon Union 5-3992, who were a pale boy with only half a brain, and we tried to say and do as they did…” But he couldn’t, he was the way he was and would continue to be that way. Eventually this lands our dear friend a job as a street sweeper, a supposed punishment. Equality accepted his punishment because he believed that he had sinned and agreed with the others that he had indeed been out of line, though anyone today could see that he had not done anything wrong and the only ones out of line where the teachers and council for reprimanding the poor young boy. Both novels can accurately be described as dystopias for all of these
Speaking out against the party, or even the smallest act of rebellion such as a twitch of one 's facial expression in front of telescreen, can end in the Thought Police arriving at your “home” in the dead of night and dragging you away on account of suspicious behavior. The main character, Winston, reveals that people disappear all the time and are never spoken of again. The leaders get into the heads of the people by constantly blaring propaganda on the telescreens, broadcasting the daily two minutes hate so as to focus everyone on a common enemy, forcing the party members into Newspeak (where words hinting towards rebellion don’t exist to avoid it altogether), and altering or “repairing” past historical documents to reveal “the truth”. The ranks are inner party, outer party, and proles. Inner party being the highest and the proles basically being the scum of the earth. The proles are ranked so low that they aren’t monitored as closely because the party believes that their ignorance is reassurance enough that the proles will never speak …show more content…
Equality as well as the others refer to themselves as “we”. From youth, the main character Equality 7-2521, (the names were chosen by the council) was disliked and treated poorly by his teachers and students for being taller, smarter, and quicker than the others. He was so convinced that he was cursed because of the way he was treated that he tried to change himself. “.... but it is evil to be superior…. So we fought against this curse. We tried to forget our lessons, but we always remembered. We tried not to understand what the teachers taught… we looked upon Union 5-3992, who were a pale boy with only half a brain, and we tried to say and do as they did…” But he couldn’t, he was the way he was and would continue to be that way. Eventually this lands our dear friend a job as a street sweeper, a supposed punishment. Equality accepted his punishment because he believed that he had sinned and agreed with the others that he had indeed been out of line, though anyone today could see that he had not done anything wrong and the only ones out of line where the teachers and council for reprimanding the poor young boy. Both novels can accurately be described as dystopias for all of these