The citizens of Orwell’s 1984 and the members of Ephrata Cloister believed that the society and community they lived in was utopian, when in reality it was clearly dystopian. The difference between a utopian society and a dystopian society is that a utopia is the place or state of things in which everything is perfect and dystopia is the place or state of things in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmentally degraded one. As the SciPhiShow said, “In the long history of science fiction there have been repeated depictions of futures that are supposed to be Utopian, yet under the surface these paradises, these “Heaven’s on Earth” always turn out to be nightmares” (Why Are All Utopia’s Dystopia’s pg. 1). Utopias
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Big Brother’s view for the proles of Oceania “…was one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption beneath it read” (Orwell 1-2). Since the idea of Big Brother watching over everyone all the time was so prevalent, they thought that they were safe and protected by this image. Big Brother was their savior and they worshiped him. Although, hope should lie amongst every person in Oceania, “if there is hope, it must lie in the proles” (Orwell 69). The proles made up 85% of Oceania, so if there was hope, they could just destroy the Party. But the proles did not really care about what was going on. All they cared for was having sexual intercourse, gambling, drinking, etc. Their world was perfect compared to the outer party. If Winston Smith was a member of the proles, he would have done something, “but the proles, if only they could somehow become conscious of their own strength, would have no need to conspire” (Orwell 69). They minded their own business, kept to themselves, and stayed out of the inner party’s way. As long as the Proles see the world they live in is a utopian society, they will never see how Oceania is actually a dystopian
Big Brother’s view for the proles of Oceania “…was one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption beneath it read” (Orwell 1-2). Since the idea of Big Brother watching over everyone all the time was so prevalent, they thought that they were safe and protected by this image. Big Brother was their savior and they worshiped him. Although, hope should lie amongst every person in Oceania, “if there is hope, it must lie in the proles” (Orwell 69). The proles made up 85% of Oceania, so if there was hope, they could just destroy the Party. But the proles did not really care about what was going on. All they cared for was having sexual intercourse, gambling, drinking, etc. Their world was perfect compared to the outer party. If Winston Smith was a member of the proles, he would have done something, “but the proles, if only they could somehow become conscious of their own strength, would have no need to conspire” (Orwell 69). They minded their own business, kept to themselves, and stayed out of the inner party’s way. As long as the Proles see the world they live in is a utopian society, they will never see how Oceania is actually a dystopian