ENG3U
Guy Miller
Compare & Contrast Essay
Ms. Wener
Monday, April 27th, 2015
“If you want a picture of The Future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever.” (Orwell, 280) These are the chilling words uttered by O’Brien to Winston Smith towards the end of George Orwell’s dystopian novel, 1984. This quote captures the brutality of Big Brother’s Party as the “boot” that strives to crush the human spirit. The State’s brutality is also apparent in the film V for Vendetta, in which the totalitarian Norsefire Party aims for complete domination over the bodies and minds of the State’s citizens. Both States use similar strategies in controlling their citizens, but it is the Party in Orwell’s novel that is much more effective in …show more content…
In V for Vendetta, Norsefire attempts to censor language and information, however, it does not try to actively alter words or language in order to modify one’s thought. V reflects on the importance of words during his revolution speech, saying “...words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth.” (McTeigue) V’s character resembles more than just physical freedom and revolution, he symbolizes the idea of what it means to be free, which is having the ability to think and express ideas, free of suppression. Conversely, the Party in 1984 is much more meticulous in its methods of control, by changing and destroying language so that people are incapable of unrestraint thought. Syme works in the research department and is working on the Eleventh edition of the Newspeak Dictionary, Syme boasts to Winston about the wonders of Newspeak, saying, “We’re destroying words - scores of them, hundreds of them, everyday. We’re cutting the language down to the bone. The Eleventh Edition won’t contain a single word that will become obsolete before the year 2050.” (54) Newspeak and the Party’s intentions are to marginalize the range of human thought; they destroy words that represent ideas, which the party is trying to eliminate. Norsfire’s ability to suppress its citizens is far less effective, as they still have the information that grant’s each citizen to ponder revolutionary ideas, as V states, “ideas are bullet-proof.” (McTeigue) By granting the citizens of Norsfire an uncensored mind, the likelihood of revolutionary thought becomes much more conceivable. One can see that Big Brother is much more precautionary in its method of control, eliminating all plausible chance of hope for a revolutionary uprising. Again, Syme refers to the Newspeak dictionary, “Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the
Guy Miller
Compare & Contrast Essay
Ms. Wener
Monday, April 27th, 2015
“If you want a picture of The Future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever.” (Orwell, 280) These are the chilling words uttered by O’Brien to Winston Smith towards the end of George Orwell’s dystopian novel, 1984. This quote captures the brutality of Big Brother’s Party as the “boot” that strives to crush the human spirit. The State’s brutality is also apparent in the film V for Vendetta, in which the totalitarian Norsefire Party aims for complete domination over the bodies and minds of the State’s citizens. Both States use similar strategies in controlling their citizens, but it is the Party in Orwell’s novel that is much more effective in …show more content…
In V for Vendetta, Norsefire attempts to censor language and information, however, it does not try to actively alter words or language in order to modify one’s thought. V reflects on the importance of words during his revolution speech, saying “...words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth.” (McTeigue) V’s character resembles more than just physical freedom and revolution, he symbolizes the idea of what it means to be free, which is having the ability to think and express ideas, free of suppression. Conversely, the Party in 1984 is much more meticulous in its methods of control, by changing and destroying language so that people are incapable of unrestraint thought. Syme works in the research department and is working on the Eleventh edition of the Newspeak Dictionary, Syme boasts to Winston about the wonders of Newspeak, saying, “We’re destroying words - scores of them, hundreds of them, everyday. We’re cutting the language down to the bone. The Eleventh Edition won’t contain a single word that will become obsolete before the year 2050.” (54) Newspeak and the Party’s intentions are to marginalize the range of human thought; they destroy words that represent ideas, which the party is trying to eliminate. Norsfire’s ability to suppress its citizens is far less effective, as they still have the information that grant’s each citizen to ponder revolutionary ideas, as V states, “ideas are bullet-proof.” (McTeigue) By granting the citizens of Norsfire an uncensored mind, the likelihood of revolutionary thought becomes much more conceivable. One can see that Big Brother is much more precautionary in its method of control, eliminating all plausible chance of hope for a revolutionary uprising. Again, Syme refers to the Newspeak dictionary, “Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the