Rachel S. Stoker
Mr. Saluga
Honors English 10
20 April 2015
Government’s Humanity A government is a body of power used to control a nation. Different governments use different tactics. There’s democracy, socialism, monarchy, communism, and many more. Some rule with love, others rule with fear. The government portrayed in 1984 is known as “totalitarianism.” They control everyone and everything. In order to do so, the government manipulates humans by using their own traits against them. Some say this is dehumanizing them. However, you cannot dehumanize someone by using their human qualities, instincts, and natural survival tactics belonging to humans. For example, the number one instinct humans have is self-preservation. They will do whatever they can to survive, no matter what the case. To survive in the era of 1984, is to comply. The people of that time are forced to abide by every law and rule set by the totalitarianism style government. As a result of self-preservation is a natural tactic of survival for human beings, it’s something they will do subconsciously and automatically. Conforming, in this case, is requiring to “remove emotion” and individuality. In those places, they incorporate routine, acceptance, and – most importantly – taking away thought. They practically become robots in some ways. To self-preserve, people automatically conform. Whether they wish to or not, the human mind will do anything to preserve itself. It took a decent amount of strong will for Winston and Julia to break the laws and rules, acting against Big Brother. It’s surprising that their fear did not stop them. The body and mind reacts a certain way to fear. Some people get anxious, nauseous, or even have panic attacks. Humans are built to react automatically to fear. Fear causes the body to act on self-preservation, henceforth, the connection between the two. Considering the harsh punishments that the 1984 government threatens, the citizens are horrified to step out of line. By using the human’s fear to an advantage, the government can easily scare people into a plethora of things. They can be scared into complying, lying, hating, or even killing. However, no one really questions these punishments in the first place. One would think that someone in the population would step out and speak up against the idea to begin with. However, they do not because they are afraid to rebel. They fear for their lives and they don’t want to stand out alone. That takes to the point of “popular acceptance.” Popular acceptance is when a majority of humans see something as ‘okay’ or ‘not so bad,’ then the minority is usually silenced and ends up agreeing and going along with it. As human beings, people naturally feel the want or need to “fit in” or “blend in” with the crowd around them. A good example would be the two minute hate. Orwell explained to us that the intensity of the hate emanating from the people around Winston “spread” into Winston himself – directed at Big Brother or Goldstein. Due to the want and yearning to fit in with other human beings, the community in 1984 accepts the rules and laws. They live with them and do not rebel. The population lives without questioning the idea and act of living with the harsh control of the 1984 government ways of life. With all these strange and mysterious human traits, it is easy to take advantage of the population. The government in 1984 can control the nation with ease. By making use of self-preservation, fear, and popular acceptance, the government can convince anyone to “love Big Brother.”