...George Orwell's novel from 1949 is a dark prediction on how the future might look like, with a totalitarian system with virtually no individual human rights. The book was written in the shadow of World War II, with inspiration from Germany under the National Socialist Party and Soviet Union at that time. The book revolves around Winston Smith, a low-ranking member of the ruling Party in London, in the nation of Oceania. The story takes place in a dark and gloomy society, where the ruling Party watches every move of the people through «telescreens», even in their own home. Everywhere Winston turns he sees the face of the ruling Party's leader, only known as Big Brother. The Party has full control in Oceania. They control people's language, history, and they even have a «Thought Police» that watches over the citizens to make sure no one thinks rebellious thoughts, which is illegal. Thoughtcrimes is seen as the worst of all crimes in Oceania. For us in 2016, I would say that the most outstanding parallel from the book is «Big Brother is watching you». In the book the ruling Party watches the people through «telescreens», sort of a two-way TV. Today websites like Facebook and Google can save our every move online. They automatically track our likes and dislikes, all of our searches online and every website we enter. On our smartphones most of us carry with us every day and uses frequently, it is possible for hackers to get in a get access to private messages, phone numbers and...
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...Shanshan Huang English 103 Professor Joseph 5/7/2013 The Major Themes of Orwellian Imagine living in an environment under the surveillance of a big power, imagine being manipulated and controlled for every thought and action. The act of obeying orders from the big power leads to survival, and the rebellion for freedom leads to the most devastating punishment. Would you give in to the big power or would you fight? The novel Nineteen-Eighty Four written by George Orwell portraying through the view of the protagonist, Winston Smith, describing a nation called Oceania being under the ruling of the antagonist, a totalitarian Party or the Big Brother. In addition, it presented various methods such as constant surveillance, unending propaganda, distortion of language, historical revisionism, fear, torture, perpetual war, and lack of habeas corpus to characterize an oppressive and authoritarian government. The Party utilizes these methods to keep its citizens living in a state of fear, making them developing a feeling of dependency of the party. The novel Nineteen-Eighty Four has its significance today because all of the methods that characterize a totalitarian government are still presence, especially being currently utilized by the government of the United States. Once upon a time, the U.S used to be a land of unparalleled freedom. However, ever since the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, the U.S government, primarily under the management of the bush administration, has...
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...The theme of Political Strife in Orwell’s 1984 Student’s name Institution name Abstract Orwell’s 1984 is another masterfully done piece of work that captures the political scenario across the world. Having written it in 1964, the book foretells the political events of the coming 1984 generations. This is a purely prophetic book that is inspired by Orwell’s sharp observation and political analytical skills. In this book, the life of the characters is purely determined by the political happenings of the time. (Bloom, 2007). Many literary and political analysts have found a place to refer to in interpreting political realities of the world in George Orwell’s works. Orwell is remembered for his other book Animal Farm that continues to spark emotional reactions from all over the world every day. A look at how the political theme gets manifested can help one to understand better the happenings in the story and their general applicability to the world we are living in. The Theme of Political Strife There are a number of themes that Orwell (1964) brings out in his book 1984. It is a prediction of the coming political sceneries in future since its publication came earlier before the year 1984. Among the major themes that can be found in the story are betrayal...
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...The witness who watches a crime and does not report it, is just as guilty as the criminal. The citizens of the United States are both victims and witnesses. Today's Americans, are victims of the unacceptable actions of the American government, but they are also witnesses who refuse to do anything about the injustice. George Orwell’s 1984, portrays life under an oppressive government that constantly spys on citizens, presents misleading media, and is constantly fighting a foreign enemy. Today in 2016, the United States government spies on citizens through technology, allows a media oligarchy, and is constantly in the midst of a never ending war. The unacceptable actions of the government in Orwell’s 1984 and today are eerily similar, and the...
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...Dystopian societies commonly feature in literature, representing what humanity could amount to if corrupted people acquired power. George Orwell’s 1984 is one of literature’s classics, exposing a dystopian society where control over one’s life is removed. V for Vendetta, adapted by James McTeigue, is one of many films based on the themes and ideas of 1984. Both texts exhibit how the Government abuse its power of science and technology to manipulate its people and control their lives by falsifying information, and confiscating their freedom. Invasion of privacy, manipulation in broadcastings and erasing people from existence are considered normal under the government’s forcible reign. Controlling everyday aspects of life to manipulate society...
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...ethics, and provide facilities and institutions to satisfy the basic needs of their people. Most importantly, a justified government will tend to the desires of the majority of a population to the best of their ability, by taking in consideration consequences and feelings. Opposite of a fair society, George Orwell, predicted a future in 1984 where life is a depressing trial for citizens in the dystopian civilization of Oceania. Manipulated by propaganda, irrational enforcements of policies, infinite surveillance, and revision of the past leads civilians feeble to the oppression of their government. They are governed by a potentially fictional dictator, whom they address as “Big Brother.” The citizens fear him and adore him. Although, Orwell’s predictions for modern culture after World War Two may seem drastic and extreme, it has been evident that the inhabitants of our world currently mimic the ignorance of the party members in Orwell’s vision. In the patriotic nation of the United States of America, the rights and freedoms of their citizens are disregarded in ways that are undetected by majority of the population. If we are consistently warned about our future by thinkers such as George Orwell, how do governments remain in power and sustain this cycle? Presently, the American government Asube 2 exploits its citizens for the sake of power; and they do this in much the same way Orwell envisioned, through the invasion of privacy and the perpetuation of war hysteria. Governments...
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...George Orwell was born in India, 1903 as Eric Arthur Blair. His father was a British Civil Servant who was working for the British Arms. His mother took him and his younger sister back to England a year after George was born to attend an English boarding school. Gorge first experienced social classes when he was attending his school. Eric learned about social classes from school when he realized that the rich children were treated better than the poor. George did not have any friends, so he took an interest in reading and writing. He wrote poems describing his situation and how people were treated. George did well in school, and got good grades, for that reason he got a scholarship to attend Eton College. Orwell studied through college, however...
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...The book 1984 opened my eyes to the harsh reality of the world we currently live in. It made me well aware of government control and the control within other groups of people. This control can affect not only me, but other people around the world as well. My purpose for writing this paper is to explain the things I have learned after reading 1984 by George Orwell. It was Orwell’s goal to write this book and state his ideas and theories about a strong totalitarian government. He provided clear examples in which we can recognize in our own modern day society. Before reading all of 1984, I only knew of a few situations in which the government or group can control its people. I am now familiar with multiple situations that affect people worldwide...
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...Nineteen Eighty-Four (or 1984) is an English dystopian novel by George Orwell, written in 1948 and published in 1949. It is the story of the life of the intellectual Winston Smith, his job in the Ministry of Truth, and his degradation by the totalitarian government of Oceania, the country in which he lives. It has been translated into sixty-two languages, and has deeply impressed itself in the English language. Nineteen Eighty-Four, its terms and language, and its author are bywords in discussions of personal privacy and state security. The adjective "Orwellian" describes actions and organizations characteristic of Oceania, the totalitarian society depicted in the novel, and the phrase "Big Brother is watching you" refers to invasive surveillance. In turn, Nineteen Eighty-Four has been seen as subversive and politically dangerous and thus been banned by libraries in many countries.[1] Along with Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, and Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, it is among the most famous dystopias in literature.[2] In 2005, Time magazine selected it as one of the 100 best English-language novels since 1923. Probably the most important thing to remember while reading 1984 is that Orwell never intended the book to be a prediction of the future. It was more or less a satire of political fiction, however, I believe Orwell was on the right track concerning future possibilities of a New World Order, or total government control. An interesting quotation from the book is from...
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