1984

4 Pages 969 Words

George Orwell’s 1984: Good Totalitarian Government




1984 is a book about George Orwell’s deepest darkest fear of a government with control over very aspect of society, including people’s thoughts and total control over their lives. I argue that Totalitarian government is shown as a positive government through the novel 1984. In 1984 George Orwell portrays a character named Big Brother, who is in total control of his country Oceania. One way Orwell portrays positive totalitarian government through Big Brother is that there are posters of Big Brother throughout the city of London. These Posters are a positive image of a positive leader. These posters of Big Brother are used throughout the novel to make sure that the citizens can actually see the face of their leader; in a positive way. Another way Big Brother represents positive totalitarian government is the fact that sice the citizens have to make no decisions. They have to make no decisions, so all stress and anxiety over decision making is removed from their lives, this makes their lives relatively easy. Finally the fact that Big Brother controls everything means that there is no crime, because no citizen can think of committing a crime.

“Totalitarianism is a modern autocratic government in which the state involves itself in all facets of society, including the daily life of its citizens. A totalitarian government seeks to control not only all economic and political matters but the attitudes, values, and beliefs of its population, erasing the distinction between state and society. The citizen’s duty to the state becomes the primary concern of the community, and the goal of the state is the replacement of existing society with a perfect society” (Columbia Encyclopedia/Totalitarianism). In 1984 there are posters of Big Brother posted up everywhere, so that Big Brother can be portrayed in a positive way. In chapter one as the character Winston smith is first intr...