Current Situations Relating to the Novel

Even though the totalitarian government does not exist in these days, there is a similar government right beside where we live - North Korea. It is still in the communist state and has many same aspects of the environment which 1984 illlustrates. In North Korea, no one is allowed to criticize the government, believe in God, and have one's own privacy.

The totaliatrian government has begun in the 20th century, which includes the communist regimes of the Soviet Union and Cuba, as well as the totalitarianism of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. These countries have had the absolute control and power of their time.

Despite the brutality and lack of freedom, a totalitarian government often receives overwhelming support for its ideas and goals at the beginning. It tends to be very popular due to the government's promises of an ideal society. It also requires a charismatic leader and modern developments in communication to spread its message. In order for a totalitarian state to be built, the leader must have a will to transform the society into his version of "utopia".

In 1984, most of the Party members support their government because the Big Brother, the unknownly-present dictator of the society, deceives his supporters by making them think that they are living in a utopia, though they are actually living in a dystopia. The Big Brother uses telescreens to monitor every aspect of its member's daily lives and to share its ideals and fake "achievements" to everyone. For example, even when the citizens are forced to live with less food, they are told that they are being given more than ever; the strange thing is that they believe it!

Moreover, by using civilian spies, the government creates so much distrust for each other amongst its citizens. Those who disagree with the dictator are killed. The dictator may change the laws at any time to facilitate the achievement of his goals. This powerful instrument is used to exert control over the lifestyles of the citizens. The government also censors the media and commands all means of communication.

Just like this, the society portrayed in 1984 uses secret police or spies to secretly monitor everyone's private thoughts and behavior. The interesting fact is that everyone can be a spy in Winston's world. Children are effectively converted into spies and trained to watch the actions of their parents with extreme suspicion. For example, the fear Mrs. Parsons shows for her children foreshadows Winston’s encounter in jail with her husband, who is turned in to the Party for committing thoughtcrime by his own child.

Everyone who disagrees with the Big Brother's way of leading the government is unexpectedly killed or tortured! The Party controls every source of information, managing and rewriting all newspapers and histories for its own benefit. It does not allow individuals to keep records of their past, such as photographs or documents, because it wants to control the past and the future.

How horrible it is! =(

Major Theme

The Dark Sides of Totalitarianism

→ Totalitarian regime is based on the political power by means of secret police, propaganda disseminated through the state-controlled mass media, personality cults, regulation and restriction of free discussion and criticism, single party states, the use of mass surveillance (monitoring of behavior), and widespread use of terror tactics.

1984 is a political novel written with the purpose of warning readers totalitarian government. Orwell was deeply disturbed by the widespread cruelties and oppressions he observed in communist countries, and seems to have been particularly concerned by the role of technology in enabling oppressive governments to monitor and control their citizens.

In 1984, Orwell portrays the perfect totalitarian society, the most extreme imagination of a modern-day government with absolute power. Orwell portrays a state in which government monitors and controls every aspect of human life to the extent that even having a disloyal thought is against the law.

Technology

→ By using telescreens and hidden microphones across the city, the Party monitors its members almost all of the time. Additionally, the Party employs complicated mechanisms to control economic production and sources of information, and fearsome machinery to torture upon its "enemies". 1984 reveals that technology, which is generally perceived as beneficial, can also facilitate the evil.

This is important for teenagers living in 2008 because many of them think that the development and impact of technology are always favorable. However, according to 1984, too-advanced technology can control humans, even their minds. It can also manipulate us psycologically as the telescreens in 1984 monitors people's behavior—everywhere they go, citizens are continuously reminded, especially by the omnipresent signs reading “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU,” that the authorities are always scrutinizing them.