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Julia Mayberry
Professor Batty
English 114B
7 May 2014
1984: A Warning Against Totalitarian Governments
As human beings, we are bound to make mistakes. When living a life as a famous actress
or actor, one could only imagine the pressure upon them to be perfect due to the amount of
cameras on them every second. When famous people make a mistake, society scrutinizes them to
no end. The similarities between the high profile people in our society and the totalitarian
government in the book, 1984 by George Orwell, are undeniably similar. In this book, the
citizens are under some sort of government surveillance every minute. Weather the surveillance
includes spies are watching them, or the thought police are plugged in; the government is always
invading every aspect of the people's lives. If only it was not bad enough that every perspective
of their lives controlled, on top of that they really did not know what information given to them
by Big Brother was true or false. Stories and facts were created to have the people believe
exactly what Big Brother wanted them to believe. History was incredibly distorted in this
dystopian world, the peoples only choice was to accept the Information that was fed to them and
not to question it. This Big Brother government is a Totalitarian government because they
imposed and exercised absolute control on all aspects of these citizens lives. The world that these
citizens live in is incredibly dystopian and as a solution, no government should consider
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becoming Totalitarian because their thoughts will be monitored, they are not aloud to engage in
intercourse for pleasure, and the government any and all information. If any government took on
the style of ruling similar to the 1984 novel, then no progress will be made in the world.
In Oceania, the country in which these humans inhabit, the secret police known as
thought police, would invade peoples personal thoughts. In this dystopian and Totalitarian
ruled world, their job is to arrest citizens for violating any thought crimes. Thought crimes go to
the extreme because even if people do not act on their thoughts or speak their mind; a person
could get arrested for just thinking about something the government does not agree with. They
do this by using special surveillance to catch someone disobeying the thought laws. This is
considered a dystopian world because everyone should feel safe in their own minds. The mind is
one place no one should be able to intrude or make one feel scared. People may disagree that this
is an over controlling government and say this is a truly helpful way for any government to cut
back on crime before it ever happens. One may say if the government could read someone's
mind, they could predict and prevent crime. Once again, a thought is merely a thought, any
human can have a thought about any subject. Thoughts should only matter if they start acting on
them, keeping in mind that these actions are considered wrong in that society. Another reason
thought police would not work out is because thoughts can be misleading if read prematurely
and a person could be arrested for something they never were going to act on. If someone keeps
a thought to themselves, they should never feel threatened for that. Independent thoughts should
be encourage regardless of what is being thoughts. Without the a sense of independency, progress
cannot be made within the human race. Since everyone in this book seems to have the same mind
set, no one will have the chance to have their own ideas that make the world unique. Without
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progress within the human race then there is really no hope for sickness cures, new inventions,
and dreams. The thought police really helped define this book as a dystopian story and reminds
authoritarians why Totalitarianism is an inadequate way to govern a society.
Sex is one of the most independent and natural forms of self that anyone can express to
another person. It is one of the most human and instinctive acts one could engage in. The
government does not want the citizens having any sense of self, thus, people are not permitted to
have sexual intercourse for pleasure. Sex is limited to the sole purpose of creating offspring that
will eventually become spies for the government. If this totalitarian government could reproduce
without a man and woman engaging in quitous, then they would wipe out sex entirely from their
lives. To repress the citizens natural instinct to reproduce, there are rules and people to regulate
these laws. [The] Anti-Sex League... was an organization set up to take the pleasure out of sex,
and to make sure that it was a mechanical function used for procreation only, (CNN). This is
explaining that the league is attempting to prevent this human component of life to occur and
takes all the pleasure and meaning out of the act itself. Although Winston, the main character,
hopes to have one amazing sexual experience, he is very unlikely to unless it is for the sole
purpose of creating offsprings. On the off chance that it happens, that does not guarantee
pleasure. Some people do not believe this to be Considered dystopian because sex should only be
used to populate the world, Organizations that promote abstinence-only sex education, or want
to ban artificial birth control, are the modern versions of this, (CNN). In todays world, we have
organizations that are trying to limit sexual pleasure and trying to create a sense of dystopia in
our world by repressing peoples needs. These are the activists that are promoting abstinence.
Although, they may have a point, it is only natural for one to have sex and enjoy it in any form
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they find to be satisfying. If sex is controlled in a totalitarian government and limited to
reproduction pruposes, then no progress can be made in the LGBT(Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and
Transgender) community. People will not be allowed to lay with which ever gender is prefered.
In this day in age, America as a whole has made huge steps towards acceptance. In this world,
acceptance is not even thought of because everyone is the same. Controlling sexual pleasure is
undoubtedly considered dystopian and is a result of a government ruling by the ways of
Totalitarianism.
As a government, if Big Brother did not like the way history had been played out, they
simply rewrite history to fit their idea of how it should be remembered. Big Brother is able to
manipulate the people into believing that what they prefer to actually happen, truly occurred. For
example, if the government told the people that two plus two equals five, they become so
confused and eventually believe any idea they can grasp onto. Memories become distorted and
lost in translation from confusion resulting in the party manipulating the people. This works on
them because citizens are willing to believe anything so they can feel a sense of normalcy.
Rewriting history is a large part demonstrating how the government was ran. People that existed
were written out of the world as if they ever existed and people who had never walked the earth
became historic icons that people worshipped. The book's hero, Winston Smith, works in the
Ministry of Truth rewriting and falsifying history. The Ministry writes people out of history --
they go 'down the memory hole' as though they never existed. The Ministry also creates people
as historical figures who never existed, (Bennett). Winston's job is to rewrite history the way
Big Brother wishes it to be. Not only has the citizens rewrite history, but those particular workers
also believe their own lies. This is because their memories become so distorted, they hold on to
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any statement they are told. They crave normalcy and will believe what they need to for a normal
life. If they disagree with what Big Brother says is the truth, citizens can get themselves into a lot
of trouble. People may disagree that this is a dystopian government and argue that they only do it
to protect the people of Oceania. Although protecting citizens from what can hurt them is
important within a government, it is more efficient to teach people the truth and learn from their
mistakes instead of confusing them and making the same mistakes again. If people do not know
where they come from, they will not be able to make any progress as to where they go. Without
learning about the true history, no one will be able to learn the mistakes that were made. Without
learning from mistakes, truly no progress and changes can be made in the world. Covering up
mistakes with lies only results in creating a larger problem. This world is undoubtedly distopian
in every way, and changing the past for the governments own pleasure is wrong because progress
is important to better the world. Giving the government too much power can result directly to a
Totalitarian government.
Overall, the government ran by 'Big Brother' is not only a totalitarian government, but it
is Considered dystopian because they manipulate people's thoughts, sexual experiences, and
rewrite history and information. If people cannot do any of these items, then no progress is made
in the world. Progress is important because without it no cures would be found, sexuality would
be repressed, and mistakes would not ever be learned from. They use their power for evil and do
not think of the greater good for the people. Preventing every government from becoming a
ruling government, similar to Big Brother should avoid giving the government too much power
to the point where it turns to Totalitarianism. The government rules as they please and overall,
they destroy the essence of being human and having that freedom.
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Works Cited
Beale, Lewis, and The Opinions Expressed in This Commentary Are Solely Those of Lewis
Beale. "We're Living '1984' Today." CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 22
Mar. 2014.
"INSTITUTE FOR HISTORICAL REVIEW." Orwell's 1984: Was Orwell Right? N.p., n.d.
Web. 23 Mar. 2014.
Orwell, George, and Erich Fromm. 1984: A Novel. New York, NY: Signet Classic, 1961. Print.
"1984! by George Orwell." Readerscornerblog. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.