Totalitarism in ‘1984'

This article is devoted to the novel ‘1984’ written by George Orwell as well as ‘Animal Farm’ by the same author and ‘Lord of the Flies’ written by William Golding, E. L. Epstein. The novel ‘1984’ by George Orwell is a criticism of the totalitarian regime. Totalitarian is the political system represented by George Orwell in his novel ‘1984’. The totalitarian control is the major theme in the novel ‘1984’ by George Orwell. Totalitarian regime denotes that the ruling group has a complete control over the person’s life who must agree with this state of things. The totalitarian regime includes political participation and is aimed at restructuring every person and the whole society in order to get unlimited control over all aspects of life. It is usually divided into the right totalitarian regime -fascism and Nazism, and the left - communism.

The class novel ‘1984’ represents the characters - Winston Smith, Julia, O'Brien and Big Brother in a realistic way. Orwell tries to depict positive and negative traits of every person. Winston Smith is the main character of the novel ‘1984’. The author has named him after Winston Churchill having changed the surname. The whole book centers on the character of Winston Smith. Consequently, the understanding of Winston Smith is significant for the understanding of the entire novel.

In his novel ‘1984’ Orwell describes the society where the right totalitarian regime dominates: ‘The rocket bombs which fell daily on London were probably fired by the government of Oceania itself, 'just to keep the people frightened’ (p. 160). One can see the author’s attitude towards the regime throughout the novel. Moreover, in his book Orwell creates new words, which belong to totalitarian control - newspeak, doublethink, thoughtcrime. The governance of the state is fulfilled by the Party. In ‘1984’ the Party is undemocratic, dictatorial and unjust in their laws. The author describes the Party that is a ruling assembly with Big Brother at the head of it. The Big Brother is watching everyone via the telescreen that can be turned off by the Party. This is one more feature of the totalitarian regime described by Orwell.