Essay Example on The concept of governmental oppression or Tyranny

The concept of governmental oppression or tyranny is present throughout history and actually still exists in modern society This oppression policy eventually leads up to totalitarianism which came around in the 1920s by Italian fascists Totalitarianism is the thought of a state searching for total control of society Now imagine a near future in which the governmental body has the technological capabilities to check every move or control every thought of its citizens How frightening it may seem this is the setting in which 1984 takes place 1984 is dystopian novel written by George Orwell just after the Second World War Society is ruled by the Party and its totalitarian regime The Party is led by a divine character called Big Brother just like Hitler was for the Nazi s The story itself revolves around Winston Smith a middle class worker at the Ministry of Truth which ironically deals with propaganda This idea is called doublethink and it basically means accepting two mutually contradictory beliefs as correct Doublethink can be seen as the ultimate form of indoctrination and maybe as a small hint towards the satirical character of the book As it would be very hard to understand why someone could accept contrary extremes to be both true 1984 was written just after the Second World War and it was very controversial at that time People knew the dangers of a totalitarian state after the horrifying impact Nazi Germany left 

The initial principle of equality is very progressive and a wonderful pursuit However these people who truly desire equality may find 1984 offensive as it would indicate that communism only leads up to a dystopian world in which people are suppressed of their basic human rights But this statement actually is a double edged sword as it also could be seen as an extra boost of motivation for the people in favour of collectivism People who showed sympathy for this principal could get more enthusiastic and get the urge to prove that communism and the quest for equality actually can work out in the end 

Another controversial topic is the use of technology in 1984 as it shows the terrifying capabilities of non stop surveillance and indoctrination made possible by technological advancement However On the one hand this use of technology creates a lot of fear among the readers of 1984 While on the other hand it's fascinating to read that technology has advanced this far and in the right hands can be a huge improvement on overall life It's clear that there has been a lot of discussion the piece of fiction written by George Orwell and it surely had its impact on society However would this impact be still the same in a different time setting It s known that governmental oppression is a recurring phenomenon during history so this would mean that 1984 could have an impact in every time setting In theory this is correct however certain aspects of the story like the use of technological capabilities for indoctrination would be hard to understand by pre World War One generations

This concept would seem unimaginable and people couldn t visualise what these technological instruments for oppression were capable of Although the people before the technological revolution would still be able to comprehend most of the content of the literary work the message would not be conveyed as decent and the influence of the story would be considerably less Therefore 1984 would have more impact post World War Two as people were at the start of the technological revolution and the possibilities of technology were still to be discovered Even today as we near the technological capabilities described in the book 1984 still is relevant because it shows how totalitarian states can assume total control by technology and keeps people critical and cautious against the government Even though the book handles a concept which wasn t new 1984 remains to be a revolutionary piece of fiction George Orwell took totalitarianism a step further and essentially convinced people of the errors in the upcoming collectivist ideology The complete lack of individualism and the constant surveillance in 1984 made people think twice about totalitarian state and together with the strong controversial character of the book it contributed to the impact it had on society back in the 50s Society had already seen the horrors of the Second World War and now the Red Scare had been awakened among western people