Examples Of Totalitarianism In 1984 By George Orwell

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ELEN 1003: Assignment 2 Dean Goldin 1235950 Tutor: Deneo Mfenyana Topic 2: Surveillance As a Control Mechanism Within a Totalitarian State Date of Submission: 4 November 2015 The novel, 1984 by George Orwell, deals with the terrifying idea of a totalitarian future in that Orwell has depicted a society of people whom believe they are being controlled and watched over by the government (Ingsoc) continuously. Various control mechanisms have been implemented, in order to ensure that the people can be convinced that they are being monitored all the time. Thus, Orwell has depicted a Totalitarian state in which there is complete control over the state by the government, owing to the fact the people of Oceania have been forced to believe…show more content…
“A government that subordinates the individual to the state and strictly controls all aspects of life by coercive measures”[8]. There are numerous amounts of times in the novel in which surveillance and monitoring instruments are portrayed. These instruments are in fact mechanisms used by the state to control its people. A sense of anxiety, insecurity and dependency is installed into the citizens of Oceania as they are unsure of when or if they are being watched at any given time. Thus, these people behave in the manner set out by the state out of fear that they are being watched and might get caught acting out against the states rules. Therefore, Orwell has illustrated a totalitarian state which revolves around the fundamental aspect of such a state, which is control, through surveillance and monitoring, as the people obey the state because they are made to believe that they are being monitored one hundred percent of the time. Therefore, this system dehumanizes its citizens as they become psychologically and physically controlled by the state. “There was no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment”[3]. Thus, these people have no choice or any individuality, but they have to follow the rules set out by the state as it is unknown whether or not they are being monitored at any given…show more content…
A panopticon a circular shaped building in which the guards are placed in the centre. Thus the guards (the government in Oceania) have full access to every part of the prison and are able to see and hear everything the prisoners (people of Oceania) do or say respectively at any given time via the use of panoptic surveillance devices such as cameras and microphones. The individuals within the prison (people of Oceania) are constricted, restricted and have no freedoms or independency. Thus they are unable to develop into unique, self reliant and thinking humans but rather they form part of the system installed by the state. Therefore, it can be suggested that the prisoners (people of Oceania) become a mere objects or machines of the guards (state). This further backs up the point that Orwell has portrayed a society in which surveillance and monitoring is actually a mechanism of controlling the people’s minds and actions as they think they are constantly being watched. Thus the prisoners (people of Oceania, Winston in particular) do not know if he/she is being monitored at any given time thus they are forced to conform to obeying the state’s

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