1984

Orwell, George. 1984. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1984. Print. (245)

1984 brings to light the extremities of totalitarianism. It gives people a look at what could happen someday if a single government party gained too much control. It provides evidence to support our two-party system of government. That way no one group can gain too much power.

In relation to the real world today one can observe similarities between 1984 and the totalitarianism happening slowly but surely today. It is happening so slowly that individual and subtle changes go unnoticed in the grand scheme of things. Totalitarian leaders Adolf Hitler’s and Joseph Stalin’s campaigns happened abruptly, making is easily noticeable. One example of this is the mobile speed trap (red jeep), although there is only one of these mobile speed traps, there are now many red light cameras and speed cameras implemented throughout the city.

Social injustice portrayed in 1984 is to the extreme. The elite and rich are the inner party members. Next in the social hierarchy are the outer party members, barely existing and getting by. The social standings are similar to those in The Hunger Games. High class people will only interact with each other, and are quick to disrespect the people of lower classes.

Despite the shocking reality 1984 had on me, I enjoyed it because of the depth of knowledge behind it. Who could have thought of the creation of a new way to speak? (Newspeak) Definitions of words had explicit meanings, in order to eliminate unintentional meanings. They eliminated words that could speak badly about something, that way it was impossible to formulate a bad thought into words. My experience was eye opening to the world today, and has made me more aware of things in society.

Word Count: 294