politics theme Flashcards
not a prediction
but a warning against what he feared would be the fate of humanity if totalitarian regimes were allowed to seize power, like Soviet Union under Stalin
an extreme prediction, as things like Newspeak haven’t happened
aftermath of WW2
anglo-american intellectuals were reluctant to criticise the soviet regime, despite evidence of Stalin’s despotism
Russia had been an ally against Germany and Japan
Orwell’s experiences
had seen Soviet-backed communists brutal suppression of rival political groups during the Spanish Civil war- returned an outspoken critic of communism
set in Britain
to show that totalitarianism could succeed anywhere if not fought against
INGSOC
represents the worst features of both the Nazi and communist regime- control minds and bodies, so controlling reality itself
socialism
Totalitarian was an outgrowth of socialism, which arose as a response to industrialisation
alteration of information
“the process of continuous alteration was applied not only to newspapers”
“two and two made five, and you would have to believe it”
aims of the party
“the two aims fo the Party are to conquer the whole surface of the earth and to extinguish once and for all the possibility of independent thought”
“the party seeks power entirely for its own sake”
“the object of power is power”
freedom from the regimes
“to die hating them, that was freedom”
“he had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother”
Emmanuel Goldstein
“small, goatee beard” evoke an image of Leon Trotsky
during the Two Minutes Hate his image is transformed into a bleating sheep. This idea was used in a Soviet propaganda film, which showed him as a goat
influence from
James Burnham’s novel ‘The Managerial Revolution’
idea of 3 states
1984 is a reaction to Burnham’s prophecy
whereas Gilead can be
called a pseudo-religious theocracy, Orwell’s novel is a dictatorship with aspects in common with Stalinist Russia and Nazi Germany
