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  • Essay / Symbolism in 1984: The Soviet Union as a Representation of People's Fears

    George Orwell is an English novelist who wrote more than 13 books describing his political views on social injustice and his objection to totalitarianism. 1984 is one of Orwell's famous books, a dystopian fiction about totalitarianism. In 1984, Orwell described a totalitarian government led by Big Brother (BB) using its power to manipulate the Inner Party by limiting vocabulary, removing the right to privacy, or eliminating anyone who disobeyed the laws. Orwell drew inspiration from totalitarian governmental tendencies as well as the regime of the Soviet Union (USSR). Orwell's purpose in writing was to suggest possible oppressive tactics of the totalitarian government and its negative side effects on the population. Orwell's goal is to end totalitarian tactics and show the type of oppression people felt throughout his leader's tenure. While George Orwell's 1984 and the Soviet Union depict characteristics of a totalitarian government in which cruel leaders take control of a group of people, 1984 and the Soviet Union correlate in propaganda, the forces of police and repression as a means of maintaining power. plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayThe USSR used propaganda to get people to support their leaders. Propaganda provides information about political positions that could be misleading to the public. During World War II, Stalin's propaganda showed appreciation for him. In 1984, Orwell portrayed his characters as loyal to the Party by incorporating various BB posters to show their love and support for their leader. Orwell's use of propaganda to write 1984 correlates with why people during World War II were persuaded to support Stalin through false information. During World War II, the USSR manipulated its Russian citizens through propaganda by taking advantage of the war conditions. Stalin's method of propaganda was to gain the trust of the people. The RadioFreeEurope RadioLiberty article states: “…Stalin's Soviet Union was a land of peace, progress, harmony and – above all – endless love and devotion to Stalin himself. He was “the father of nations”, “the gardener of human happiness”. His image was everywhere. » Similarly, another article states: “The image of Stalin has become a kind of symbol existing in the popular mentality independently of its actual bearer. During the war years, when the Soviet people were hit by incredible miseries, the name of Stalin and faith in him, to a certain extent, brought the Soviet people together, giving them hope for victory. Propaganda was used to manipulate people into loving Stalin because he was like their savior. Stalin used propaganda to gain all possible support to maintain his ideal totalitarian state and control people's opinions about himself, while taking advantage of the mental state of Russians during the war and showing confidence to show that he was an exceptional leader. Stalin's propaganda has a similar parallel to that of 1984. Orwell incorporated the propaganda into his book as a message that visual displays containing incorrect information would only mislead people into trusting their leader. In “1984,” Orwell described: “...there seemed to be no color in anything except the posters plastered everywhere. The black facemustachioed stared from every dominating corner... BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the legend said, while the dark eyes looked deep into Winston's... another poster, torn in one corner, fluttered intermittently in the wind, alternately . covering and discovering the single word INGSOC”,. Orwell's intention of describing the setting in detail is to understand that a totalitarian government is using propaganda to gain support for BB. There are posters everywhere for inspiration to praise BB and show him love. The more people showed support for their leader, the more people would follow him and give more power to BB in 1984 or Stalin during WWII. Stalin's approach to maintaining his power was the use of police force. The NKVD (People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs) was a national security service used to serve Stalin's orders to eliminate anyone who posed as a threat to him or if he was dissatisfied with the people's opposition to his party. Orwell included characters to be the "thought police" and their job was to eliminate, or torture, if people were disloyal to BB or believed they had more knowledge than him. The aim of including a secret service was to highlight the oppression suffered by Russians and the major role that violence played in the abuse of power. Once people opposed or criticized Stalin for his way of governing, Stalin added the use of a secret police system. . Stalin pursued his ideal of totalitarian government; however, his government did not include treacherous people. Some people had to be eliminated. The Crime Museum article describes: "Stalin was historically paranoid and used the NKVD as his own private force to eliminate people he considered disloyal or a threat...The NKVD was national security, and they ensured that that their presence is well known. People were arrested and sent to labor camps for the most trivial things. Individuals reported their friends and neighbors because they feared the NKVD would come for them if they did not report suspicious activity. The Russians were heavily overcome by fear and therefore were forced to maintain their loyalty to Stalin to avoid any difficult situation and to sacrifice anyone to avoid torture. The secret police system caused a feeling of helplessness in the face of Stalin's power. Orwell referred to the NKVD as the "thought police" who made sure to punish those who did not follow the government's rules and were tortured. Orwell's 1984 book explains: "Do anything to me!" » he shouted. “You’ve been starving me for weeks. Get it over with and let me die... Is there anyone else you want me to give away? Just say who it is and I'll tell you whatever you want. I don't care who it is or what you do to them. I have a wife and three children... You can take them all and slaughter them before my eyes, and I will stand there and watch. But not room 101! ". Orwell described the characters as afraid of the "thought police" because they did not want to face torture or death. People will do anything to sacrifice anything or anyone to save themselves because of fear. People found themselves in these situations if they committed a “thought crime,” meaning anything that contradicted the INGSOC rules. Just as people in the NKVD feared being seen as disloyal to the Party. Stalin's abuse of power crossed the line when he removed all religious ties as a form of repression. Russia relied..