George Orwell 1984: Unmasking Totalitarianism Essay -- Literary Analys

The outlook to the future is usually one filled with hope. When failures of the past and present problems collide together, the future is often seen as a place of hope. This mindset was no different in Britain during the mid 20th century, especially in the late 1940’s. During this time, World War II had finally ended, the days of fighting Nazi Germany was behind everyone, but present circumstances were bleak. Britain was still recovering from the effects of World War II and handling the transition of a new socialist democratic government. At the same time, from the east there loomed Stalin’s Soviet Union with its communism government and Totalitarian ruling mindset. Many were oblivious to the facts surrounding communism and saw salvation in it. In Mitzi Brunsdale Student Companion to George Orwell she states that â€Å"Western support for Stalin often took the form of neo-religious adulation†¦all kinds of personal and social inadequacies drove a troubled g eneration into projecting its neuroses on to a perfected proletarian Utiopia† (139). Many in the west were discouraged with present conditions and looked to this apparent Utopia as their answer. On the other hand, George Orwell stood in direct opposition. His resistance against the Totalitarian rule of Stalin was especially expressed in one of his most popular books called 1984, which as Valerie Meyers in Modern Novelist George Orwell says â€Å"brings home to England the experience of countless who suffered in Totalitarian regimes of Eastern Europe† (114). Through his writings, George Orwell was able to make the evils of Totalitarianism real to the ignorant. In 1984, George Orwell exposed three dangerous aspects of Totalitarianism by showing the oppression of the individual's... ...hose who read his book. Even in the future, every reader is given a ever relevant warning and is faced with the reality of the possibility of such a society existing. With technology advancing and many history defining issues arising, the possibility of elements of 1984 coming true seems to become increasingly real. History always repeats itself, and generations tend to forget the lessons of the past. Works Cited Bal, Sant S. George Orwell The Ethical Imagination. Atlantic Highlands: Humanities, 1981. Print. Brunsdale, Mitzi M. Student Companion to George Orwell. Westport: Greenwood, 2000. Print. Meyers, Jeffrey. A Reader's Guide to George Orwell. Totown: Littlefield, Adams &, 1975. Print. Meyers, Valerie. Modern Novelists George Orwell. New York: St. Martin's, 1991. Print. Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. New York: Penguin Group, 2003. Print.