As I read 1984, I started thinking about real totalitarian regimes. Most bear a striking resemblance to Winston Smith's world...that of London's Airstrip One. George Orwell's life coincided with the rise of some of the most terrifying totalitarian nations, such as Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. The beginning of the 20th century marked the birth of totalitarianism. Orwell, in many of his novels, tried to imagine this as he progressed to the end of the century. Thus, in the late 1940s, his vision of what 1984 would be was born. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Totalitarianism is when a government or controlling entity attempts to control every aspect of life, both public and private. One of the hallmarks of all this is the repression of ideological opposition. In 1984, the state operates a police force known as the Thought Police. If the Thought Police determines that a person is “unorthodox,” that person disappears and is sent to a forced labor camp or executed. All physical documentation of the person is deleted, as if it had never existed. Furthermore, the State carries out initiatives to prevent unorthodox thinking. Their elimination of the English language, and subsequent replacement with “Newspeak,” aimed to prevent the communication of thoughts contrary to state ideology by removing the words necessary to form such ideas. The Big Brother State appeals to the basest animalistic drives of violence and fear to create a society of completely obedient members. These means of control may seem impossible to use outside of a fictional environment, but regimes like North Korea actively employ them. In North Korea, if someone is found with anti-state media, they are sent to a prison camp where they must endure grueling conditions. The North Korean state operates a media police force to find citizens with foreign material. North Koreans are not aware of the technology available in the Western world, including modern medical technology, or the Internet. State media assure North Koreans that their quality of life is far superior to that experienced by Americans. In the Soviet Union, Stalin led purges in which large numbers of (what he considered) political dissidents were sent to Siberian gulags to "experience the joys of socialism through work". 1984's Moana relies on the installation of Big Brother as a charismatic ideological figure. Winston's peers love Big Brother and see him as a protector. Almost all totalitarian regimes have a dominant figure. This is often called a “cult of personality”. In North Korea, this is the Kim dynasty. In Nazi Germany, this was Hitler. In the Soviet Union this was Lenin and, later, Stalin. In fascist Italy, this was Mussolini. These figures hold the regime together. They are often the creators of state ideology, but regardless, they are always the ones who guide it. I found the nature of the proletariat in 1984 extremely interesting. In all totalitarian regimes, the proletariat is represented as those who run the state, or at least are heavily praised by the state as the backbone of society. Yet in the novel Syme states that “the proles [the proletariat] are less than human.” This is the only example of a totalitarian society I have seen so far that does not praise, at least in principle, the proletariat. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a custom essayAll Le? 1984?