Ingsoc-Totalitarian Gov.
Ana Ortiz Honors English 10 Per. 5 February 27, 2013 Ingsoc – Totalitarian Government: 1984 Communism has been a part of the world for a very long time causing the harsh suffering of people in regions, such as Cuba. Rather than help a nation, Communism harms the inhabitants who live in the nation through the effect that it bring, by lending itself to becoming a communist-totalitarian government. A Communist government has a high chance of becoming totalitarian and being overruled by a group or dictator, whom will have all authority and right do to what he pleases.
Socialism, being a type of government in which the government takes care of the industrialization differs from a Communist-totalitarian government. A communist-totalitarian government has total control over all, whereas a Socialist government just handles the production of goods and manufactured items, in other means: the economy. Throughout the novel, 1984, the party reveals “Ingsoc” as their form of government. Ingsoc is thought to be “English socialism” in the future but is actually quite the opposite.
Underneath this “socialist government” stands a totalitarian form of government which feeds nothing but lies to its people, watches the members of the party very closely, and has gained its power through rather obvious ways. In the novel, Winston seeks the truth about Oceania’s Government and wether or not there are intelligent people out in this world, where its inhabitants have all been taught and brainwashed to do as the Government says. Oceania’s Government has lied to its people for years, telling them nothing but nonsense to keep them naive and ignorant about the horrible things that the Party does.
Winston, now in the hands of a leader in the Party, O’ Brien, has been tortured for his “crime” which, in this time, can be as simple as thinking that the Party is corrupt. While being tortured, Winston reflects to himself, “A thousand times better than Winston, he knew what the world was really like, in what degradation the mass of human beings lived and by what lies and barbarities the Party kept them there” (Orwell, 216). Winston realizes that O’Brien is one of the leaders who keeps Oceania n ignorance and hides the harsh truth because he does not feel that humans are fit to govern. As shown, Oceania’s government is clearly totalitarian and communist by definition: “Communism in its broader meaning is a system in which property used for the production of goods or services is owned by a community or group rather than individuals” showing that the Party resembles to this, the Party being the group that takes hold of all property and production in Oceania.
Socialism is what the Party tries to pass as, but it shows no similarity between the form of government: “Socialists believe that Capitalist society is unjust and aim to eliminate competition for profit and to attain an equal distribution of wealth through cooperative means”. This shows that Ingsoc is not like Socialism because the Party takes complete control of everything, not allowing its inhabitants to really have a say in anything that goes on in the country. Winston tries to learn and uncover the real truth behind the Communist party that has been in rule for as long as he remembers.
The reality is cruel but Ingsoc is truly corrupt, the Party, meant to keep the equality in the world is truly dictatorial. The Party keeps all of the population in line at all times, watching every step its people make through telescreens and takes control of the media being exposed to Oceania making its Communist factors more visible. Winston feels trapped in his own home as well as forced to live by the Party’s rules. He does not like to do what they say but does it anyway for he knows what happens to those who commit even the simplest thoughtcrime. War is peace, Freedom is slavery, Ignorance is strength … Always the eyes watching you and the voice enveloping you. Asleep or awake, working or eating, indoors or out of doors, in the bath or in bed– no escape” (Orwell, 26) Winston reveals an act of dictatorship in this quote because of the fact that the government invades the privacy of everyone at all time. In this time there is no such thing as privacy, the Party is allowed to do as it pleases, displaying similar qualities as a totalitarian government.
The Party makes it pretty obvious that it is communist but most of the population is brainwashed in depth making it unable for them to see that dictators much like leaders of the Party hide the truth and destroy the media that can stand against them. “Totalitarian dictators aim to transform their citizen’s thoughts and opinions and reshape expectations. To achieve these goals, the dictator must first control the flow of information going out to the public” (Fridell, 54).
Being that a dictator would have to control the media is not a surprise because to take full control of a country a dictator must not allow its people to be informed of the truth, in order to prevent revolts or disputes against the dictator. . Oceania’s government, Ingsoc, is clearly a totalitarian government, keeping total control of all members of the party. Ingsoc used fairly unusual laws introduced by the inner party to keep the rest of the outer party members ignorant of everything that was truly going on.
In order to keep people ignorant and naive, srict rules and prohibitions are strongly enforced in a totalitarian government ruled by a dictator. “The party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the god of others; we are interested in solely power. Not wealth or luxury or long life or happiness; only power, pure power” displays O’ Brien’s chat with Winston and reveals the use of the Party and the efforts of Ingsoc, which is to gain complete power over all (Orwell, 217). O’Brien explains his view on dictatorship: “Freedom is a dire threat to dictatorships.
With it comes all sorts of possibilities, including thoughtfulness, which can lead to discontent, opposition, even revolution”, O’ Brien, a leader of the party, is for the Party and its hold over everyone else (Orwell, 217. ). He does not want anyone else to think otherwise and keep their faithfulness to the party. The Party was clearly a totalitarian government, hidden by a supposed “socialist government”. Lastly, Ingsoc is clearly distinguished as totalitarian rather than socialism because the factors that make up Ingsoc that are so closely related to a totalitarian government.
The similarities between totalitarian government and Ingsoc are obvious. The Party in the novel prohibits anyone from thinking about anything that is not about the Party itself as we’ve seen it happen before in history: “In Europe, totalitarian states have trampled on free expression and appropriated the myths and rituals of art to serve their oppressive ends” (Holden). Another quote shows the effect of a communist government which also resembles to Ingsoc and the grip that the Party has over the people of Oceania: “The Communist Party was my Nurse Ratched, telling me what I could and could not do; what I as or was not allowed to say; where I was and was not allowed to go; even who I was and was not” (Forman). Clearly, the similarities between communism, totalitarianism, and the Ingsoc government of Oceania are shown in the quotes above. As O’ Brien admits to Winston that the only goal for Ingsoc and the Party is to have complete control over Oceania, Winston is finally able to see with complete clarity what he had known from the start – Ingsoc is truly totalitarian. Its only goal is to gain complete control, even if large amounts of torture were needed to gain control of just one being.
Throughout the novel, the Party shows its true goals: to keep everyone naive, enough to prevent revolution or disputes against the government from happening. Winston is able to see that the Party is nothing like it says it truly is, but is something completely different. Ingsoc is actually a communist and totalitarian government, which is very obvious to anyone with good perception. Works Cited Communism. Vol. 5. Chicago, Illinois: Ferguson, 2000. Print. New Standard Encyclopedia. Forman, Milos. “OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR; Obama the Socialist? Not Even Close. ” The New York Times.
The New York Times, 11 July 2012. Web. 25 Feb. 2013. Fridell, Ron. Dictatorship. Tarrytown, New York: Michelle Bisson, 2008. Print. Holden, Stephen. “Facing the Menace of Totalitarianism. ” The New York Times. The New York Times, 02 Oct. 1996. Web. 25 Feb. 2013. McDonald, Mark. “Did the U. S. ‘lose’ Ho Chi Minh to Communism? ” The New York Times. N. p. , 28 Aug. 2012. Web. 17 Feb. 2013. Orwell, George. 1984. Austin, Texas: Holt, Rineheart ; Winston, 1949. Print. Socialism. Vol. 5. Chicago, Illinois: Ferguson, 2000. Print. New Standard Encyclopedia.
