Totalitarianism:1984 by George Orwell and Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn - Essay Example

Totalitarianism:"1984" by George Orwell and "Ella Minnow Pea" by Mark Dunn Introduction Totalitarianism is a political arrangement whereby the state or a single political party holds absolute control and authority over its society. The objective of such a system is to control every aspects of a group of citizens’ public plus private life. The “1984” story by George Orwell is based on a "future" society whereby individualism is purged by totalitarianism, and propaganda is massively applied for a few people to encompass power over the masses. Furthermore, perpetual war is incessantly waged by the elite so as to preserve their perception of peace, a world in which false is true while wrong is right, even as history is continuously rewritten. Orwell refers to a scenario whereby the authorities, referred to as Big Brother watches every individual moves. The book aims at causing the readers to question the policies of their governments and how any global administration can impact on their daily life. On the other hand, “Ella Minnow Pea” by Mark Dunn, is a cautionary tale regarding authoritarian rule, sightless obedience, and definitive power of language regarding intolerance plus mass hysteria. Dunn provides a satirical assessment of the freedom of expression in an increasingly authoritarian world, even as he lambasts malevolence men who stifle freedom for totalitarianism. He argues that religion provides such men reasons to limit individual freedoms, and they come in form of elected official sin democratic states, as well as unelected officials in totalitarian states. The aim of this essay is to compare the two texts, in relation to the theme of totalitarianism. Discussion “1984” is a story based on three big states engaged in a massive war, and the spotlight is on Oceania, a state in which the main character, Winton Smith live and work. Orwell depicts Oceania as being totally in control by Big Brother or government that even its citizens cannot think freely or cheat. Oceania is under the control of the Bureau of Truth, concealed censorship comprising political correctness, and the Thinking Police (Orwell, 14). It is also administered by political exploitation of language in deforming reality, and Orwell believes that such an omnipotent state can eventually win when left unchecked. In “Ella Minnow Pea’ by Mark Dunn, the story is based on an imaginary island called Nollop, an idyllic place which is free from technological innovations, such as television or computers, but filled with liberal arts and nurturing of language. The main characters Ella Minnow Pea, together with the rest of community are obliged to live under a linguistic blockade, and as such books are ruined, while newspapers blacked out. However, unlike in Orwell “1984” book, the Nollopians fight back, and in the end promising to form a pangram that is not elevated to divine status, but one which is dazzling (Dunn, 208). Furthermore, in Orwell “1984” there is the removal of any hope that individuality will be restored after government grows to be so strong. Orwell argues that it is a “world of fear …. Treachery…. and torment, a world of trampling and … trampled upon" (Orwell 220). But in “Ella Minnow Pea” they manage to get rid of the high council rule, however, one is left with a question that even after their victory, can they really be able to create a state that is free from authoritarianism considering that they still have disorder and chaos due to the linguistic diffusion. The outcome in both stories is that true religion fades, trust among its people is lost, and even hope becomes unrealistic.  Hence, people misplace their faith when they realize that for the rest of their entire life, they will be stuck on such philosophies. Both books reveal how totalitarianism ideal understands the significance of language in human independence and existence. The control of language by itself enables a totalitarian regime to possess supreme power in the structure of unconditional control. That is why both citizens in Oceania and Nallop appear as mindless drones, and who are incompetent of human capacity to imagine freely. In “1984”, memory, awareness of history, and understanding of present are rewritten and controlled by Ministry of Truth for the advantage of party, thus, “Who controls the past …….controls the future…. who controls the present controls the past” (Orwell, 35). Furthermore, totalitarianism imposes its view on religion or customs, without allowing the citizens to question the obvious. In Nollop, the high council forces the people to worship signs they impose, and as such, they effort to make sure that Nollopians believe that the letters rule over them. This is evident by their decree which stated that. “……at precisely 12:00 tomorrow morning… “C” will cease to exist … you will eschew its use or receive penalties as per earlier Council proclamation…“U” is gone as well” (Dunn, 135). The high council can carry out whatever they want, and at any time they please. Thus, stabilization in a totalitarian system implies order, uniformity, along with control. No matter how painstakingly they try to control the arrangement, disorder invariably paves in, and in their panic to seal the leak, they exceedingly squeeze the reins. Hence, totalitarianism develops in ferocity and scope, and Orwell puts it across as simply “If ….past and external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable—what then?” cannot be controlled (Orwell, 184). Even though both books are fairy stories about bigotry and mass hysteria, Dunn story is more of a technical exercise of totalitarianism. “Ella Minnow Pea” is a political satire which reflects the suspicious absurdities of political correctness interest groups, and internal war on fear. Since, Nollop is basically a totalitarian state, communication and self expression is controlled, and the characters come up with alternative means of expressing themselves to overcome the ever increasing tight limits . For instance, Tassie inscribes that she is desperate to "live across the channel. . . ., where telephones actually work, and television and computers and books…… ever hope to read" (Dunn, 32). The common people in Nollop have been robbed off their liberty to communicate and they are forced to use linguistic contortions, so as to avoid prosecution from the high Council. For instance, they use alternative words such as "cephalus" implying “head" or “sub-terra" implying "underground" (Dunn, 99). Religious authoritarianism is evident in Dunn story and it suggests the perils that come about when humans assume they know their creator will with unconditional certainty. In particular, when council representatives go about confiscating Rory Cummel possessions, they justify their actions by telling him that they are only performing the resolve of Nollop, since "there is no other Supreme Being other than Nollop" (Dunn, 121). Under such a totalitarian system, the people are caught between being outstanding citizens by observing unjust laws, or rebelling against the authorities through fighting for their valuable freedoms. The ideological basis for totalitarianism is to tame individual free radicals, so as to facilitate the social arrangement that sustains its politico-ideological wellbeing. This is evident in “1984” when Orwell argues that “In the end the Party …, announces that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. ….the logic of their position demanded it. …, the very existence of external reality, was tacitly denied by their philosophy…, what was terrifying was not that they would kill you for thinking otherwise, but that they might be right (Orwell, 184). Similarly, in “Ella Minnow Pea”, a totalitarian society has been envisioned whereby there is an attempt to form a utopian society, which is based on intolerance of individual expression and communication. This is notable when Ella Minnow writes to Tassie informing her that '"… our assessments and opinions counted for …, precious little…, kept our public speculation to a minimum…fear of government reprisal" (Dunn, 4). The disbelief in ones intelligence is the foundation of tyranny and it is the people themselves in both stories allowed totalitarianism to take root. The people did not understand stability, and they were confused with the stringency of stability. The people anticipate the unexpected and they are ready to be disrupted, or be transformed. Orwell's “1984” is ultimately a disheartening story, but unlike Dunn story, whereby the High Island Council has absolute power, Orwell “1984” uses the government in form of the party in controlling the body and mind of civilians. Orwell attempts to warn readers of the dangers of a single political party with complete power. For instance, due to brainwashing and blackmailing, Winston eventually embraced the party line, “Everything was all right…struggle was finished… He loved Big Brother" (Orwell, 245). This reveals how government absolutely trampled any symbols of its citizen independence, in attempting to make them slaves to every notion of their ideology. In particular, Orwell unanticipated ending is meant not only to anger, but to frighten readers of the dangers behind a government with absolute control. For instance, O'Brien blatantly explained to Winston that “Party seeks Power… for its own sake.., not interested in the good of others… interested solely in power" (Orwell, 217). This shows how a great deal of human character revolves around the notion of attaining control and absolute power. Therefore, the genuine struggle for the masses is to avoid being state property, and given the warning of fear or pain, communication and expression is suppressed, and with no language or thought then expression is vanished. Conclusion Based on the two books, totalitarian systems are theocracies on their ruling castes. The common citizens are considered dependable, even to the extent that past events are rewritten to show reveal that mistakes were made, or a given imaginary triumph did indeed occur. Thus, both stories disapprove of a humanity which has misplaced its mind to the ruling regime, especially by the fact that government governs without considering the people it governs. The end game is that under totalitarianism, it is the common people who suffer, and it is by itself a cliche and it forces the anecdote upon its common folks. Works Cited Dunn, Mark. Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters. Anchor; Reprint edition , 2002. Orwell, George. 1984. London: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1983. Read More