1984 Compare And Contrast Essay

Words: 1387
Pages: 6

George Orwell’s book 1984 contains many historical parallels between the way society functions in Big Brother’s Oceania and Hitler’s Nazi Germany. When Hitler was given power to lead Germany’s government in 1933, he made many changes to the way society was ran (“Adolf Hitler”). Similar to Big Brother, Hitler eliminated political rivals and gave the people of his society a common enemy to resent. Both leaders gained extreme control over their citizens using a totalitarian style of government. In both societies, for example, anyone who did not fit the leader’s standards was taken to encampments such as concentration camps, or, in 1984, the Ministry of Love. Like the Thought Police took Winston, the main character, to the Ministry of Love in 1984 for not complying to rules, German citizens were sent to concentration camps if they did not meet Hitler’s vision of a perfect society. In addition, both societies have heavily regulated their media and propaganda. Overall, Hitler and Big Brother’s leadership styles are very similar. Although there are differences between the two, there are many historical parallels between Hitler’s Nazi Germany and Big Brother’s Oceania in 1984. One example of parallelism in the two worlds is the use of totalitarianism. Totalitarian governments control all aspects of life in a society and offer very limited freedom for …show more content…
The two governments, run by Hitler and Big Brother, were similar in the sense that they both ran their countries with totalitarianistic styles. They both controlled what youth were allowed to learn, used propaganda and heavily censored media to sway their citizens into following their rules, and even sent people off to camps where they would be tortured into submission. Although differences between the two exist, such as why power was sought, the parallels between the two are undeniable and outweigh any