After reading 1984 by George Orwell and watching the Frontline documentary about North Korea, it is clear that Oceania, the dystopian country Orwell creates, is comparable to North Korea. Orwell proves to have given a “prophecy for things to come” through the bizarre, dystopian world that he devises. With North Korea’s firm control and influence on things like traveling regulations, propaganda, and imprisonment and punishment, North Korea proves to be extremely, and almost terrifyingly, similar to the world that Orwell created. Orwell depicts that the government uses these influences to continually keep citizens under their control, susceptible to what they wish the citizens to do at all times. Although 1984 may seem purely fictional, the …show more content…
The citizens of North Korea are not even allowed to leave their own country, being denied a basic human right, similar to the situation in Oceania. When Winston was traveling to see Julia for the first time in secret in 1984, Winston says that “it was not easy to make a journey by yourself without attracting attention. For distances of less than a hundred kilometres it was not necessary to get your passport endorsed, but sometimes there were patrols hanging about the railway stations, who examined the papers of any Party member they found there and asked awkward questions” (Orwell 247). The government does this so that they always know exactly what their citizens are doing, controlling their every action. Orwell clearly foresaw this prophecy for the future in this scenario as countries like North Korea are doing the same thing in our modern world. For instance, according to Quora, in North Korea “You need a special permit to leave the nation which is supposed to be authorised by the government agency, but these agencies do not allow its citizens to leave their nation” (Quora). Although the government appears as if they allow their citizens freedom by offering permits, the government never actually gives these permits out. In reality, they are simply props used to convince citizens that North Korea is an ideal society and that citizens have independence and freedom. Just as Orwell depicted, citizens are lied to and basic human rights are denied so citizens continually are under the control of the
Being completely controlled and even afraid is a part of people’s everyday lives, those of North Korea. Hatred towards this totalitarianism is a philosopher and novelist, Ayn Rand. Rand has written a novel, Anthem, to display the impact of totalitarianism and how she opposes this type of system. Between the everyday life in North Korea and the dystopian society in Anthem, are many similarities and some differences. The structure of the governments, the state of the people, and the little progress made within North Korea and the society of Anthem can certainly be compared.
The government in 1984 is also known as “Big Brother”, he is always watching. If Big Brother does approve your intelligence he will send you to the Ministry of Love where they get tortured, they will suffer, and usually results in death. In 1984, execution is common for citizens, in North Korea if people are caught in a major crime it will also result to a public execution. Children that love the “enemy” will be hung in the story. Telescreens are a major help to the government, the telescreen can never be turned off. Only the people in the inner party have the right to shut off their telescreens. The people have no freedom or privacy, these telescreens monitor their every move. In every home of North Korea they have speakers and pictures of their leaders, the speakers remind them what to do every day, every day they had to clean those pictures.
As evident through the striking similarities between the totalitarian government of 1984 and the Communist regime of North Korea, it really is as if Kim Il Sung obtained an early copy of George Orwell’s 1984 and used it as a blueprint for his system (Hitchens n.p.). George Orwell had been exposed to various types of imperialism throughout his early life, leading to a realization of his resentment for authority. Orwell produced the novel with the intent of warning future societies of the dangers of totalitarian governments, yet North Korea epitomizes a flawless depiction of the very authority that Orwell yearned to avoid through providing a detailed illustration of the ramifications of submitting to a tyrannical government (Merriman n.p.).
Big Brother is able to control the minds of the Oceanian people so that there are no corrupt thoughts. Syme says to Winston, “[d]on’t you see the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought, in the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible” (Orwell 46). In order for Big Brother to stay in power, it is essential to limit the people’s ability to consciously make bad choices. This sense of being compliant and obeying every rule made by Big Brother is made successful because of his ability to limit the thoughts of the people through Newspeak. The rebellious protagonist of 1984, Winston, falls to Big Brother because of his manipulation. “The purpose, then, of totalitarian government becomes only that of sustaining its feeling of power. Winston’s final defeat is encapsulated in the last words of the novel... [H]is struggle is finished: “He loved Big Brother” (Franks). This poignant end for Winston proves that Big Brother can successfully control the mind of almost anyone, obtaining complete obedience and loyalty. Kim Il Sung was able to achieve this same manipulation in a much different way. The people of North Korea see Kim Il Sung as a brother. He was successful during his time manipulating the minds of his people to sincerely believe that he is a member of every individual North Korean person’s family. The North Koreans see Kim Il Sung as someone they can trust, so they refrain from ever being disloyal to
George Orwell's horrendous yet prophetic vision of the future in his novel, 1984 has come and gone. In this nightmarish novel, Oceania, where the story takes place, is the perfect depiction of "Negative Utopia" in which the government is in total control of their citizens. They control every aspect of their life. From the smallest things as the clothes their citizen wore on a daily basis to the person they were allowed to marry to their thoughts. Freedom of choice and thought was unquestionable and was not allowed and anything or anyone that went against this principle or resisted oppression was completely suppressed themselves. Now, under our current government there are a lot of similarities
Most people probably think 1984 is completely fiction, but there are many drastic similarities between 1984 and North Korean Society. These societies have forced labor camps, powerful dictators or government parties, and the use of propaganda. Both of these societies slowly gained power over many years and took full control of their country or territory. On the other hand, they differ when it comes to they way they designed their governments. Both 1984’s and North Korea's societies are similar in the ways they control, torture, and deprive their people, but differ when it comes to government organization.
Nathan Harland Mrs. Schroeder English IV Honors 5 May 2018 An analysis and Comparison between the World of 1984 and North Korea While George Orwell was not accurate in his depiction of what life would be like in 1984, many of the events and descriptions used hold an uncanny resemblance to several developments in our modern day life. It is undeniable that more people than ever our now living in democratic nations, however not every nation has conformed to giving its citizens proper freedoms.
The conflict I am focusing on is the conflict between North Korea and the USA.
In the book 1984 by George Orwell, a totalitarian government is emphasized. Throughout the story, it is revealed that all the government cares about is war and power within themselves. It is clearly shown that the intentions of the government in Oceania are self-serving and not benevolent. With the use of Newspeak and Doublethink, Orwell further shows that the intentions of the government are one sided and are only effective for themselves. The way in which the government runs its people expresses the idea of selfishness and that all benefits are only for the government. Through the use of surveillance, torture, and complete removal of people's privacy, the government is able to manipulate and scare people into obeying the government, which in turn only makes the government stronger.
The Secret State of North Korea offered a great look into what basic things North Koreans are lacking. Even within the realm of Communism. Lack of freedoms, lack of food, lack of community, lack of trust, lack of a social society, lack of programs for children, lack of equality, and a lack of information. When Kim Il-Sung created North Korea, the government was based on Marxism and Leninism, called “Juche.” Just as the Soviets, the North Koreans followed suite with massive inequality between the government officials and the common people. The documentary showed its viewers what the government is omnipresent in the everyday lives of its people, so much so that recordings of daily life are illegal, and “random” searches take place commonly.
This particular editorial quotes, “It appears that the police now have a device that can read license plates and check if a car is unregistered, uninsured or stolen. We already know that the National Security Agency can dip into your Facebook page and Google searches”(CNN). George Orwell philosophy is a fact in the twentieth century as government develops technologies, which provides them with Google search records, Facebook conversations, criminal records, car history and other. Similarly, George Orwell has predicted that government will have massive control over the population. In North Korea, it is a fact that administrative authorities have substantial control over the populace.
The North Korean government continues to financially fund the research and testing of nuclear and ballistic missiles. Little information is known about the North Korean nuclear program and has been made available to foreign nations due to the secrecy and isolation of international affairs. The threat of a nuclear strike from North Korea has become an increasingly serious matter for many nations including the U.S. and its Asian allies, Japan and South Korea. Currently, there are only nine nations known by intelligent analysis that possesses the resources to manufacture nuclear weapons which do include the U.S. However, North Korea is the only nation in the 21st century to conduct a nuclear missile test that has been reported by North Korean
The third source that I decided to use was an English newspaper. The headline from the article was the first thing that stood out, suggesting that Trump might bomb North Korea next. The article barely covers the event, instead, it covers Eric Trump's comments and the possibility that North Korea can be next. The newspapers instigates that the United States might use military action against North Korea though including Eric Trump's statement hinting that his father is not afraid to make "North Korea...next on the hit list if Kim Jong-Un carries on developing atomic weapons" (Daily Mirror, April 14, 2017). The newspaper just adds more fuel to the existing tension between the United States and North Korea with such a provocative statement.
This article deals with the United States and its attempts to deal with the dangerous matters of North Korea. Some of the problems that were brought up in this article were North Korea’s plan to restart a plutonium based nuclear program at Yongbyon, North Korea’s plan to build a new highly enriched uranium (HEU) nuclear program, and the tension that emerged between the United States and South Korea. Even though many problems were occurring, there were some positive things that were happening at the time. The United States began negotiating with North Korea and South Korea about establishing railroad links, demining portions of the demilitarized zone, allowing athletes to compete in the Asian games, and allowing abductees to visit Japan.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be governed by a dictatorship? What laws do the citizens of a dictatorship have to follow? Who is the dictator, and what is he/she’s responsibilities? Where else in the world is dictatorship being practiced? A dictatorship is a government ruled by a dictator that grants citizens limited rights and is practiced by many countries. Today, North Korea is the most widely-discussed county that is governed by a dictatorship.