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Influences on George Orwell: Who is Watching Whom?

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George Orwell once said, “In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” Orwell understood that telling the truth was an anomaly. He lived in a world full of lies and hatred. Consequently, George Orwell wanted to show people the real dangers of a totalitarian government, and he wrote two political novels that warn people of those dangers. These novels are still respected today, as some believe the world is turning into the “Orwellian” society he created in his most famous book, 1984. Although George Orwell wanted to tell the truth, he lacked a father figure, lived during the Russian Revolution, and had strong political biases that also influenced the writing of 1984, which ultimately influenced the political …show more content…

This is based off of one of Stalin’s posters which read “KGB is watching you.” KGB was Stalin’s private army who killed anyone that was thought to be an enemy of Stalin. In 1984, thoughtcrime was punishable by death and was the act of thinking anything against the Party. Thoughtcrime is Orwell’s version of the KGB. Another example is the connection between Big Brother and Joseph Stalin. Big Brother’s physical description resembles Joseph Stalin in many ways. Also, Stalin implemented a Five Year Plan to help boost the economy and ration food. The novel mentions that, “Behind Winston’s back the voice from the telescreen was still babbling away about pig iron and the over fulfillment of the Ninth Three-Year Plan” (Orwell, 1984, 3). There are many connections between 1984 and the Russian Revolution. Orwell included these connections as a warning of the dangers of one person having too much power.The government has the power to take away all of the people’s freedoms. Orwell’s political novel can be seen as a cautionary tale against Stalin’s government and power. Although George Orwell was influenced by the Russian Revolution, he more importantly wanted show the endangerments of totalitarianism. Orwell was a socialist and took a strong stance against totalitarianism. He said that everything written after the Spanish War was supporting democratic socialism and against all forms of totalitarianism (Magill’s Survey 1414). Ironically, the

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