Totalitarian World, Conformity Is Necessary for Survival

‘In a totalitarian world, conformity is necessary for survival.’ Discuss. George Orwell’s political parable, 1984, portrays an oppressive and dictatorial government, which thereby presents to the reader a palpable sense of danger and malevolence born out of the creation of a counter utopic totalitarian regime. Orwell’s nihilistic creation of Oceania, presents a world wherein every aspect of private and public life is abhorrently regimented and regulated by the autocratic ‘Big Brother’. The whole population at large is forced to conform to the ideals and beliefs of the tyrannical ‘party’ as a means of not only survival but also a means of being able to live an unabated existence. The party opposes all forms of individuality and†¦show more content†¦Life in Oceania is dull, lifeless and described as ‘swimming against the current’. Orwell creates a dire feeling of hopelessness through his destruction of friendship, family, love and individual thoughts. Love and sex are no longer accepted under the totalitarian regime and Winston is therein forced to suppress all his sexual desires treating sex as merely a procreative duty. His marriage to Katherine was purely ‘[their] duty to the Party’ whose end was the creation of new party members. This shows that in a totalitarian world it is wholly necessary to adhere to the constraints enforced by a government not only for personal salvation but also for the survival of the entirety of the human race. The insidious manifestation and nature of the Party’s power culminates through their manipulation of all aspects of life. History becomes a palimpsest wherein anything can be altered so as to favor the doctrines of the party. Language is slowly becoming eradicated and â€Å" It was intended that when Newspeak had been adopted once and for all and Oldspeak forgotten, a heretical thought should be literally unthinkable, at least so far as thought is dependent on words†. This illustrates that the party wishes to create orthodoxy wherein independent and singular thought which repudiate any vestiges of humanity and digress from the principles of the party are blatantly impossible. Winston is of the belief thatShow MoreRelatedRalph Ellison s Invisible Man1210 Words   |  5 Pagesthrough the use of rhetorical devices, weaves his argument against conformity and for diversity in his critically acclaimed work, Invisible Man. He asserts that man must retain his own sense of indi viduality and embrace the differences of others, as conforming to a certain self-made ideology only exacerbates his desire for self-preservation, a detriment to the progress of humanity. Conformity forces man to gain power for survival. As a result, he becomes more self-centered. 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