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Simpson 1 Regi Simpson 10 May 2012 INTL 3111 Arnold Politics & Culture in Literature: Final Paper Literature

provides people with the ability to imagine, express, understand, and to develop ways of seeing things that they may not have had a glimpse of before hand. Culture and Politics are two important aspects of literature, and are prevalent in the novel Nineteen-Eighty Four by George Orwell. Nineteen-Eighty Four is about Oceania, a society ruled by the oligarchical dictatorship of the Party. By delving further into the governance of Oceania, I will explain how the authoritarian rule in Oceania fails, how the content of the novel is applicable to the real world, and how it has intensified my views regarding the need for small government. In Nineteen-Eighty Four the extreme control of an authoritarian society drives its people to rebel against it and seek freedom, resulting in the institutions failure. An institution can be considered a failure when the people do not follow the rules that are set in place, ultimately meaning that what was planned for the Party did not succeed. The society consists of war, the attempt to completely control the minds of their people, constant government surveillance, and punishment of death for slightly acting out of line. Throughout the novel the main character, Winston becomes disgusted by the fact that he lives in a society where he has absolutely no personal freedoms. Winstons first act of rebellion occurs when he purchases a diary and begins recording his thoughts in it. The people of Oceania are not allowed to think for themselves, and the Party rules every

Simpson 1 aspect of their lives. Under their authoritarian society, a thought crime is known as any bad thought against the government. Though thought crime may seem like a small act of rebellion, it is punishable by death. Winston commits several other crimes against the government, one being his love affair with Julia. Both Julia and Wilson have very different views in how they both dislike the Party and the fact that they are completely and utterly controlled by this government. It is very important to look into the ways in which Winston and Julia rebel against the government, and how their two different ways of rebellion explain two different theories of why people might gain the urge to seek freedom in a society like the one the live in. Winstons theory is best explained through relative deprivation. Relative deprivation is when someone feels they are being deprived of something (usually freedom of some sort), which they believe that they are in fact entitled to. Because Winston has experienced life in a society with more freedoms, he sees the unfairness in the Partys complete control of the people. Therefore, Winston believes that he has a right to freedom. Julia on the other hand has never experienced freedom, because she has lived her entire life under the rule of the Party and it is essentially all shes ever known. Julia differs from Winston because she is scared of living in a new way that she is unfamiliar with. This being said, Julia still realizes that the Party is unfair and wrong, and she hates it so much that she sets out to spend her entire life rebelling against the Party in any way she can. It is also important to realize that the content of Nineteen-Eighty Four is applicable to the real world because it explains what people feel like under authoritarian rule, and helps explain the truth-that people deserve and have a right to freedom. The difference in Julia and Winstons life under the Party is interesting because this proves

Simpson 1 the unfairness of being born into a government that allows no freedom whatsoever. Julias situation is of upmost importance because it shows the unfairness of not knowing otherwise, and thinking that the way she was brought up it the only way and the best way. This proves that when people have only experienced an authoritarian or strictly controlled government, this impacts the rest of their life by inhibiting them from making their own choices and thinking for themselves because for so long they have been brainwashed. It is also sad that people cannot control whether they are born into a society like this one, and when you are you have to grow up not knowing the freedoms that you could have. An individual brought up like this ultimately cannot have much control over how they want to live, and they are essentially limited to a society whose government reigns over the people with total control. People should be given the right to democracy because God wants people to have the choice to fail or succeed by making their own choices. He wants people to have the choice to follow him or to not follow him. This is directly impacted by government because if you are in a government that is completely controlling its people, the people do not have much way to do, think, and feel for themselves! The freedoms and choices in life are your God given rights on Earth, and to be deprived of them isnt right. People living in America should be thankful everyday for being born into such a free nation that lets them live how they want to live. Lastly, the novel Nineteen-Eighty Four intensified my views regarding the need for small government because it gave me further incite into what it would feel like to live in an authoritarian society. Seeing a group of people being oppressed by a government through a vivid and colorful work of literature like Nineteen-Eighty Four helps you see how the people under this government feel, what they want instead of this government,

Simpson 1 how they were brought up in a society like this, and the ways which they rebel and try to bypass the laws of the society in every way they can proves peoples need for freedom and independence. Though I believed in small government prior to reading the novel, this novel helped me see my views in a new and interesting way, it provoked my thoughts and helped me see how people in a strict government feel. This was extremely interesting because I have always lived in America where I am free, and I know what a wonderful thing it is to have these freedoms, and the novel gave me incite to what living under an authoritarian society would feel like. Freedom is a right that people should be given as human beings. In big governments, there is more corruption. There is more corruption because the scope of the government is wider when it has more money to spend. There is less corruption when government is smaller because the government no longer has its hand on many things that affect the economy. Authoritarian societyies are not soccuessful because it does not embrace the vast differences that individuals have. All people have different talents and skills, and the sharing and exchange of these ideas is that helps people accomplish things they set out to do. Also an authoritarianism is not democratic, therefore, it does not get the maximum potential from people who do not always take direction well. People are all very different from one another and they excel at what they are good at an individuals, not forced to do. Also being completely mind controlled prohibits people from being able to be their own individual person. Isnt variety supposed to be the spice of life? What is fun able everyone being and thinking the exact same way? My opinions were further developed throughout Nineteen-Eighty Four because I was able to get an inside view of an authoritarian society.

Simpson 1 Literature is beautiful because it gives people the chance to feel things they would not feel without the incite to a piece of literature. Reading also gives people a chance to feel like they are the characters in the stories themselves, adopting new views and immersing themselves in the feelings the characters have on life and what life situations they might be facing. Literature lets people be a part of something they otherwise would not be apart of. Culture and Politics are two important aspects of literature, and are prevalent in the novel Nineteen-Eighty Four by George Orwell. By delving further into the governance of Oceania, I will explain how the authoritarian rule in Oceania fails, how the novel has intensified my views regarding the need for small government, and how the content of the novel is applicable to the real world in many ways.

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