"1984" and Today

Term Paper # 104258

Ethics
Political Science

"1984" and Today

This paper explains the relevance of George Orwell's "1984" to contemporary politics.

1,452 words () | 4 sources | MLA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

The paper looks at Orwell's description of an ongoing moral looseness; a determination to carry out orders without regard for human life. The paper then discusses how Sudanese militias are murdering refugees in the name of their nation and their faith and American soldiers behave as sadistic monsters. The paper emphasizes how in the twentieth century, George Orwell's "1984" continues to function as a blueprint for ideological evil.

From the Paper:

"First published in 1949, George Orwell's 1984 continues to function as a blueprint for ideological evil. The monstrousness of Stalinism and Nazism, which in Orwell's day were very active political disasters, fuelled the author's insights. Since World War II, the terrors of spastic ideology and hyper-violent complacency occur in many effective dystopian novels (such as Burgess' seminal A Clockwork Orange)but what sets 1984 above Burgess' book is its comprehensive understanding of the moral failure implicit in any totalitarian state; from the intimate nature of Winston Smith's brainwashing in Room 101, to his interrogator's demands for a belief that suits Big Brother, the reader gets a full understanding of how tyrants shape the thinking of a populace through Doublethink."

Sample of Sources Used:

Orwell, George. 1984. London: Penguin Books, 1949.
Cuaron, Alfonso. Children of Men. Universal Pictures, 2006.
Hitchens, Christopher. "Realism in Darfur: Consider the horrors of peace." Slate. November 7, 2005. May 20, 2007. http://www.slate.com/id/2129657.
"Q&A: Sudan's Darfur conflict." BBC News. April 19, 2007. May 19, 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3496731.stm.