Sunday, December 13, 2009

One Influence (A WebCT Post)

As I read Irving Howe’s assessment of the totalitarian society in George Orwell’s 1984 in his essay, "1984 - Utopia Reversed," and analyzed his many viewpoints, I could not help but think of North Korea; to me, the quick-essential modern totalitarian society. I recently saw a documentary on the national geographic channel about the people of North Korea, and their behavior highly resembles the culture established in the novel 1984.
First of all, the North Korean people are so oppressed by the government that most do not even know they are being oppressed. The amount of outside information that is available to the people is extremely limited or non-existent. Therefore, the people really do not question the higher power and there many actions to extend their control. Like Howe implied, the society is believes that they are living in the best conditions in the world and the government is looking out for their best interest. The people show their extreme devotion to their leaders and believe them to be God-like. With the people clearly under their spell, the government shapes the ideology of the North Koreans. It was said that the people of North Korea are taught from a very early age to hate the United States and continuously reinforced with propaganda.
Just like Winston, there are those in North Korea who are able to see the truth and willing to risk their lives to gain their independence, but most importantly, their individualism, instead of being another tiny piece of the system that is the totalitarian nightmare.

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