The Repressive Governments Of Zamiatins We And Orwells 1984 :: essays research papers fc

The Repressive Governments of Zamiatin's We and Orwell's 1984 Outline: Thesis: Both Zamiatin's We and Orwell's 1984 have governments that repress actions and thoughts through the use of physical and psychological force. I. Intro. II. We's Government's Use of Psychological Force A. Number system B. Sexual Registration III. 1984's Governments Use of Psychological Force A. Newspeak B. Doublethink IV. Both Government's Use of Physical Force A. Torture of Winston B. Operation On Fancy V. Conclusion Throughout time, people have wondered what happens when government gains complete control not only over people's actions, but over the thoughts that precede them. Is it even possible to gain such omnipotence over human nature that human beings will renounce all individuality? If such a society could exist, would human nature truly be conquered, or just subdued sufficiently that the will of the few could be contorted into the will of the general population? The British author Eric Blair, better known by his pen name George Orwell, and the Russian born Eugene Zamiatin both attempt to address these questions in their respective books 1984 and We. These novels depict, ". . . mechanized societies whose citizens are deprived of freedom through physical and psychological conditioning." (Bloom 17) The amazing thing about these civilizations is that the majority of the citizenry, at least publicly, applauds the government's totalitarian actions. Both Zamiatin's We and Orwell's 1984 have governments that repress thought and action through the use of physical and physiological force. One of the most visible ways the government of the United State is able to control the thought and actions of its citizens is by the use and abuse of a system by which each member of society receives a number at birth instead of given a name (Goldstein 54). The numbers are assigned according to sex and occupation. For example, D-503, the main character in We, is male, and is thus assigned a consonant for his prefix while his female partner, O-90, is assigned a vowel. As D-503 is an engineer, he receives a 5 as his first number. All state poets such as O-90 have numbers under 100. (Zamiatin 46). This use of numbers instead of names creates a sense of unity and oneness of purpose in the contented, complacent Numbers of the United State. "The most striking thing about the Numbers' "names", is how easily they incorporate their assignment into their lives, and their contempt for the "old way" of naming." (Gregg 549) The Numbers' numbers are sewn onto their tunics called "unifs", front and back in large enough print that anyone, ". . .up to one hundred meters away can read your Number from any direction.