After World War Two in “1984”, the whole world witnessed twenty decades of nuclear warfare and civil disintegration. These issues formed the superstate of Oceania, a collection of western countries such as the Americas, Australia, and most importantly the British Isles, where the story takes place. In our world, we have a little country known as North Korea, ruled by communism. North Korea is the modern day superstate, Oceania, because people are under strict control in both, there’s large amounts of censorship, and the people are isolated from the outside world. North Korea is the modern day Oceania because both of their citizens are under strict control. Oceania is under the control of the Party and Big Brother, and citizens are constantly
North Korea, officially, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, but with the practice of isolationism by their totalitarian communist government, it has also become known as the mysterious “Hermit Kingdom.” This small country remains inaccessible to but, a few due to economic sanctions and ongoing hostilities spanning decades with its southern neighboring country, the United States supported, South Korea. In addition to a complicated past and the regimes, emphasis on self-reliance to limit outside influence, North Korea, has successfully insulated itself from the rest of the world becoming detached and secluded. To know North Korea, you must understand the complex history of when Korea was as a whole nation and of
North Korea profoundly corresponds with Oceania by being a highly militarized nation. Although it has been decades since the Korean war, there has been an everlasting tension between North Korea and
North Korea is a country that is ruled by a dictator and has a communist government. A communist government rules all the land and gives the same amount of money and supplies to all the people in the country. “Daily Necessities were obtained from the Public Distribution System (PDS)” (95,Hassig). The PDS shut down in 1995 because foreign aid was cut off expect for Pyongyang, the capital city. In rural areas, a lot of the children were born as “no-count” meaning that when they were born they weren’t counted as part of the existing society and didn’t have supplies given to them. North Korea was once a unified country with South Korea until September 9, 1948 when it became a separate country. From 1910 to 1945 Japan had ruled
1984 has come and gone. The cold war is over. The collapse of oppressive totalitarian regimes leads to the conclusion that these governments by their nature generate resistance and are doomed to failure. The fictional world of George Orwell's novel, 1984, is best described as hopeless; a nightmarish dystopia where the omnipresent State enforces perfect conformity among members of a totalitarian Party through indoctrination, propaganda, fear, and ruthless punishment. In the aftermath of the fall of capitalism and nuclear war, the world has been divided among three practically identical totalitarian nation-states. A state of perpetual war and poverty is the rule in Oceania. However, this is merely a backdrop, far from the most terrifying
The conflict I am focusing on is the conflict between North Korea and the USA.
A journey to North Korea and Oceania are very similar. They both have powerful leaders that control everyone and everything. Both their governments are totalitarian, they do not tolerate any individual freedom. All citizens think alike, if they disobey the rules of the government they will be sentenced to torture, death or sent to a concentration camp.
South Korea and America are two pressing and influential countries in the world, both with an expressible different history back grounds and present day cultural life style. While most of South Korea is notably similar to America in architect and popular culture, there are some huge divergences in our education system such as classroom atmosphere and student conduct, what a prototypical school day looks like and how many hours we study, and our college placement assessments.
George Orwell’s 1984, widely known for its chilling descriptions of the dystopian society of Oceania, warns of a world in which individuality is virtually destroyed as one oppressive government controls all aspects of life. Decades after the novel’s publication in 1949, various nations today draw unsettling parallels with the characteristics of the government described in 1984. North Korea is one such example, particularly seen as a controversial topic in global debate. Although North Korea and Oceania in 1984 both possess totalitarian governments that attempt to control and restrict individualism, the means in which each government originated and gained authority differ.
I believe that North Korea is similar to the society in the book Anthem. I believe this for the reason that they are both collectivism societies and their leaders go to extreme ends to protect their collectivism (71). Firstly, they are both collectivism societies which means that the citizens are taught to work for the greater good instead of just themselves. If they aren’t contributing or making the culture better, than the leaders would not approve of their action. For example, in North Korea the citizens have to work for the greater good and are not encouraged to be individualized. Another example, is that in the book Anthem they are not allowed to speak the word “I” because that hints towards individualism which the society is not about
The government of North Korea and the government in Anthem are very similar. The two governments are totalitarian, meaning the government has absolute control over everyone.
Oceania being a totalitarian government and an example of that today is North Korea. North Korea is full
In Oceania, you are unable to leave the country or have any sort of communication with the outside world which almost mirrors North Korea's policy that citizens are unable to leave the country unless they have permission, which almost never occurs. Also, Winston was finally captured and brought to the Ministry of Love because of the crimes he had committed, he was later brought to Room 101 where he was brutally tortured with a back-breaking machine, in North Korea those that committed crimes against the country were put into forced labor camps, which is similar to 1984 because they suffer and are terribly punished, where they are raped, starved, and are provided no medical care. Lastly, in North Korea, everything is controlled by the government officials, where information from media and communications are monitored and controlled, as in Oceania they perform similar tasks. The Ministry of Truth changes the past to prevent important information from being obtained by the citizens, documents are also burned through the memory holes to permanently erase the truth. 1984 and North Korea share many of the same characteristics that ultimately form a
It seems as though, North Korea used the novel 1984 as a playbook for how to form a new government, which suffocates its citizens with tyranny and preposterous propaganda. In 1984, George Orwell depicts a dystopian society called Oceania, ruled by a supposed all-knowing dictator named Big Brother. In the novel, Big Brother seems to have brainwashed almost all of the citizens of Oceania. Sadly, this seems to ring true in North Korea today. North Korea has redacted parts of 1984 and rewritten their name in place of Big Brother’s. Due to the striking resemblance of North Korea to Oceania, one can infer that North Korea is becoming dangerously close to fulfilling Orwell’s warning. North Korea implements an almost mirror image government structure
In 1984, Big Brother is adored and worshiped as a God would be. Most citizens in North Korea believe that their leader can read minds, or any negative thoughts, and can even control when the sun rises and sets. Both societies have monuments or signs that worship their leader and show he is always watching them. Another similarity between the two is the continual alteration of history. North Korea claims that South Korea started the war, when in reality, it was the North.
It has been almost sixty-five years since the split of Korea into the North and South. Although it was not until 1953 when Korea was confirmed by a signed agreement that it is spilt in North Korea and South Korea. As a result of Korea separating into two countries, two different people were in power with different types of governing. Although both countries were once one single country, they both have merged into two totally different countries, that if in the future they came back together to be one country it would be difficult to comprise their rulers and come to an agreement of governing between them.