Literature in English Totalitarianism: Chapter Conclusion

Literature in English The things you need to know about George Orwell.

Some interesting quotes by George Orwell : “All the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.” “Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.” “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”

Things and facts worth knowing about George Orwell. George Orwell was born at a time when the English Empire had already extended itself all over the world. Along with this empire, there was a colonialist spirit that persisted among many Englishmen of the upper and middle class. George Orwell was neither a capitalist, nor a communist. He considered himself to be a socialist, because,to him, socialism meant the overthrowing of tyranny everywhere. “Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism, as I understand it.” (Why I Write, 1946) Despite being strongly egalitarian and someone who was speaking against many forms of bigotry, he still was a bigot on some issues. For example, he was deeply homophobic.

Burmese days Last row, third from the left. Orwell spent five years in the 1920's as a policeman in Burma, which was part of the British Empire. Christopher Hitchens said that the reason why Orwell resigned was that he would end up being a sadist and a racist if he had stayed in that police force. On the other hand, this experience may have helped him writing his books, as far as he had had an insight into the nature of fascism, into “the thrill of domination” as Hitchens put it.

The Spanish Civil War Orwell, along with other intellectuals, volunteered to fight in the Spanish Civil War on the Republican side against the fascists. He nearly died when he took a bullet in his throat during the war, this injury impaired him for the rest of his life.

Orwell had never been to the USSR Orwell's account of the reality in communist Russia is outstanding considering the fact that he had never been there. However he had been acquainted to many communists ideologists when he fought in Spain. During that war he had seen what it was like to live under terror, censorship and fear. It seemed unbelievable to members of the communist party in eastern Europe who were reading copies of 1984 in secret, that an Englishman who had never been to USSR could have gotten it so right about the reality of Stalinism.

Literature in English The things you need to know about Ray Bradbury.

Books are important Ray Bradbury was a big library person, he worked in several libraries and enjoyed spending time in them. The books themselves are not so much important, what is important is the culture and the ideas that books channel.

Fahrenheit 451 is about Education This is not me “The Teacher” saying this, it is Bradbury himself. The act of reading books opens our minds, forcing us to be confronted to new ideas, feeling empathy for other people, debating things we take for granted, and so on and so forth... The burning of the books in itself is not important, what matters is the burning of the ideas, the destruction of culture and the collapse of education.

Parlor Walls Don't accuse the “Parlor Walls” of being responsible for the collapse of culture that would be a mistake. Bradbury never had anything against television, it doesn't matter if you have all your walls covered with TVs, what matters is what comes out of the television. The major problem with the parlor walls in the book, is that they showed nothing but mindless soap operas and fireworks, things that would be beautiful to the eyes but would deplete the mind.

The importance of fear in totalitarian regimes Along with Marjane Satrapi, Orwell had perfectly understood that fear is the most efficient tool to keep people in line. Both stories we have read revolve around fear, on the one hand the fear of the comeback of Mr. Jones in Animal Farm, and on the other hand the fear of everything different in Fahrenheit 451.

Example of presentation Question: What were the totalitarianisms denounced by Orwell and Bradbury? 1)A totalitarianism inflicted on the people. With examples from AF. 2)A totalitarianism endorsed by the people. With examples from F references to historical events (revolution and dumbing down of society). Extracts one can use: - Animal Farm extract 3&4 - Fahrenheit extract 3 OR 4 Personal Document: The cartoon of Marjane Satrapi. Important points to mention: - Fear. - Lack of education.