George Orwell’s vision of a dystopian future in 1984 has endured as one of the most

significantly influential literary texts ever written. Almost eight decades later, the main
themes of Totalitarian governance, including misinformation, the subjugation of independent
and individual motivators, collectivism, fear and hate-mongering, and constant surveillance,
remain pertinent topics as past and current governments continue to constrain and infringe
upon personal identity and liberty. These and other highly effective tools of domination were
used in 1984 to suppress logic and reason, to promote obedience and submission, and to
engender the betrayal of self, friends, and loved ones. But most importantly, to destroy the
human spirit. With a central focus on propaganda/slogans and intimidation/torture, this
presentation demonstrates how these Orwellian methods of hegemony have been employed to
similar effect by the Nazi Party, Idi Amin of Uganda, and the Khmer Rouge during their
totalitarian rule.
Propaganda and slogans were essential tactics The Party relied upon to maintain control of
Oceania’s population. Misinformation, deceit, and misguided hatred were weapons in the
arsenal of distractions The Party employed to validate and exalt Big Brother. Moreover,
propaganda kept Winston and the other party members anesthetized to their suffering and
oblivious to the inane futility of life without love, pleasure, or freedom. This is best
exemplified by the quotes: Big Brother is infallible and all-powerful. Every success, every
achievement, every victory, every scientific discovery, all knowledge, all wisdom, all
happiness, all virtue, are held to issue directly from his leadership and inspiration pg262.
(Today there were fear, hatred, and pain, but no dignity of emotion, no deep or complex
sorrows. 38).
The Nazi party also relied heavily on propaganda, primarily to enhance Hitler’s image as a
gentle, family-oriented, and selfless servant of the German people. But like The Party in
1984, Hitler and the Nazis utilized propaganda to promote anti-Semitic ideology that
demonized and vilified all Jews. Through slogans and posters, the Nazi party mobilized
support for its cause and induced hatred for Jews by portraying them as dark, evil, and
treacherous subverts of German efforts during World War 1.
The slogan “Freedom is slavery” paradoxically implies that self-determination induces a
coma-like state in man, that leaves him bereft of true purpose. That freedom inhibits man’s
ability to lead an existence that is productive and useful to the collective i.e The party.
Furthermore, this slogan alludes to how relinquishing the burden of choice liberates and
empowers man to focus on ideals such as loyalty, duty, and continued contribution to the
greater good. Evidence of this is contained in O'Brien’s statement “Alone—free—the human
being is always defeated but if he can…escape from his identity, if he can merge himself in
the Party so that he IS the Party, then he is all-powerful and immortal (333)”. Similar ironic
sentiments are evident in the Nazi slogan, “Arbeit Macht Frei” or "Work sets you free”,
which remains inscribed over the main gate of Auschwitz and other concentration camps,
where millions of people were sent to their extermination. Both slogans are proclamations
that self-sacrifice embodied by endless toil and labour edifies the human soul.
In 1984 the slogan “Big Brother is watching you” is ever-present throughout London and
Oceania and imposes a permanent reality of abject fear, self-repression, paranoia, and self-
suspicion. Winston and other residents of Airstrip One endure a life summarized by the
quote: “not to let one’s feelings appear in one’s face was a habit that had acquired the status
of an instinct.” Similarly, the Khmer Rouge slogan “Angkar has the eyes of the pineapple”
bears a cryptic resemblance to the party slogan in 1984. Angkar, which translates into
"organization," was the alias under which Pol Pot and the Communist Party of Cambodia
operated. Like Big Brother, Angkar was an omnipotent presence that swept across Cambodia
like a fever of terror and mortal dread. Both The Party and Angkar used these slogans to
repress subversion and impel mass adherence to their cruel dictates and doctrines.
The use of oxymoronic or paradoxically euphemistic naming conventions was another
homogeneous characteristic of the aforementioned dictatorial regimes. The Khmer Rouge
Department of Information and Propaganda disseminated lies denouncing the Government of
Lon Nol and portrayed Pol Pot as a wartime leader who could lead the people to victory.
Similarly, the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda served a similar
agenda. However, both emulated the purpose and function of The Ministry of Truth. All
served as colossal engines of moral destruction and insidious indoctrination that draped
despotism with righteous altruism.
Intimidation and torture are other vital hegemonic apparatus pervasively exercised in 1984 to
eviscerate rationality, obliterate defiance, coerce betrayal, solicit false self-incriminating
testimony, and disembowel the human spirit. What confronts Winston and the other citizens
of Oceania is a terrifying fortress of unbridled brutality, persistent surveillance, and severe
punishment that renders them impuissant and perpetually subservient. The constant threat of
the Ministry of Love, the Thought Police, and imprisonment in a labour camp all aided in
nullifying thoughts of resistance or revolt. The Party’s propensity for physical, psychological,
and emotional torture prohibits and perverts the instincts and essence of what it means to be a
man. Two quotes that encapsulate and supports these postulations are:
“To run for life, to get out of the house before it was too late—no such thought occurred to
them. Unthinkable to disobey the iron voice from the wall” (279). And “Never again will
you be capable of love, or friendship, or joy of living, or laughter, or curiosity, or courage, or
integrity. You will be hollow. We shall squeeze you empty, and then we shall fill you with
ourselves” (323).
The extent and effectiveness of intimidation as a method of control can be observed in two
separate but correlated instances. During his imprisonment, Winston and other members of
the party are too petrified to even speak or intervene upon realizing the starving skull-faced
man is near death. Similarly, former guard, Him Huy, had to execute an unknown prisoner to
demonstrate his absolute loyalty to Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.
A similar pattern of dread, butchery and callous overexertion of force present in 1984 is
reflected in the respective reigns of Adolf Hitler, Idi Amin, and Pol Pot. The nefarious nature
of the Thought Police is comparable to Pol Pot’s ‘Santebal’, Idi Amin’s ‘State Research
Bureau’, and Hitler’s ‘Schutzstaffel (SS) and ‘Gestapo’. Each of these fearsome state
organizations was responsible for internal security, weeding out political dissidents,
managing prison camps, “disappearances”, interrogations, executions, and maintaining
absolute submission among the masses. Furthermore, a synonymous element shared by these
various draconian entities is iconic facilities of cruelty, torture, and death. The Ministry of
Love and Room 101 provides the setting for Winston’s experience of suffering and
maltreatment.
The Khmer Rouge’s infamous Tuol Sleng prison known as S-21, Amin’s SRB Headquarters
in Nakasero, and the Nazi’s Reich Security Main Office and Auschwitz concentration camp
are all identical depots of maniacal physiological tribulation.
Winston was starved, beaten, interrogated, and tortured until his cognitive powers were
compromised and his logic broken. His spirit is debilitated until he falsely testifies against
friends and admits to fabricated accusations of treason. He eventually denounces his fervent
belief that “freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four” and accepts that
“TWO AND TWO MAKE FIVE”. Moreover, when confronted with his fear of rats, Winston
readily betrays Julia and forsakes his love for her in favour of self-preservation. He begs
O’Brien to: “Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don’t care what you do to her. Tear
her face off, strip her to the bones”. Former prisoners of S-21, Bou Meng, and Chum Mei
attest to similar torturous experiences. They recall being tortured until false testimonies were
solicited out of them in exchange for respite and mercy.
The utilization of indoctrination, cruelty, manipulation and violence are undeniable tenets of
hegemony. Suppressing individualistic ideology is the only method that impels
totalitarianism proven extensively by events depicted in Orwell’s 1984 and the mortifying
actions of the Nazi Party, Khmer Rouge, and Idi Amin. Misinformation and deceit prevent
victims of hegemony from recognizing the extensive injustices being exacted upon them.
While torture and intimidation discourage resistance in Winston and victims like him who are
aware of their acute and detrimental circumstances. The coercive power of fear and hatred
cannot be understated as these emotions reduce men to savage creatures distracted and driven
by survival. When the face is confronted by a boot stamping on it forever, is it not easier to
conform? When you find yourself standing as the last surviving man among monsters, is it
not wise to abandon humanity?