George Orwells Nineteen Eighty-Four 1984 :: Free Essays on 1984

The Orwell’s perception of an ideal government is pretty much the same as Montesqueue describes in â€Å"Persian letters†. They both seem to think that the best government would be one in which power was balanced among three groups of officials. As opposed to totalitarian regime of the Party, Montesque’s ideal government would be the government elected by people and not a product of a despotic ruler’s ideas. He, as well as the Orwell believed that the success of democracy- a government in which the people have the power - depended upon maintaining the right balance of power. Moreover, the only way of achieving this would be dividing power onto three branches: an authority that enforced laws (like a king), Parliament, which made laws, and the judges in courts who interpreted laws. According to Montesqueue it is called ‘separation of powers’. Avoiding placing too much power on one individual or group of individuals would certainly prevent total itarian governments of coming into existence. Therefore, no branch of the government could threaten the freedom of the people. Orwell’s society displays a threatening projection of a totalitarian system into the future. Indeed it is a regime very similar to the tyrannies of the 20th century and strongly echoes Stalin Russia or Nazi Germany. The dominant mood inside this repressive system is one of threat and suppression due to the systematic persecution and oppression of non-conformists. As Goldstein explains in his ‘Oligarchical Collectivism’ there have always been three classes: the high, the middle and the low with the middle and the high constantly changing their respective position. Eventually this movement was identified by historians as being cyclical. In an attempt to interrupt this recurring pattern the Party is essentially focusing on the problem of Stability. Indeed Stability becomes principal in Oceania as well as in the other two superpowers Eastasia and Eurasia. In short it is the problem of how to keep things the way they are and maintain a hierarchical society without risk ing an overthrow of the established system. Several devices and attitudes have been conceived to achieve this aim. First of all the Party constantly controls and monitors its subjects. A crucial device in this scheme is the telescreen which, by being able to send as well as to receive information, allows a constant surveillance of all Party members. In addition other institutions such as the Thought Police or the Spies have been contrived to guarantee a maximum of surveillance.