Totalitarianism in Reality and Fiction: A Comparative Study

Abstract

The invasion of a new totalitarian regime struck the Arab world especially the lands of Iraq and Syria after the great damage the Arab Spring left behind after 2010. Countries in the Arab world were therefore left at their weakest when this anonymous power quickly controlled many Arabic states with great ease. Not too much later, this power made its declaration as a caliphate in 2014, under the name of “The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria,” famously known as (ISIS); a dangerous power, totalitarian in nature, violent in attitude.Looking at the existence of this state of oppression, it highly resembles the society the British novelist George Orwell depicted in his famous novel 1984. As far as the similarities go, this research is going to depict the means of totalitarianism and analyze the similarities found between both societies of reality and fiction. The purpose is to unfold the idea that George Orwell's novel can be read in terms of being a warning to the restriction of man's freedom if such regimes continue their control.