Fiction or Reality? Total War in Literary Fiction.

Article by Rhiannon Pickin. Edited by Thom Absalom. Additional Research by Jack Barnes.

In a state of total war everything changes. Every task becomes centred on the war effort; the threat of death is constant. Relationships and the lives of the people become strained. The experiences of the soldiers fighting in the war and that of the civilians on the home front also reshape societies. Ultimately societies are transformed and twisted by the governing bodies, leaving scars that never fade, The effect of such a devastating societal bomb has been felt throughout history. During the twentieth century the effects of the two World Wars reached across the globe, drawing every country into major conflicts that showed the true power of a state, such as that of Nazi Germany, whose main objective was to create and establish a power base on a global scale. The ways in which this affects people has been explored in literature such as George Orwell’s ‘Nineteen Eighty-four’ (1949). It has particular links to the two world wars, the consequences of which can still be seen in the world today. This therefore poses the question of how far a state of total war can go before its effects are no longer an anomaly but a way in which life is lived – within a state of permanent conflict. 

When we think of ‘Nineteen Eighty-four’, we think of Big Brother, we think systematic control, we look into the eyes of the Party’s embodiment on that poster of Big Brother and we feel a constant watch over us and it is frightening. Such use of propaganda, whose primary function is to break the fourth wall and speak directly to an audience, is strikingly similar to the poster of Lord Kitchener during the First World War. His gaze was visible to everybody in every town and city all over Britain. It is an iconic image of the period. It was meant to conjure up a feeling of patriotism, with the words ‘Your Country Needs You!’ accompanying an intense stare and prominent finger pointing at the viewer, singling them out, intimidating them so that they would join the army. Both pieces of propaganda were intended for the similar purpose of gaining control over the masses through the method of intimidation, trying to justify a total war to the people. 

Within ‘Nineteen Eighty-four’ there are also the advertisements used as instruments of control, which urged people to use brands approved by the Party, such as ‘victory coffee’ and ‘Victory’-brand gin’ – a favourite of Orwell’s protagonist, Winston. During World War Two this was used in particular to save valuable resources, for example tin, which was a valuable material during this time and so led to the American government conducting ‘salvage drives’ that gave Americans their first taste of recycling. This was pressured upon the people through posters spread across towns and cities. As well as this, the Party within Nineteen Eighty Four and Stalin’s USSR published production figures for various commodities to try and encourage people to push further in order to increase production and give people a glimmer of hope to ensure their continued support. This shows how within a state of total war countries involved people within the saving, as well as the production, of valuable materials in order to make them focus on the war effort and to obtain their complete support.

Another example of propaganda that ensured a joint goal between the people of a country involved in a total war includes the use of newsreels in cinemas during World War Two. These newsreels would follow a similar structure to show the public the face of the common enemy of that country, as well as showing the progress of their own country and to boost morale. Such examples include how the Americans used the media to demonise the Japanese, or the British showing footage of Hitler and his troops to spark an angered reaction from the public. It was also used as a means of propaganda by the government to keep the people focussed on the war effort. This is frighteningly similar to ‘Nineteen Eighty-four’ as the Party organises the ‘two minutes hate’ during which footage is shown to the people of the enemy of the Party to provoke a reaction and create hatred for the enemy. In both cases, the public’s concentration on the war effort of a total war is the key goal of the governing bodies. 

Perhaps the most serious suggestion of the extent of the power and control the Party in ‘Nineteen Eighty-four’ has over the people is provided through the widespread use of cameras in towns and cities. This constant surveillance is reminiscent of the SS and Gestapo of Nazi Germany. These ruthless men were the eyes and ears of the regime, making sure that everyone accepted and supported the regime and punished those who went against it. This shows the extent to which a totalitarian regime in the midst of total war would go to guarantee total conformity. However, in more recent times it can be seen to have a correlation with CCTV cameras, which are used so widely across towns and cities today, it is almost like we are under constant surveillance. As well as this, ‘Nineteen Eighty-four’ looks to the possibilities of ruthless control through the concept of ‘Newspeak’. This was the creation of a new language, which removed all the vocabulary that inspired people to rebel against the Party. This combined with the use of constant surveillance would force people to conform to the totalitarian state. This, as well as the other examples examined here show how a major factor in obtaining power and control as well as to conform people to the total war effort is to create an atmosphere of fear. 

There are unmistakeable links between ‘Nineteen Eighty-four’ that follow back to the objects of its inspiration within the twentieth century. Although people have asserted the view that Orwell may not have intended to draw from such inspiration, it should be understood that perhaps it is because we can draw parallels between fiction and reality that we can examine the horrifying nature of war. Such a nature may be easier to explore in fiction as various different concepts are drawn together within a novel, allowing them to be examined at the same time. What made ‘Nineteen Eighty-four’ so terrifying as a futuristic apocalyptic novel was the fact that it did and still does remind people of the two World Wars as well as recent conflicts, giving rise to the possibility of futuristic and more horrifying total wars. What can also be said is that Orwell may not only have been examining the effects of total war in his novel, but also the fear of totalitarianism. For instance, it might be argued that by creating a fictional need for a totalitarian state, the Party sustains its power and control. This has links to the modern dictatorships of Saddam Hussein in Iraq or Hafez al-Assad in Syria. Through state propaganda, these dictators demonized the Western world, creating an external enemy in order to help justify their existence. ‘Nineteen Eighty-four’ therefore serves as a warning of the consequences of total war, by examining the human cost as well as the political sacrifices as democracy is side-lined to allow totalitarian control to flourish. 

• George Orwell was born in 1903 and died in 1950. 

• Orwell volunteered to fight against Franco’s fascist forces in Spain’s civil war. 

• The theme of the evils of totalitarian regimes can be seem to stem from Orwell’s experiences in Spain, from what he saw from the actions of both Franco’s fascists and the Stalinist Communists. 

• 1984 was the last piece of work Orwell wrote, dying four months later of tuberculosis.

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