TOTALITARIANISM IN THE WORKS OF GEORGE ORWELL: EXPLAINED THROUGH HANNAH ARENDT'S CONCEPTS

Abstract

This article analyzes the representations of totalitarianism in George Orwell's major works—1984, Animal Farm, and Burmese Days—in light of the theoretical concepts developed by Hannah Arendt in The Origins of Totalitarianism and other fundamental texts. The research adopts an interpretative and comparative approach, seeking to demonstrate how Orwellian narratives materialize, through fiction and lived experience, the mechanisms of totalitarian domination described by Arendt: the atomization of the masses, the destruction of the public sphere, the manipulation of truth, systematic terror, and the transformation of the human being into a "superfluous being." The study reveals that, although Orwell and Arendt have distinct trajectories and perspectives, both share a central concern with the threat of totalitarianism to human freedom and political dignity, offering complementary contributions to the understanding of this historical and political phenomenon.