Comparative study of the intertextual perspectives in Metropolis and 1984 Tara Jessie Bush 12th Grade

A comparative study of the intertextual perspectives in George Orwell’s political satire Nineteen Eighty-Four and Fritz Lang’s expressionist film Metropolis provide a deeper understanding of rebellion, manipulation and power in a highly conformist society. These dystopian texts accentuate the similar values of individuals whilst facing moral decay of humanity that reflects different contextual influences. Orwell’s distaste for Hitler’s Nazi regime and Stalin’s USSR is unveiled through the individual rebellion against the totalitarian regime and the post world-war 1 hyper-inflation that reduced Germany to poverty shapes Lang’s film. The iconography in Metropolis reflects the mechanical German zeitgeist that demonizes industrialism.

The desire for liberation in 1984 is evident in response to the enigmatic presence of Big brother and the ubiquitous placement of tele screens, that create a constant atmosphere of fear and isolation. The architecture in the novel represents power as the four buildings that divide the entire apparatus of government ‘dwarf’ the other buildings. The high social control of Oceania is evident in the counterintuitive slogan ‘FREEDOM IS SLAVERY WAR IS PEACE IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH’ thus provoking the desire...